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Q: Oil in the coolant tank

asked by on September 30, 2016

I own a 2003 Jeep Cherokee 2.5 CRD. It started rising in temperature to the halfway mark where it never reached normal conditions, followed by a warning buzz or chime and the oil light coming on and off twice. I then pulled over and switched off the car. I opened the hood and noticed that there was black milky oil in the coolant tank and some smeared on top of the exhaust manifold. When I opened the oil filler cap and noticed some slight milky residue, I then got someone to tow it home. Please help me with some technical advise what can this be?

My car has 71457 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.

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Hi, thanks for writing in. If you have coolant in the engine oil showing on the oil cap, then you likely have a blown head gasket. The oil in the coolant is most likely from the blown head gasket getting compression into the coolant overheating the engine. I recommend having the vehicle checked by a mechanic to see if engine is repairable by replacing the head gasket and flushing the coolant and engine out. Here at YourMechanic, we can have a technician come to your home or office to inspect and diagnose this issue for you, and make or suggest the necessary repairs. Hope this helps and best of luck!

Jeep
Liberty
2003
leaks
oil
coolant
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