My wife has a 96 Dodge Neon with a 2.0L SOHC engine. Two days ago I took the car to get an oil change and the mechanic noticed oil in the coolant. He flushed the cooling system out and put new coolant in. He didn’t think it was a head gasket since the car doesn’t smoke and he couldn’t see any coolant in the engine oil. He said the most likely cause was someone put oil in the cooling reservoir by mistake[:@]. Today when I took off the radiator cap I noticed oil on top. Could I have a blown head gasket without smoke from the exhaust and coolant in the oil? I'm hoping this is some minor problem that could be fixed but I doubt it lol. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

Get yourself a colliant pressure tester.
Apply some pressure to the cooling system. If the system looses pressure, and there are no visable leaks, the cooliant is probably sneaking into an oil passage past the head gasket, or crack in the head.

That's really the only way to know for sure.

If you see oil in the cooliant, it has to be getting in there somehow.

 

I agree with morningpride. Test the system. I'm willing to bet it is the head gasket.

 

There really is no other way to get oil in the coolant, unless its the head or head gasket. Minus the idiot factor of actually putting it in the radiatior. Test the system just to be sure though.

 

It's most likely your head gasket. It can be leaking between the oil passage and the water jacket without getting into the combustion chamber or without leaking much into it. As you probably already know the first gen Neons are well known for weak head gaskets.

 

man i gott eh same problem now trying to get help with took the oil in the radiator