Never used one and don't know how much they cost, but in the UK I believe you can get a kit that'll detect combustion gases in the cooling system, if you're in a hurry for bad news (or no news, which'd be good news)

Thanks all, I've had a really close look at the coolant and can see some tiny brown particles in it - I wonder if this could be rust from the radiator? No sign of oil that I can see. Also got a better photo of the oil from the dipstick, on a non-porous white surface in daylight: 1drv.ms/u/s!AmGtZYDBXzj8hcAYx9gyzbgi6FlOkg

Don’t like the colour of the oil, looks like coolant contamination. Could be from a previous problem or an impending issue. Get the cooling system flushed and the oil and filter renewed, then monitor the situation .

It's hard to judge fully from these pics, tho they are good ones. You could have a gasket check, tho that is not always conclusive. It's quite likely that the car has waited too long between oil and coolant changes. Rusty deposits in the overflow tank are not unusual and not necessarily bad news - old style coolant didn't last more than a couple of years especially if made up with hard water.

The tank on this car (like the 205) can be detached from its rubber band and lifted for refilling, so it's an easy job to detach it from the hose and give it a good clean-out, so that at least you can see better what is inside. If the gasket check reveals nothing, change oil and coolant and see what develops.

My 2008 Pug 207SW diesel has its original coolant, still blue

Our 2000 Focus 1.6 Zetec has its original coolant, still pink and clear after 138,000 miles.

To check for CHG failure, mark the coolant level when cold, drive a hundred miles, then check the level when cold again. If it's below your mark, it's probably failed, especially if the oil is looking increasingly like mayonnaise.

Oil changes - you won't find many people on here advising oil-change intervals as long as that.

I dunno, I seem to recall some argument about that.

I've just changed my oil after about 5 or 6 years. I wouldn't recommend this, but I'm unconvinced that its necessarily all that harmful on low mileage.

You'd need fairly extensive oil analysis and wear-monitoring data to confirm or deny this, which isn't likely to be available to the average private punter.

At the beginning of this OCI the engine had some sheet varnish. Now its gone, and the engine looks rather shiny.

www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topic...t

I'd speculate that my mix of CPC Group I SAE 40 (which probably has high solvency but relatively low stability) and (probably Group 2?) Mobil Delvac MX 15w40, which is primarily for diesel engines so will have high detergency, has helped shift the varnish.

There's no evidence of oil breakdown, despite this being a mix of fairly cheap non synthetic oils

The oil did, however, look black, and if this is due to wear debris its possible the long change interval has contributed to higher wear.

Edited by edlithgow on 15/05/2019 at 10:16