Oil in water?

[xbooty]

Took my 03 1.4 petrol Berlingo in for MOT only to be told i had oil in the water!
So ran car home (no overheating) running fine, parked up and now not sure what to do.....:justno:
Where is the water coming from?
Can i fix it?
Engine change?
Scrap it?
Any advice would be great, thanks

Xbooty alut:

[addo]

Viking funeral!

Nah; it's a really common ageing problem of the head gasket. You service the head, clean the piston tops (use clamps to make sure the wet liners stay put) and reassemble with new gaskets and head bolts.

Fill it with plain water to bleed up and test, then use a flushing agent twice over. Refill with regular coolant and off you go.

[Gadgetman]

Before starting, make certain that you have all the tools needed.
10mm, 13mm pipes or spanners, eTorx pipe(E14, I think), torque wrench and a special 'torque angle' dial.
21mm pipe and a long arm for it(to turn the engine for timing purposes.)
(I believe the Haynes manual specifies a two-stage torque job. first to 20nm, then to add 240degrees angle?)

As you will need to mess with the timing belt(and the alternator and servo belts) you may want to consider getting replacements for those, too. And possibly a water pump.

Do NOT fall for the temptation to buy just the head gasket and reuse the bolts.
you risk one of them breaking and leaving a piece in the hole, or even stripping the threads.
(Remember, the body of the engine is Aluminium.)

Yeah, I'm about to start the same job myself.
(Just need to find that d*mn torque wrench... )