Land Rover Repair: 07 range rover, head gasket, 2007 range rover

Question
vehicle is a 2007 range rover 4.4 supercharged..presented today with engine oil in the coolant reservoir..not mixed but on top of coolant in tank..want to know where it could have come from..oil was down 1 quart and has no head gasket symptoms at all? any ideas would be most helpful. thanks Frank

Answer
Hi Frank,

are you sure it's not your headgasket?  Down 1 quart of oil - it's going somewhere so this is the key to the problem.  Oil in the coolant reservoir is a sure sign of either a blown headgasket, cracked head or block.  When you checked the oil what colour was it?  Remove the oil cap and see if sludge is present. I ruled out tranny fluid in coolant as you mentioned you are missing engine oil.

You didn't mention a pool of oil in your driveway or garage, can you crawl under your Rover and see if oil is smeared all upside your engine, can't be all on the road as you drive. How about performance - do you see a difference?  How about smoke or the smell of something 'different'?

You'll need to have tests run to determine where the leak is; cylinder pressure tests and coolant rad tests would determine this.  An exhaust test will also show if engine exhaust has coolant chemicals mixed in.  

An experience LR mechanic can look at the most common faults that cause oil to mix with coolant.  Hopefully a gasket has blown somewhere and not a cracked block - replacement engine is expensive.  


Best of luck,
JohnMc