Does any of the following conditions mean head gasket problem... Oil in engine coolant, engine coolant in oil.... I know the seocnd one does, but what about the first.. Today I had my engine coolant flushed and changed.. I was told there was oil in the coolant... I don't notice any problems like overheating smoke coming out from the exhaust or stuff so I wasn't sure... I had asked them to check when the changed it because in the reserve tank the coolant didn't look right... Thanks

It could likely be the beginning of a HG issue. Coolant in oil is never good.

 

Do you have any bubbles coming out of the rubber tube in the overflow tank? Also, If the oil is milky, coolant and oil are mixing.

 

Again not good.

 

What is the year and type of subaru you have?

It is a 97 Outback wagon 2.5l engine... The oil appears fine no problems.. No bubbles in the tank... I had asked them because it has been almost 2yrs since it was changed and I was getting a funny smell when I opened up the radiator cab that seemed to smell like oil... Know that the coolant is fresh I will have to keep a eye on it.. Also the coolant in the tank gets durty and grim builds up on the inside.. When I looked in side it was hard to tell if there appeared to be a oily residue on the top so that is another reason why I had asked them that question....

Get a hydrocarbon test for the raditor. If there are exhaust gasses in there your done. Otherwise keep a eye on the temp gauge. Only one way oil gets in the raditor, well two. one is accidental, they other is a bad headgasket. have you checked for bubbles in the radiator?

 

 

nipper

Haven't seen any bubbles in the raditor... The temp gage has been fine.. It only got hot once, that was about a yr ago....

The oil feed can leak into the water jacket by way of the head gasket. Oil pressure is higher than cooling system pressure, so oil leaks into the water jacket, rather than the other way around. This can occur even though the combustion seal is still tight. Look for oil leaking on top of the engine, since oil feed leakage into the water jacket may also be leaking externally.