Oil coating radiators
03-04-2018, 03:17 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Oil coating radiators
I was washing the car and replacing the cornering lights yesterday, when I noticed this leak.
So I decided to tear everything apart to find the leak.
I checked the fluid levels.
Oil hasn't moved from middle of between MAX and MIN since I bought the car in Sept.
The power steering fluid was also in the middle
Coolant was good
The AC was blowing cool and I checked the system with my AC manifold with pressure gauges, looked fine. Though I haven't used the AC, and have had it on ECON for a few weeks.
I haven't checked the ATF yet.
I did disassemble the front of the car and got the ATF cooler free. The bracket on in this image looked to be where the center of the leak was.
and it is slightly loose... meaning it could be rubbing on the tubes of the cooler.
The oily residue didn't appear to be red though... Though it was dirty enough to hide the color.
The leak did remind me of an AC system leak as well.
The only other question is that the outlet of the intercooler is right behind this area. There is oil in that intercooler tube. Could a boost leak at that intercooler pipe, blow enough oil into the surrounding radiator area?
Anyone see that problem before?
I did see a similar oil leak pattern on this ebay radiator (oil coating the same ATF cooler bracket.
So I decided to tear everything apart to find the leak.
I checked the fluid levels.
Oil hasn't moved from middle of between MAX and MIN since I bought the car in Sept.
The power steering fluid was also in the middle
Coolant was good
The AC was blowing cool and I checked the system with my AC manifold with pressure gauges, looked fine. Though I haven't used the AC, and have had it on ECON for a few weeks.
I haven't checked the ATF yet.
I did disassemble the front of the car and got the ATF cooler free. The bracket on in this image looked to be where the center of the leak was.
and it is slightly loose... meaning it could be rubbing on the tubes of the cooler.
The oily residue didn't appear to be red though... Though it was dirty enough to hide the color.
The leak did remind me of an AC system leak as well.
The only other question is that the outlet of the intercooler is right behind this area. There is oil in that intercooler tube. Could a boost leak at that intercooler pipe, blow enough oil into the surrounding radiator area?
Anyone see that problem before?
I did see a similar oil leak pattern on this ebay radiator (oil coating the same ATF cooler bracket.
Last edited by VulcanGrey; 03-05-2018 at 06:31 PM.
03-04-2018, 03:33 PM
#2
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Your middle photo isn't showing. Do you mean all the munge covering 1/2 of your radiator? I'd clean it all off with a pressure wash then run the engine and see where the oil is coming from.
03-04-2018, 04:44 PM
#3
Instructor
Thread Starter
Tried replacing the middle image, check to see if it is working now.
Yeah that oil was coating radiators, mostly the ATF rad and AC condenser. But also on the coolant radiator. The pressure damper for the AC system near the intercooler was also coated with the oil, and some of the stuff behind the radiator.
I did clean it off, but couldn't see any sign of the leak, I think it's under that bracket.
Yeah that oil was coating radiators, mostly the ATF rad and AC condenser. But also on the coolant radiator. The pressure damper for the AC system near the intercooler was also coated with the oil, and some of the stuff behind the radiator.
I did clean it off, but couldn't see any sign of the leak, I think it's under that bracket.
03-04-2018, 08:01 PM
#4
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I suspect the middle image is either too large or in a format the forum doesn't accept. You might try resizing it to 1024 pixels on the largest direction.. what is interesting is the eBay one has an identical sort of pattern.
03-05-2018, 10:14 AM
#5
Wow, that is a pretty impressive clogging of the fins. I am not able to see the middle image you tried to post either.
I am pretty sure once the heat of summer comes this would significantly affect your car's cooling capacity. I think you are on the right path. It may become very apparent when you pull things apart a little further. I would also recommend using some simple green to help degrease and really clean it up and then placing a piece of cardboard in that area (only while the weather is still cold and watch to make sure you are not overheating) so that you can detect where it is coming from once it is all cleaned up. I think it is probably dirty ATF. You will know because anything rubber that it has come in contact with will swell and degrade. In fact you could probably do a test with what is on the radiator now. Find something rubber you don't mind destroying and wipe a good bit of emulsified oil gunk from your radiator on it and see what happens over the coming days/weeks.
I am pretty sure once the heat of summer comes this would significantly affect your car's cooling capacity. I think you are on the right path. It may become very apparent when you pull things apart a little further. I would also recommend using some simple green to help degrease and really clean it up and then placing a piece of cardboard in that area (only while the weather is still cold and watch to make sure you are not overheating) so that you can detect where it is coming from once it is all cleaned up. I think it is probably dirty ATF. You will know because anything rubber that it has come in contact with will swell and degrade. In fact you could probably do a test with what is on the radiator now. Find something rubber you don't mind destroying and wipe a good bit of emulsified oil gunk from your radiator on it and see what happens over the coming days/weeks.
03-05-2018, 12:11 PM
#7
Instructor
Thread Starter
I noticed a leak on the engine coolant radiator, while I was looking, and I've been smelling a little whiff of coolant in the garage lately, so I removed the radiator last night.
Now that I have better access and a better view, the powersteering pump and AC compressor are both really oily, looks like PS fluid. The Pentosin is also supposed to degrade paint, plastic, and rubber, but all the oil soaked rubber hoses look fine so far.
The chassis rails where the bumper connects are coated inside and out, the anti-roll bar was also coated.
None of the oily residue looks like ATF... But there's no other oil source up that high on the radiators, other than the ATF cooler.
The oil cooler on the front of the engine is bone dry.
I'm cleaning all the other pipes to try and find a leak.
The turbo outlet was also coated, and the duct to the intercooler was full of oil... so maybe this is just from that crankcase breather feeding into the Driver's side intercooler???
Now that I have better access and a better view, the powersteering pump and AC compressor are both really oily, looks like PS fluid. The Pentosin is also supposed to degrade paint, plastic, and rubber, but all the oil soaked rubber hoses look fine so far.
The chassis rails where the bumper connects are coated inside and out, the anti-roll bar was also coated.
None of the oily residue looks like ATF... But there's no other oil source up that high on the radiators, other than the ATF cooler.
The oil cooler on the front of the engine is bone dry.
I'm cleaning all the other pipes to try and find a leak.
The turbo outlet was also coated, and the duct to the intercooler was full of oil... so maybe this is just from that crankcase breather feeding into the Driver's side intercooler???
Last edited by VulcanGrey; 03-05-2018 at 06:33 PM.