Coolant contamination???? Yellow stuff!!??!!??

[Imran]

My mate has an A4 - AFN (1.9 TDI 110ps) engine and today he was checking the water level and found this yellow stuff in it :-

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/294/dsc00089mc0.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00089mc0.jpg)

Has any one any idea what it is and should he be worried???

The car has done 90k and is using the red antifreeze (is it G12?!?!)

It is yellow in colour and looks almost like pollen, if you get it on your finger it squashes into a yellow paste.

Thanks

[HomerSimpson]

Hi Imran
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but from what I could see from the photo it looks like the head gasket has gone. When you touch the "yellow" stuff does it feel oily? If it does then what you are looking at is an emulsion of water and oil. If you take it to a garage they can do a simple test to confirm a blown head gasket. It simply means removing the expansion tank cap and inserting what looks a bit like a large test tube with a cooloured liquid in it, basically if it changes colour then the head gasket is blown as it is showing combustion gasses in the coolant.
Dave.

[adamss24]

My mate has an A4 - AFN (1.9 TDI 110ps) engine and today he was checking the water level and found this yellow stuff in it :-

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/294/dsc00089mc0.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00089mc0.jpg)

Has any one any idea what it is and should he be worried???

The car has done 90k and is using the red antifreeze (is it G12?!?!)

It is yellow in colour and looks almost like pollen, if you get it on your finger it squashes into a yellow paste.

Thanks
Hi, if he thinks to sell the car i might be interested...Regards, Chris- 07789912128.

[kenney]

Hi I think this is more likely to be your oil cooler that is leaking.When the head gasket is leaking,between the cylinders and the collant system, you can see and feel it on the coolant hoses,they are stone hard.The coolant stops circulating and the engine overheats and the coolant is pressed out of the reservoir. On the other hand the oil pressure in the cooler has a greater pressure than the coolant system,then leaks into the coolant system.