The 'E' Type Forum

:( Any one got any thoughts on why I have some oil in the water in the radiator in my series 2. I does not boil or pressurise and 5 of the cylinders are 150 psi and the sixth is 125 psi on a compression test. I do have to top up the header tank from time to time.

Is there any water in the oil?

Is this a crack in the cylinder head - only a suggestion had it on my E30 :(

:D Thanks for the resposes, There is no water in the oil and as the oil feed to the cams is via external pipes then I cannot see that a crack in the head could let oil into the cooling system. The oil in the cam boxes is not under pressure after it leaves the cam bearings it simply drains back to the sump. An old friend has suggested that some people in years gone by would add a little oil to the cooling system to {keep things running smoothly } and as I have only just bought the car from an 85 year old gentleman who has owned it for 25 years then that may be the case.

It's not an outo by any chance is it?

:) Hello Andyp, no it is not an auto, but thanks anyway.
Steve.

Steve

I wouldn't read much into having to top up the header every now and again. You used to have to do that with all cars. We've all just got used to vehicles that don't need touching between 12000 mile services.

I think I'd want to start my investigations by having another look at the cylinder with low compression.

Has it improved after a couple of months of running - stuck rings?

If it is still the same does the reading improve if you test after squirting a little oil down the bore - ring/bore problems?

If the oil doesn't help then we are looking at a head/valve problem and this might be the time to look for cracks.

Before getting too involved I'd try to get the low cylinder up through use and then give the cooling system a good flush out and use the car.

If the tests above don't point to head/valve damage I'd stick an additive in the oil, flush the cooling system and run her for a while before doing another compression test. So long as you are sure that water is not finding it's way into the oil I don't see that you will do and harm.

Andy

Thanks for that advice Andy, I have flushed the cooling system and will run it for a month or two and let it develop or not. At the end of the season I am taking the car apart and having a bare metal respray so I will also rebuild the engine.
Steve.

Steve

I'd just stick some additive that claims to unstick things (rings) in the oil and enjoy in that case.

Andy