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Originally Posted by russwinchester
Absolutely amazing post as ever! Thank you.
So I'll try and answer as many questions as possible...
It's definitely oil; a dip with some kitchen roll confirms it and it's emulsifying. There's no air bubbling I have seen in the expansion tank either.
The transmission oil looks OK, I didn't smell it but it's probably 15 years old at a guess. One for the future like you say.
Great info about the transmission oil cooler...stupid question then, how would I go about checking for a leak? Strip it and visually inspect?
In terms of the charging issue, so when I start the car the only warning lights on are the seat belt, handbrake and oil pressure. When I start it then oil pressure (and seatbelt if buckled up) go off.
After a while (and I guess after I'm running on fast-draining battery power alone) several of the dash lights along the bottom start to become very dimly illuminated (can't remember which ones specifically but it's several in a row). I'll try the 5000rpm trick, I mean that's got to be the best car fix ever if it works :-)
Saying this it's only been revved up to about 3000 so far so it may actually blow a gasket when I try it!!!
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Ah, a glimmer from those warning lights is a huge glimmer of hope for the alternator!
As i mentioned further up, those lights all come on with the charge warning lamp (there are other reasons i'll go into at a later point, don't want to swamp you with it all in one go!) if the rotor circuit is intact so the fact they're glowing faintly (or have a glimmer!
) means the circuit is intact but somewhere along the line there is resisitance in it. I'd lay bets it's dirty slip rings and the brushes are slowly cleaning them. A quick blip up to 4500-5000rpm to get the residual magnetism to start the alternator charging should help clean them more as it will then try to pass more power through the rotor to charge the battery. Also by simply running it, mechancial cleaning will occur between the brushes and slip rings.
As for a rev to 5krpm causing it to blow a gasket, as long as it's only a quick rev and you wait a few minutes for it to warm up first, you should be fine. Repeated revving while cold can cause engine damage though.
You can't strip the radiator to the level you need to check for leaks from the heat exchanger for the ATF into the coolant, likewise with the engine oil cooler. However, you could link out the two coolant pipes on the cooler and then run the engine, observing if oil is still finding its way into the coolant and also if it's leaking out of the stubs on the cooler.