Oil in the expansion tank

[Bob L]

Just finished servicing my 1.8 K Series, 99 vintage, 38 K miles.  Last job was to top up the anti-freeze and noticed slight discolouration and an oily feel to the current mixture.  The drained oil appeared fine.  I'm assuming HGF? If so time for a new cam belt and verniers while in bits.  Any thoughts / recommendations for the repair and veniers close to Bexleyheath area?

[SM25T]

Boss Racing at Longfield ... or Sevens snd Classics at Paddock Gate rear of Brands

[K7 VCT]

Sevens and classics get my vote. Even though i live in Oxfordshire

[p.mole1]

Get a Rover manual and do it yourself, all you need is a decent torque wrench,it is an easy job. If your engine has not been overheated it will be fine. You could always ask someone to help you if you are not confidant about doing it yourself, sorry I can't help I'm at the other end of the country.

If your car is not the Supersport version I wouldn't bother with verniers I don't think they are needed with the standard camshafts 

 

[elie boone]

Coolant has always a "greasy" feel, get a decent diagnose before you lift the head.

[oilyhands]

As above, gradual deterioration of the hoses can cause the coolant to feel greasy, it is unusual to experience oil in the coolant with no accompanying coolant in the oil, very early engines had a design flaw in the gasket that can cause this and your engine is on the cusp of the change to the improved gasket. If it is that particular mode of failure then apart from a very slow corruption of the coolant there should be few other symptoms, the engine is unlikely to fail catastrophically / overheat or soften its head.

Oily

[Dave J]

what about the old issue that involved inserting a tube down the oil feed on the front of the block ?

[oilyhands]

It can still be an issue, but is usually only on highly stressed engines , particularly 1900s.

Oily

[Englishmaninwales]

At risk of going off topic, but what is the issue ‘inserting a tube down the oil feed’ ?

[oilyhands]

There is an oilway that runs vertically at the front of the block and emerges in the centre of the front dowel, this feeds the head. It is supported by a round boss that runs from the waist of the block (about halfway down where the liners sit). Below this level the block is solid and does not move when the block is stressed, above this level the block is a lot more flexible and will tend to move with load. This can cause a hairline crack to occur just where the boss meets the solid part of the block, the crack can allow a small volume of oil to seep into the coolant jacket. Some ductile aluminium tubing fitted down the hole to sleeve it will cure the problem, it has to be shaped correctly so it does not cut off the supply at the bottom, but it is very effective.

Oily