I own a 2000 Nissan Xterra . I recently found oil in the radiator and in the radiator reserve tank . I am concerned that I may have a leaking head gasket or a blown headgasket. However , the regular symptoms of a blown head gasket are not there.
- The oil on the dipstick is like new . The oil was just changed about a month ago.
- I do not see any white smoke coming out of the tail pipe.
- The car does not overheat.
- The car runs great and does not show any signs of engine problems.
- There no smoke coming from the engine compartment.
I flushed the radiator last week. ( I was not able to remove the engine drain plug and it seems like the engine drain plug has never been removed before). I use new coolant to fill up the radiator and the fluid reserve tank.
I checked the radiator today and it has oil . The reserve tank also has oil in it. Somehow , oil is getting into the radiator but the usual signs of a blown head gasket are not there. Has anyone experienced this type of problems before ?. How can I find out for sure if it is the head gasket or if it is something else ? I need your assistance. A mechanic told me today that just because I have oil in the radiator and the reserve tank does not mean that I have a blown head gasket.
I love my X . It has 128k miles on it but it runs like new. I appreciate any assistance that I can get. Thanks