[Vwdiesel] oil in coolant - not headgasket?

[Neil]

Do I have this right - oil in the coolant is likely to be from a bad oil 
cooler, not so much from a leakey headgasket or bad head?

This might be pretty good news....  one of my '81 1.6 nad rabbits has oil in 
the expansion tank, but no other symptoms - starts  ok, runs ok, etc...

So.. how would I test for a bad oil cooler?; what's involved in changing one 
out?

Thanks,
Neil




previous message:

I expect Loren will jump in here, but I'll offer a few
ideas.

Look at the base of the oil filter. There should be an
oil cooler there that has coolant lines going to it.
When it goes bad it will let oil get into the water,
at least in my experience. Ours always have more oil
pressure than coolant pressure at that point - I've
never seen the coolant get into the oil.