Tdci Oil Cooler

[clueless chancer]

I have a mk3 tdci 130.

In recent weeks, I have noticed that the coolant header tank is starting to get a small amount of oil in there.

Is this likely to be the oil cooler? If so, has anyone here changed one?

Car is now on 116k miles.

Any help appreciated.

[falcorob]

Sounds more like the start of head gasket problems to me though I could be completely wrong. Check for the following first.

With the engine running do you get bubbles coming through the header tank? Are you losing coolant or using more oil than you would expect? Are you getting any yellowish slimy deposits under the oil filler cap or on the dipstick? Is the engine smokier than you would expect? Does it run/tickover roughly?