i think i have a leak allowing the coolant and oil to mix. i keep getting gooey stuff turning up on the oil dipstick, and i'm losing coolant. so it's leaking from one of two places - the head/headgasket or the oil cooler seals. is there a way i can tell where before i go tearing everything apart?

 

Sure. Do a leakdown test. That'll tell you if you've got a blown headgasket (or possibly worn seats which is bad too). If the leakdown checks out ok, then it's your oil cooler seals. But...the oil cooler seals are pretty easy to replace so why not just do them (especially if you have no records of them being replaced) and if that takes care of it then you're golden it. If not, it's one less thing to do while-you-in-there doing the headgasket. Good luck.

 

thanks joe; after reading through some of the archives i'm getting the feeling it's a bad headgasket. i will try to do a leakdown or compression test. makes sense because several months ago i drove the car home while it was overheated (had a front end wreck while autocrossing and damaged the radiator - thus losing coolant)