oil in coolant resevoir = BAD, yes?
 

just wanna clarify this. I went to a dealership to check out another 91 NA. the body was in decent shape, there were several of the common electronic bugs that people have talked about here. Car started up right away, so I thought, hey this may be a good buy.

and then I opened up the hood, and the first thing I checked was the coolant resevoir. As soon as I opened it up, all I saw is OIL in the container, didn't see ANY of the green color that a normal coolant would have. I remember somewhere I read that oil in coolant is a very bad thing for a rotary, just wondering what problem with the motor would oil in coolant indicate...

and yeah, I walked away from the car, right after I took it for a quick test drive ;)

I had "oil" in my coolant once because the antifreeze disentegrated... maybe it just needs changing...?

oil in the coolant might mean the seals are going.. If you start the car with the radiator cap off and it bubbles/spits up air pockets, then the coolant seals are going and that means rebuild.

only other thing it could be is really REALLY old coolant..did it smell like oil?

Coolant can be so old sometimes that it resembles oil in color! I'm suprised that the dealership didnt do a coolant flush before they sold the car.

I saw goop in my own coolant resevoir late in the same. I was afraid that it might signal impending seal failure. :heartattack:

I searched on the Forum for something somewhere that said it wasn't a bad thing. Curiously, there were several posts in the 3rd gen Forum from guys who said, 'Hey, the oil appears in there sometimes. Just flush it and put in new coolant and don't worry about it.' Several of these guys race, btw.

My engine is otherwise fine.