Oil in head bolt holes and bubbling in coolant reservoir

[Chris E9 - E24 - E30]

Hi all. I recently took the head off and found the holes where the head bolts go had oil in them - is this normal?

I took the head off as I thought it was cracked after overheating and (yes, I am an idiot) topping up the coolant when the engine was still hot. The symptom was constant bubbling in the coolant reservoir, which showed as combustion gas with a liquid tester.

The head has been checked and isn’t leaking or cracked. The head gasket looked good (the engine was rebuilt 7 years ago/10k miles, so nearly new gasket)

Any thoughts on what the bubbling could be caused by?

Thanks vm, cheers Chris

 

[sfdon]

Oil is normal

You will need to check head for warp

Once your head has been resurfaced, you can install a new head gasket with your head only after you have removed all oil from the head bolt holes

 

[ScottAndrews]

Oil is normal

You will need to check head for warp

Once your head has been resurfaced, you can install a new head gasket with your head only after you have removed all oil from the head bolt holes

Puzzled as to how one installs a head gasket with your head...

 

[Chris E9 - E24 - E30]

Brill, at least that’s one less thing to worry about! . Thanks vm. Chris