Seca, Oil in coolant, Help appreciated

[Schimitar]

Hi

I have a 1992 Corolla Seca liftback with what
I think is the 1.6 litre fuel injected engine. The engine has a large
amount of engine oil that has mixed in with the radiator coolant and
caused a significant overflow of mixed oil/coolant out of the the
radiator overflow. The engine oil level is very low and there is no sign
of coolant on the dipstick. The gearbox oil level is normal with no
signs of coolant. The motor seemed to be running fine up to this event
which seemed to happen suddenley.

Since the discovery the motor has been compression tested and came up fine.

I know many people will automatically say "blown head gasket" but I have
heard that some toyota engines can have these symptoms because of a
leaking timing chain cover (apparently there is an oil pump there that
can discharge through a possible leak into the coolant circuit).

(I wonder if it is worth repairing considering the age of the car, it
has been a very reliable vehicle and of course I had just put brand new
tyers on it. The motor has fairly low km's - about 75,000 km I think).

If anyone has had experience with this could you please let me know and
also tell me if this is an expensive fix? or what other possibilities
could have caused this?

Also I am thinking of buying a 2006 corolla with about 45,000 km's on it that has
gone a couple of years without oil changes (ie. first service after 3
years and then 1 about every 18 months). Is this likely to be a problem or

should it be O.K. considering the low km's?

Thanks for any help

Jeff

Ps. I'm new here so: Greetings to all.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Schimitar

[micktroy89]

if its been compression tested and come up fine then it could mean theres a litttle imperfection in the head gasket between oil galleries and coolant galleries. or theres a crack in the head somewhere.