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[New POD]

I bet all the regulars are sick of this frequently asked question.

I have followed the "Flow Chart" but a "professional" mechanic is telling me it's not likely.

I have a Y reg FL 3.2 MV6 with 166,000 miles on the clock.  I have done 4000 of them in my 2 months of ownership.

There is mayo on the oil filler cap, and plastic filler neck.
There is no mayo on the CLEAN oil on the dip stick.
There is no oil in the coolant (yet)
There appears to be a very small coolant loss. Like I think it's lost 1 cm on the Coolant level in 4000 miles.

I ran out of time to fit new discs and pads so got a "freelance" mobile mechanic to do them and the knackered wishbones, and he had permission to replace oil cooler, if it was not something else. I gave him a copy of the "flowchart" but he decided that it was probably not the oil cooler. He's cleaned out the breather pipes (apparently), and topped up the coolant. And I'm to see how it goes. Most my journeys have been long and typically the car gets up to temp and stays at 90 degrees for 3 hours / 120 miles. 

I'm convinced it will be the oil cooler. 

Note : I'm convinced I'll end up taking a day off work and replacing it, along with a service, because I struggle to trust mechanics, despite the fact that I have no spare time and am cack handed. So if anyone who know s what they are doing wants paying a commercially correct amount of money for doing it, let me know.  Car is in Derby during the week and Miseryside at Weekends. 

[Andy B]

....
He's cleaned out the breather pipes (apparently), and topped up the coolant. And I'm to see how it goes.  ...

I'd go with your mechanic and see what happens 

[Nick W]

I agree with the mechanic, and wouldn't have changed the oil cooler either.


Mayo on the cap and filler neck is normal. Wipe it off if it bothers you. You can unscrew the filler neck and fit the cap directly to the cam cover, which helps slightly.


If you don't have lots of mayo in the coolant and oil then they're not mixing. Which makes cooler failure much less likely.


Your coolant loss is much more likely to be a Heater Bypass Valve fault, or an expired hose. Thoroughly examine the engine for signs of the leak, bearing in mind you can't easily see much of the back of the engine. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it.


The oil cooler is more of a time-consuming job than a difficult one, but there are a couple of things that could catch out the cack-handed!

[tunnie]

1cm drop in 4K miles, I personally would not be bothered at that. Could be a weeping coolant bridge pipe or HBV, but I think that kind of loss is acceptable.

[Andy H]

Mayo on the filler cap and in the extension is normal & isn't something to worry about.

Coolant loss isn't normal but could be caused by a small leak in any number of places in the cooling system

[New POD]

Can I just Say this:

I'm new here and I love you all

Thanks. Thanks. and Thanks.

[Bigron]

Are you using Castrol oil? If "yes", then don't - use GM oil instead.
If you can face the journey, go to Serek's place in Huntingdon; he will tell you the truth and not rip you off - he's a well respected Oofer! 

Ron.

[aaronjb]

I'm new here and I love you all

Don't worry, that feeling will wear off

[Marks DTM Calib]

The standard cause of water leaking on the 3.2's in my experience is the oil cooler plate to block seal or the thermostat to block seal.

Given the coolant loss is so small its unlikely to be anything else and the mayo is pretty standard and can be worse with certain oils (as already mentioned Castrol seems particularly bad).

If it was oil cooler then you would be getting oil in the coolant....this is very obvious! (oil is higher pressure than the coolant)

[New POD]

Right, less mayo since breathers cleaned out. Oil Change planned for Christmas holidays.