I bought my 3.0 petrol around a month ago. Its a 2006 done 96k full mot and full service history. Levels were all fine for the first week, but I did have a p0420 code for a bad cat reading, which has since gone out.

Now I checked the levels again today and I had lost a bit of oil (gone from top mark to lower mark on dipstick). I had also lost some coolant (again from max to roughly min). 

I do 2 half hour motorway trips a day to and from work, and I haven't been pushing her hard since its a new car n all! I'm a bit worried it might be a head gasket :s

I should point out that when feeling the coolant (it's the red jag one) it felt *slightly* oily - is it meant to feel like that or do I have engine oil in there? There were no visible signs of oil in the coolant. I also have the leaky top hose syndrome so maybe the loss is down to that.

I have also been keeping an eye on the exhaustas during the colder weather I was seeing wisps of white smoke at traffic lights even though the car was warmed up. Possibly burning oil? It didn't smell sweet.

Sorry for the essay, any help will be much appreciated!

HI Dan, 

White smoke on a petrol engine when it is warmed up can indicate that there is some coolant getting into the cylinders and being burnt off.

I am not a mechanical expert and guess that there might be a cheap way of curing it.  Hopefully, another member will also be able to assist.

Regards,

Peter.

Dan

is there any sign of water on the dipstick or oil filler cap? Any obvious drips on the floor under the car? Any signs of leakage on the engine itself?

I very recently posted about the same concern 'Double Whammy' then unfortunately posted another 'NOT good news!' as an update, if you know you have a dodgy hose, replace it before it's to late. Look at my post NOT good news, to see what may happen 

good luck sorting out your problem 

Regards

Steve

No drips to speak of and no water on oil filler or dipstick.

Yeah I plan to try fixing the nipple on the reservoir and if it doesn't hold just replace the whole unit.