biffsmash

New Member
Hi :) Just signed up but been reading the forum for a few weeks. So be gentle! :D

Have a small problem (I hope) with my 1992 200tdi.

Last night I popped out for a 5 min drive and noticed steam coming from under the bonnet. I had a look and there was steam and oil coming out of the oil cap and leaking over the engine.

Got home, and once the car had cooled down and settled I checked and the oil level was well below minimum :(

I'm topping it up tonight but could there be anything more serious than low oil?

Any advice welcome.

Cheers, Biff.
 
if you got steam coming out yer filler cap i think you just might have a bit of a problem there. whats yer exhaust look like? have you got white gunk inside yer filler cap? if you run the engine with yer rad cap off are there bubbles appearing in yer rad? and can you get yer hands on a compression tester?
 
Hiya, cheers for the fast reply :)

I'm completely un-mechanically minded so you'll have to bear with me lol

There's no gunk under the cap, its clean apart from a bit of oil which i've cleaned off.
The exhaust looks fine, noticed a puff of I think black smoke for a split second when it was started the other day at a garage thats been doin some bodywork repairs for me, but aside from that theres no smoke or anything really from the exhaust.

I'll check the bubbles in the rad thing when I get home.

The cars been with a garage by me called rovamania who do land rovers and old rovers and they reckon the engine is in exellent condition. I hope their right.

Thanks for the advice and i'll let ya know later about the rad :)

edit: dont think i can get a compression tester unless their cheap and easy to use?

Biff.
 
biffsmash said:
I'm completely un-mechanically minded so you'll have to bear with me lol

Hmmm...this poses a problem, because most of the answers to a mechanical question you will get will involve some mechanical terminology and need mechanical expertise to understand.

What Slob has said is pretty basic and good first suggestions too, but to force oil out of your filler, means there has to be some pressure in there. Accompanied by steam usually means that a head gasket has blown and water will get into your oil and/or vice versa. Either way, if you dont have any mechanical expertise you are probably best taking it to someone that does.

Sounds way too much to just be condensation. Check the bubbles like Slob said
 
Argh dont like the sound of head gaskets :( Ive heard they can be pretty pricey to repair? :(

Oh well just another expense I love the car so i'll have to get it done.

I've just spoken to the garage who fixed it after my crash and someones coming over tonight to take a look so i'll see what they say.

Only just passed me test too so it's infuriating that I can't drive hehe.

Thanks again for the advice, just hope it's not too pricey to sort.

Biff.
 
biffsmash said:
Hiya, cheers for the fast reply :)

I the other day at a garage thats been doin some bodywork repairs for me, Biff.

bit of an understatement there biff!
Like slob says it sound like you did some damage to the motor (when you rearranged the wall) could just be a head gasket, Take the rocker cover off (where tho oil goes in)and have a watch/ listen where the valve push rods are with it running
if yer lucky/unlucky you might be able to hear/see it blowing.

good luck

New complete head £640ish
 
I think i'm gonna leave leave it to rovamania to sort, dads just got back to me and they refilled the oil but its still got shed loads of steam coming out so im gonna go with the head gasket blown thing.

How much you reckon it should set me back to get it done?

Cheers,

Biff :(
 
Depend if the heads ok, But get them to pressure test it,
New head,gasket,bolts,pressure test,etc about the 1K mark,
Deduct the cost of a new head if its ok
 
Yeah your right! Im a worrier! Theres definately no white stuff around the filler cap and when I got onto the garage who serviced the thing for the last owner, they suggested a breather might be blocked whatever that means lol.

Well im gonna cross me fingers! :D

Biff :)

edit: bloke from the garage has had a look and he says its an injector blown and it might of burnt a hole in a piston? does that sound feasible? Anyway he said he'll sort it and I can pay later cos im broke lol. He reckons 400 max hopefully less.
 
i can't see how a blocked breather would cause water to get into the oil; the water and oil will alway be seperated unless you have a blown head gasket,cracked or warped head, or a cracked block. most common fault is yer HG and if you run for any length of time with a blown HG you'll warp the head.
so rush out and buy a comp tester about 15squid i think. real easy to use and will tell you where yer fault is.
one last thing, are you sure its steam and not just some fumes?
 
I guess it could be fumes. But the garage are gonna take it tomorrow and he is now 99% certain its a blown injector, i'll get one of those testers though :)

I just wanna get it sorted, the garage have said they'll sort it in two days and as ive paid so much to have the body swapped after my crash, I can pay them at a later date :)

And yep I sure did worry that wall and the farmer lol.

bif.
 
sounds to me like the steam is actually diesel smoke, if an injector has blown and its ****ing diesel out ono the exhaust this can be worrying to the untrained eye ;)
 

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