2007 speed 3 engine oil in coolant-help

[blackspeed3]

Got home from the gym yesterday and noticed my temperature guage was at 3/4 which is odd as it usually sits at exactly 1/2 when fully warmed up. Shut the down the car and the next morning I added a bit of coolant to the reservoir and noticed the coolant has a brown tinge to it. Also leaked some coolant (mixed with engine oil) on my driveway under my car. Had my car towed to my mechanic this am and he is going to diagnose. He said it could be the head gasket or the oil cooler leaking. Has anyone had this happen or had experience? I really hope its not my head gasket as not worth it to fix i know it's very expensive.

I did replace the oil cooler a couple of years ago with one from ebay as it was about 2/3 cheaper then a factory mazda unit. Does anyone think the unit was cheap and could be the likely culprit????

I dont think its the head gasket as the car drove perfectly before this, no white/discoloured smoke from exhaust etc. Business as usual.

[TheMAN]

it might be the oil cooler, or it might be a blown head gasket... overheating engine could be a sign of a blown head gasket

the oil cooler sits on top of the oil filter, under the starter... it will get blasted from salt spray over the years... it's simply painted metal... I think it's brass or copper... if it got corroded, leaks will happen... it's not uncommon in many cars with water cooled oil coolers to have coolant and oil getting mixed after they internally corrode, due to poor maintenance or use of water rather than antifreeze

it could also simply be as simple as a failed oil cooler gasket, as the gasket design of the ford oil cooler was not very good to begin with... there are aftermarket replacements available, but official ones from ford or mazda aren't

the original ford oil cooler got superseded to a redesigned "round" style one in mid 2009... this is the one to replace with, rather than the original type... the gasket is replaceable in the new type, and is much larger