1998 Honda Accord Cleaning oil from the coolant system

Tiny
MOHAMMEDSK
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 HONDA ACCORD
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 173,000 MILES
A while back the mechanic noticed an oil in the coolant. He said that I need to replace the head gasket. I also did some search to see the cause of that and people also
pointed out that it is very likely it is the head gasket; oil level was going down. I replaced the head gasket, oil level is good all the time.
I also did complete system flush that cost me $95. I asked the mechanic, is this going to completely clean the system from the oil? He said no. Then I asked,
will that affect the engine in any way? He said no. I was not convinced. Until now I still have oil in the coolant, I flushed few times and cleaned the overflow
reservoir where the oil usually accumulates and I still do that hoping that one day all the oil can come out. I found forums that say oil in the coolant can
cause damage to the hoses.

The car has no fluid or oil leaks, what do you think about this situation and I am wondering if you have a suggestion on how to get the cooling system cleaned up?

Thank you for your help
Saturday, October 9th, 2010 AT 11:33 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi mohammedsk,

Warm up the engine to operating with the radiator cap off and oil should start coming out of the radiator neck.

Use a sponge to absorb the oil and top up coolant and continue running. Repeat above till oil is no more present. There should not be too much oil in system after some running and if it still is occurring, you might have a cracked cylinder head instead of the bad gasket as intially thought.

Heat is the easiest way to get the oil inside system to come out.
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Sunday, October 10th, 2010 AT 10:11 AM

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