has my head gasket gone?

garyrigden · Feb 7, 2007

just went outside to top the oil up on my series 3 2 1/4 petrol and when i took the filler cap off there is a load of creamy white gunk on the underside of the cap where before there was none. however there is no sign of coolant loss that i can see and no sign of water in the oil.
has my head gasket gone or is it about to?

clivees · Feb 7, 2007

May be not check the following.
Bubbles in the rad when running.
Lots more steam than usual when starting and running.
Steaming when upto temp.
Check the compression of each pot.
Check for washing of the plugs (Ie one clean plug and 3 carbonated plugs).

Just keep a eye on the mayo in the oil and if it gets worse then change the head gasket cos its quick and cheep.

steamcoaster · Feb 8, 2007

My S3 has had the same issue. I concluded that it was some condensation on the inside of the oil filler pipe.

When engine runs it runs warm. The inlet manifold is connected to the sump to maintain it at negative pressure to reduce emissions of HCs. Any HC vapour being taken from thhe sump into the engine and hopefully burnt. This negative pressure also draws in air (containing moisture). When the engine cools after a run, some of the moisture from the air now in the engine condenses in the oil filler pipe, mixing with a it of oil there to form the mayo.

Advice as previous post + have a look at oil in sumpwith dipstick or drain a bit out. If head gasket gone, oil and water in sump mix to give much more mayo.

garyrigden · Feb 8, 2007

had a look on the dipstick and there are no signs of water contamination in the oil. think i might chuck some of that k-seal stuff in it just in case and see what happens.

bonnybaggot · Feb 8, 2007

Could be condensation can happen if used only on short runs and the engine dosnt get warm enough to evaporate it off. BB

yella · Feb 8, 2007

best be changin yer signature eh

slob · Feb 8, 2007

bonnybaggot said:
Could be condensation can happen if used only on short runs and the engine dosnt get warm enough to evaporate it off. BB

you ran out of yer own pearls of wisdom and started using other folks??
some other **** has already said about condensation

has my head gasket gone?

garyrigden

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clivees

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steamcoaster

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garyrigden

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bonnybaggot

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yella

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slob

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