Odd smell in header tank

Hi all,
My 45 1.6 is still running perfectly 4 years after head gasket change, but my son-in-law's identical car has started losing coolant at 78,000. There are no visible leaks from the usual places. In the header tank I found a fair amount of what looks like engine oil. This is liquid oil and hasn't emulsified with the coolant. The car uses very little oil between changes and is still just below the full mark. Here's where it gets odd. Dipping a finger in and smelling it (ooh missus) reveals a strong distinctive reek of hypoid gear oil, which is impossible. That rotten fish smell is hard to miss. My question is whether anyone else has ever had this slightly weird situation, as I'm baffled by it. The lad doesn't posess any gear oil, so he hasn't had a brainstorm and put that in.

Cheers,
Stu

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Odd smell in header tank