Water in engine oil and eberspacher

[Valfrid]

Have a slightly odd issue where cold weather causes water to appear in the engine oil. This only happens with the ebarspacher heater being tripped on. All last summer it was fine - never used a drop but this winter, the water level will drop from max to min in the expansion bottle in a couple of days and I get a very high creamy oil level on the dipstick - not good at all!

This always coincides with the eberspacher running at warm up.

I see that the eberspacher has no oil feed so that's not the issue. Sometimes it'll bang when it starts and I get a lot of smoke from it sometimes - more than likely has never been serviced. My guess is that when it's heating the water it pressurises the coolant system higher than the engine ever will and this pressure is forcing past a seal - inlet manifold seals have been mentioned.

Any ideas?

[BrianM]

It is common to see a small amount of cream in the dipstick & inner part of the oil filler in the winter. Mostly when mineral oil is used. Due to the cold air coming through the radiator before the engine warms up & then the heat making condensation. The common problem with these is the oil filter & the small heat exchanger in it that can suffer from corrosion. Leading to oil in the coolant.
May-be, try bypassing the coolant pipes to the oil filter & see if this cures your problem.
Brian

[Valfrid]

Thanks Brian. Use fully synthetic oil (as they do really need this) and have already bypassed the oil cooler element. If it's cold and the eberspacher is going to kick in, I loosen the cap on the header and all is good - no 1/2 litre of coolant making it's way in to the engine oil...

[BrianM]

Sounds like the eberspacher is boiling your coolant  I must take a look at how they work internally as I have a dci here that has the same symptoms as yours.

[Valfrid]

Well the eberspacher is kicking in and then out again as it should. Temp goes up nice a quickly when it's on and sits quite nicely at 4 bars once it's warm and the ebrspacher is powering down quite nicely. I know my eberspacher needs servicing and have the parts for this. Diagrams and how it works are available on this site if that helps.

I do have a break in the eberspacher exhaust - have a replacement to fit (from third-party provider I hasten to add!) but I do get huge amounts of smoke from it at times and sometimes it will bang in to life!

[roy4matra]

Have a slightly odd issue where cold weather causes water to appear in the engine oil. This only happens with the ebarspacher heater being tripped on. All last summer it was fine - never used a drop but this winter, the water level will drop from max to min in the expansion bottle in a couple of days and I get a very high creamy oil level on the dipstick - not good at all!

This always coincides with the eberspacher running at warm up.

I see that the eberspacher has no oil feed so that's not the issue. Sometimes it'll bang when it starts and I get a lot of smoke from it sometimes - more than likely has never been serviced. My guess is that when it's heating the water it pressurises the coolant system higher than the engine ever will and this pressure is forcing past a seal - inlet manifold seals have been mentioned.

Any ideas?

I'm sure there is no possibility of coolant in the oil from the inlet manifold, since you can replace the manifold without touching the cooling system. The only point for cross contamination like Brian mentioned, is the oil cooling at the filter housing.  If not there then you have a head gasket problem, which means the engine out.  I don't think the Eberspascher has anything to do with this coolant in oil problem and is a separate issue.

Roy

[Valfrid]

Well, done some more checks and it was the oil/water heat exchanger in the oil filter housing that was causing the issue. Have bypassed for now with a view to replacing the element. Oil is checked as clear as a result of the bypass so all is good. Still think I also have a leak as the level will drop but not always but it isn't going in to the engine oil.

Many thanks for all your help as always.

[Valfrid]

What happens when the water pump starts to fail on these 2.2DCi engines? I understand the pump is driven from the cambelt but does it do the standard water pump failure issue with older engine of losing coolant from a bleed hole from the bearing? I have noticed one staining from red coolant at the bottom left hand plate on the engine - left hand being viewed from the front of the car...

[roy4matra]

What happens when the water pump starts to fail on these 2.2DCi engines? I understand the pump is driven from the cambelt but does it do the standard water pump failure issue with older engine of losing coolant from a bleed hole from the bearing? I have noticed one staining from red coolant at the bottom left hand plate on the engine - left hand being viewed from the front of the car...

Yes that does rather suggest a water pump leak.  The hole is put in water pump bodies to allow the coolant to leak out to warn you when the bearing is failing and allowing the pump to run off-centre, some time before it should actually fail.

Roy

[BrianM]

The water pump is on the front of the engine but at the back. You gain access to it by removing the right hand wheel & dropping the engine slightly by unbolting the engine mount above. You will need to change the engine oil when you do the pump as the coolant will go into the sump when you remove it! see page 82 in 3736A_G9T_COMMON_RAIL_SYSTEM.pdf  in the vault.  You will see it is within the front housing. It is cog driven from the front drivetrain. You will need a two fingered puller to remove the cog before you can get the pump out. Make sure when you fit the new one that it is the same depth or the cover will not go on & will leak. The one I did I had to take an angle grinder to! Its not as hard a job as it looks or sounds, honest Maybe this is where you are getting coolant in the oil from?
Brian.