Oil in coolant? and oil leak

[Tpeti]

I have got an 1.4 petrol mpv berlingo and lately (2k miles) started oil weeping to underneath the alternator. Sadly I cannot see more I tried to lift up front but still cannot see. I changed the head cover when I bought it because it was leaking but after that it was dry and about 6months later started weeping.
Today I checked the coolant and it was less after I changed it and topped up the reservoir. It did not use any coolant over the summer time, did not heat up, did not hit the red mark and over winter it stayed around 80-90C.
Here is a picture how looks like:


I hope I dont have a leaky head gasket.
Thanks in advance

[Tpeti]

I forgot to add I cant see any smoke coming out of exhaust, blue or white.

[Tpeti]

This morning I noticed white smoke came out from the exhaust, more when I pressed the throttle, when I parked up at my workplace after 8miles run.

[jj9]

Is there any build up of sludge (mayonnaise) on the underside of the oil filler cap? ....You would get this if the water was getting into the oil.

You'r picture is a bit hard to make out but it does look like you have oil in the water.
I think I would clean out the reservoir and top up with clean coolant them monitor the situation.

As long as you don't loose a lot of water and the engine overheats you won't do any damage.

The 1.4 TU engine is prone to head gasket leaks, it's common for the head to leak oil out of the front corner at the cambelt end.

The plus point is that it's a very easy engine to work on and changing the head gasket is a straight forward job.

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[Tpeti]

Thanks for the reply, helpful
I checked the oil cap, no mayonaisse there. I planned to change the oil this week or weekend so I can check in there too.
Today the run to home was again 8miles and I checked the fumes a couple of times. No white smoke even on an uphill around 3k rpm.
I thought to clean the reservoir out and put clean coolant in.
I read my haynes about the head gasket change, yes, straightforward but my only concern is to remove the belts. I do not why maybe I have never done that before.
On my bike(vfr750) I have done the valve clearance check(shim type) and that involved similar method. My bike still works after 160miles, so I assume I would be able to do the job.
My other concern is the exhaust nuts. All rusty and they have never been removed. I know plusgas and heat can make magical things, but studs can break. If that happens I am slightly fu##ed
But hope the best, first monitoring

[jj9]

So it looks like you only have a bit of oil getting into the water,  but as said clean out the reservoir and top up and monitor for oil / water loss.

The head gasket on the TU3 engines seem to fail due to age, I changed one a few years back because of the oil leak at the front corner and it was contaminating the timing belt etc.

The timing belt on this engine is very easy to do, and if you can tackle valve clearances on the VFR you'll have no problems, besides the forum is here with loads of help if you need it.

I removed the head with the exhaust and inlet manifold in place, so that means you only have to tackle the 4 nuts where the exhaust manifold joins the cat / downpipe.

The parts (Head gasket, timing belt etc) are not that expensive but if you shop around you can pick these up very cheaply and that's for good quality makes, some dealer parts, so it's not really an expensive job.

The only thing to remember with the TU3 engine is that it is a wet liner engine so once the cylinder head is off  DO NOT  turn the crankshaft unless the liners are clamped down, that may sound a bit daunting but t's nothing really. 


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[Tpeti]

Ok, you convinced me. If there is a major leak then I will change myself.
I will monitor first and then go from there.
I will not turn the crankshaft once I remove the timing belt.
I do not want to disturb the injectors too, so I will leavr the inlet manifold in place.
Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

[jj9]

If you decide to do the job you won't be short of help and advice.
The TU3 engine was fitted to a lot of Peugeot & Citroen vehicles so there is loads of advice all over the internet on changing the head gasket.

There is also a few good videos on youtube showing the head gasket job on the engine, even though the vehicles in the videos aren't Berlingos the engine is the same so you will see what's involved, just search for  TU3 head gasket  


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[Tpeti]

I have monitored the coolant, no more oil and no more white smoke. I dont know what happened on that particular day. I will monitor more, just be sure nothing wrong with her.
Time for oil and air-oil filter and spark plug change.

[Tpeti]

Yesterday I drained the oil and it was black, no white bits at all. I really hope everything is fine, but will monitor through next week.