Bear with Coco as he rambles and explains how a trusty small town mechanic..a lot of prayers....solved the "oil in coolant" problem.
...."no thanks" to the local Acura wiseguys who suggested a 5 grand rebuild because i lost two quarts of oil into the coolant....Am disgusted with the local in[acura]te deeler, their x-pert mechanic didnt even no a]where to look for a cooler, or b] engine has a water to engine oil cooler on it...Well in all fairness[ho-ho] to the service manager...he suggested i trade in my cherry 92 and sneak the oil in coolant problem past his very own sales people, suggesting they'd have to warrant and fix it later...sort of "stick the next generation" I walked out disgusted, with both their answers. Couple of days later, I begrudgingly found more help and expertise at their acura parts dept, where they pulled up the microfiches.which clearly show the 400 dollar water to oil cooler.....guess all good mechanics end up in sales, where the moneys at.
Hit up "google" for help,and landed uprite at this site...I got words of encouragement...and dismay...and many suspected it could have been head gaskets, or cracked head or block[which it could have been if the oil cooler hadnt proven to leaking oil into the water passage]..so thanks to the forums for providing the support. So in checking out the easy things...guess what??? the cheap[er], easy thing[oil cooler] was bad...
To cut to heart of the problem...WE Replaced the 400 buck oil cooler[located just beneath the water pump]..after testing it for leaks[ on the running engine].. changed all 20 somethig or so water hoses for safety sake though they looked good even after the oil through them....flushed 3 or 4 tymes, during which i trashed 2 radiator caps[their seals swell quick in oil] and after 800 hard miles, my 92L runs with crystal clear coolant, and the oil stays in the engine....Good thing i got more time than money to research problem....Sooooooooo guys and gals,,,if you have any oil in the overflow tank....take it back[under warranty] to your local acura dealer and demand that they give you a engine oil cooler which isnt leeking. Soooooooo for me, there was a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow...just keep trucking, ask a lot of "dumb questions" and stay away from "dealers" auto and cards...coco8724