oil in water

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sat 10 May 2003 21:42
oil in water - otter
Just found oily sludge in the expansion/top-up tank of my Audi 2.5 TDi (1994). Oil filler cap and dipstick still nice and clean, and no unusual smoking from exhaust. Flushed the water system and went for a spin (1 hr) and remained quite clean, so its a slow leak. No obvious external leaks from head gasket, but small (not enough to drip on the drive) seepage from sump and turbo inlet manifold thing (not sure what I'm looking at there, but it looks like where the turbo air is passed into the top of the head).
Any ideas? Does the water pump have engine oil lubrication?
Thanks
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Sat 10 May 2003 22:38
oil in water - Robin the Technician
Sounds very much like the head gasket is on its way out. You have two options: Replace it immediately or leave it and monitor it on a regular basis. As you are not losing coolant you can probably run the vehicle for some time before it gets more serious.
These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am....
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