boma23

Did an oil&filter service last weekend, and noticed coolant was low. To be fair have barely topped it up since buying two years ago.

As it already had pink coolant (I'm hoping of correct formulation), I also topped up the expansion tank with Zerex Asian formula PHOAT, listed as good for Subaru (although I'm not going down that particular rabbit hole this second). Either way, I didn't look at the rad, and as coolant was near bottom, didn't study it too hard before topping up.

Double checked today and the pink looks dark. Checked under rad cap, and there's a black oily residue around the top. No milky butter, just black oily residue. No mayo under the oil filler (but would that even be expected in a boxer?)

Car appears to be running fine with no loss of power.

I'm just thinking through best plan of attack and current options:

1. Can I carry on running if needed, as oil looks perfect, and only seems in direction of oil to coolant? Obviously coolant in oil is a disaster, but if it's a slow oil to coolant situation, can I baby it for now?

2. Or best to just drop all the coolant now and double check contents in a bucket? (Will be weeks before can get hold of correct Subaru coolant, or maybe a week to get hold of more Zerex Asian if that's deemed ok).

3. Can I run on water a short while to just monitor how bad, of is that a disaster with Scoobies also?

Bit gutted, as heard 'lugging' the engine was biggest cause of this, and I've always been one to use revs and spinning the engine under lighter load rather than straining from low down.

Car had metal gasket recall, so was hoping to escape the EG25's famous issues...

Got no place to do the work, and no reliable shops here (on tiny island), so coupled with rotten sills this might see me stepping out of the Scooby and seeling for cheap as is ☹️

**jay**

iTrader: (1)

Good chance the coolants have reacted, id flush it out and refill then see if it comes back.

Gambit

iTrader: (6)

id flush it also.

if it was oil/coolant mix - youd be getting milkshake and lots of it - been there recently with that

boma23

Thanks - fair point about the coolants possibly reacting, not thought of that. Will drop it first and flush.

If I can't get hold of genuine Scooby coolant, does anyone know for sure what formulation the OEM is? I've read for hoirs on this and never seen it confirmed for the EG25. Has to be one of the following which I have all available, just not the OEM stuff: IAT, OAT, HOAT, PHOAT

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Do be careful making assumptions about what sort of coolant you have going by the colour.
It's just a dye, and varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

boma23

Coming back to this a while later - work and life meant the car got parked up for ages (as also had to do the rear brake lines).

I had a thought - as the oily coolant surfaced immediately after a service, is it possible I've damaged the oil cooler, and allowed oil/coolant mix that route? How common is this?

I sent off for a paper test kit, and comparing this fresh oil to exactly the same spec Motul Xcess 4100 oil that went into my Toyota UZJ100 on the same day 4 months back, the 'fresh' stuff in the Scooby was notably thinner when sampled, amd also less 'yellow' or carbonated (to be expected). But no visible yellow 'halo' ring on the sample.

Am I wasting time and money switching out the oil cooler first or has anyone else found this a common failure point for coolant/oil mix on the EJ25 ??

A head rebuild here means basically selling as broken as don't have the time or facilities here now.

ThanksDom

Toyota V8 ran daily for 4 months same oil on left. Scooby ran just a few times on right.

Centre blue is different water content readings.

How to read.

joelle king

Where doo I get these stickers

Gambit

iTrader: (6)

Oil coolers rarely fail, generally you only replace them if you have had a engine failure as its likely to be metal swarf within it that you cant get cleaned out.

i had similar issue recently where i was getting oil mixing in the coolant - but mine was proper milkshake and that turned out to be headstud threads in the block failing causing stud to unwind/heads to lift.

if its only a light sheen on top of the coolant i wouldnt be too bothered, you could find that the car had a previous headgasket failure and there is still oil residue within the coolant/heater matrix etc as it wasnt 100% cleaned out

if the car is running well and temps are standard then i would be too worried. if you really want to clear out the coolant and all associated gallerie/matrix etc then you could drain it all again then fill with water and a dishwasher powder/tablet run it for a bit then drain it/flush it with fresh water/hose and refill with coolant