Oil In The Water

[steve1173]

Got my '87 coupe with Duke & auto 2 months ago. Had the coolant flushed twice as I keep finding motor oil in the coolant. Where the thermostat is is a brown oily foam & in the overflow seems to be pure motor oil. Checking the oil dipstick all seems normal. Oil clear there. Seems the oil is getting into the coolant but no coolant is getting into the oil. Engine runs pretty smooth & no other real problems except the timing gear noise. Any ideas?

[fierangero]

im not familiar with the fluid lines on a fiero, but maybe you have a leaky oil line near the coolant resevoir?

[MrPbody]

Generally, oil in the water indicates an internal crack in the block. Oil pressure is higher than water pressure. There is no oil passage that goes between the block and head, so it can't be from the head.
If this car has an automatic transmission, it could also be transmission fluid (can look brown) getting in there. The radiator has a cooler in it for the transmission. If that cooler is leaking, it can cause this, as well. If that's the case, a new radiator is called for.

[steve1173]

The oil in the coolant overflow definitely feels like motor oil. Spoke with the tech at the Fiero store & he said, 1. Pin hole in the water pump housing. 2. Timing chain cover. 3. Cracked block.

[fierangero]

lets hope its #1 or #2....#3 is a little bit more of a problem

[MrPbody]

I must disagree. Water in the oil can come from those sources, IF it were a V6. The 2.5 has a separate water pump from the timing cover. Neither of them have oil pressure anywhere nearby. Sorry, dude...

[steve1173]

Any ideas where the oil is getting into the water? Engine runs very smooth if that helps.

[steve1173]

Quick question, does the Duke has an oil cooler? Trying to eliminate the easy ones first.

[MrPbody]

No cooler. Refer to my first post. Crack in the block.

[steve1173]

More on it. Had someone look at it today & so far found crack in the exhaust manifold, one of the spark plug wires melted as it was laying aginst the manifold & there is steam coming from the exhaust pipes. So far no water in the oil so won't be driving it till fixed to avoid any further damage.