Re: '87 535i Oil in coolant

[Ilia Zharkov <zharkov@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi guys,
Thanks a lot for your replies.

 I have taken the head off. Here is what I
see. The gasket appears to be
defective in a couple of places. Since I never saw a blown gasket it is
not clear whether mine is realy bad. On the other hand there are bad
news. I
have noticed two hearline cracks from the bolt hole towards both nearest
coolant passages. The bolt is on the passenger side between #4 and #5
cylinders
where there is one of the two small bushings (I think, those are supposed
to help installing
the gasket and the head). Otherwise both the head and the block seem to be
OK.

  How fast oil can migrate through such tiny cracks, or do they become
considerably larger when the engine is hot? In my case the rate is about 1
qt in 5-10 hours (highway speed, no traffic, normal operating
temperature). 
 
  Any suggestions what I can do with the car besides replacing the motor
(I guess, it would cost about the same as the car's street price).
 
 Thanks a lot.
 Ilia.  

 > Hi guys,
> This is the story. I got the car ('87 535is) in last November. Since it
is
> getting warmer I decided to check coolant and was shocked. The expansion
> tank was filled with some viscous liquid of beige color which smelled
like
> engine oil. And not just a couple of drops, I pumped out about 2 quarts
of
> this oil.
>  So the question is how oil can get into the coolant (cracks in cylinder
> or bad seal in gaskets). Another possibility (much more preferred) is
that
> the previous owner put some by mistake. The oil level in the engine does
> not seem to be lower, and even if it is, then not a lot.
>  Also I had problems with heating during the cold winter. It worked
rather
> intermittently. Could this be related to the oil, say, clogging thermo
> switch or something.
>  Thanks,
> Ilia Zharkov.
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