Oil in coolant

[Anonymous]

I drained the cooling system on the new bike and there was a decent amount of oil in the coolant. (more than a few drops, maybe a couple ounces) This bike had been sitting on it's side for some time (years?) and was wondering if there was any way that the fluids could mix like that? I know that most likely this means a bad head gasket or possibly a warped head Worst case scenario, would I be able to tell if something is wrong with the block once I get the heads off? Thanks, Ed

[Dink]

It is possible that some oil has leeaked past the seals into the coolant whilst the bike was laying on its side, but it is far more likely to be a blown headgasket
Dink

[focus frenzy]

ummm I am a bit confused here, the 82 GS650 is AIR cooled.
so the oil was in the air?

[Billy Ricks]

I don't think he is talking about the GS Leon. Some liquid cooled bikes had problems around the impeller shaft of the water pump.

[Hap Call]

It could come of any one of several places. I would change the oil and flush the cooling system then add fresh coolent. Ride it a little, keeping an eye on both the oil and coolent for signs of cross contamination. If you are unlucky and find you still are getting oil in your coolent, the two most obvious sources, which have already been mentioned by Dink and Billy, are the head gasket or the water pump shaft seal. If it is not one of these two, you will probably need to go into the engine. It could be any seal that seperates the two fluids, a warped head, cracked cylinder, etc.

Hap
Good luck