Oil issue?

bennyboy · Apr 2, 2009

Evening chaps. My 'engine oil' warning light appeared the other day, so I checked the dip stick and sure enough it's a little low. Got round to topping it up tonight and upon opening the filler neck, noticed a coating of what can only be described as 'creamy stuff' down the length of the filler neck. It doesn't appear to go any further though. I think I know that it means the presence of water, but should I worry with the location or do I need to do further checks?

sawood12 · Apr 2, 2009

As long as you're not losing any coolant you'll be OK. This milky stuff is quite normal on our cars. It is probably due to condensation building up in the oil filler neck.

bennyboy · Apr 2, 2009

Thanks for such a swift response Scott. I am losing coolant, but I have been for the 18 months I have owned the car! Why would this have an impact?

andy watson · Apr 2, 2009

Hi Ben,

I had the creamy stuff in my oil filler for about 2 years, was under the impression it was condensation as a nomal thing with our cars, I was however losing a small amount of coolant over a 1000 miles.

3 compression tests found no fault, oil cooler gasket was changed, just kept topping up, thought it must be a small leak from a hose which could not be found due to the engine heat drying out the affected problem.

Eventually after a spirited drive to Thruxton (from Colchester) to the BTCC then after 10 miles on the way home I stopped to re-fuel on start up the engine gave way due to hydralic lock, the cam chain broke pistons hit valves casting in head shattered.

Diagnosis was that the head gasket had been leaking but not enough to show on compression test (as this was always done when cold)

Treat the condensation theory with care, as I had to find a good replacement engine.

all the best

Andy

bennyboy · Apr 2, 2009

Thanks Andy, though I am positive I have an actual coolant leak and my garage floor can testify!

edh · Apr 2, 2009

The two things may not be related of course...Are we talking about a small amount of gunk in this pipe (normal & will disappear after a long run) or lots of the stuff (pics maybe?) If you're losing coolant then it's going somewhere, which can mean h/g. When mine went, it was pressurising the coolant & forcing small amounts out of the overflow pipe of the expansion tank, not mixing with oil. Other things to look for include leaks (have also had one of those too - almost impossible to detect sometimes - best to get things nice & hot, open the bonnet & look for the steam / thin jet of hot water)

AFAIK, it's not all that usual for the coolant to mix with the oil on these engines, nevertheless, it's not good for the oil to be contaminated with water - not good for your bearings.

I'd suggest first thing is to get your coolant checked for exhaust gases - your friendly MOT station will have a probe that can detect them in the expansion tank. Also try re-routing the overflow pipe to a catch tank (plastic bottle [

])

A headgasket job's not hugely expensive - Zentrum did mine for IRO £500, including a couple of other small jobs - and if your belts are due, it's almost free [

]

keep us posted

Ed

bennyboy · Apr 2, 2009

Hi Ed, it's not massive amounts, quite partial along the length of the pipe but evenly spread. The car has not turned a wheel in 2 weeks. I think I will top it up and take it out for a good run, then have another look. I guess if it hasn't dissappeared I need to investigate further.

barks944 · Apr 3, 2009

Noticed some gunk that fits that description when I topped up yesterday! My dad also said his car gets it too...

Pastry · Apr 3, 2009

after 800 miles since i got it my car had a small amount of mayo under the cap, i wiped it off and keep checking. last time after a short run there were a few drops of water under the cap.

dont appear to be losing coolant although its pretty hard to tell with such a large shallow tank, certainly a few drops could go missing without notice. so either its the condenstaion thing or im starting to have a gasket failure.

i'm putting it in the 'keep an eye on it' category, praying its condensation and mentioning it next service.

used to have a rover that was losing coolant for 5 years, the entire time i owned it. To begin with I topped up every few months, by end it was using a litre every 100 miles and from the exhaust plume looked like it was steam powered.

Sandspider · Apr 3, 2009

The water in my coolant header tank is brown. I thought that was rust or general mank from inside the cooling system. It's been brown ever since I got the car - don't tell me my head gasket's on the way out?!

Giles

Sandspider · Apr 3, 2009

Although come to think of it, that may explain the recently increased oil consumption... :s

zcacogp · Apr 3, 2009

ORIGINAL: sc0tty

Just check the coolant header tank, if the water is brown, then you have oil and water cross contamination, normally caused by head gasket failure.

Or, as sandspider said, more likely to be just some dirtiness in the coolant system.

Oil and water don't mix (although they can emulsify - which is the 'mayonnaise') If you got water in your coolant it would show as globules on the surface, not as a brown hue in the water.

Oli.

Pastry · Apr 3, 2009

right before it was scrapped the rover was starting to get oil in the coolant tank; it gives a rainbow shimmer to the surface, with a small amount of browny yellow 'mayo' stuck to the walls of the tank. I pretty much decided it was the CHG worsening (k-series what else would it be).

probably worth flushing your coolant if its brown, supposed to change it every 2 years anyway iirc.

DavidL · Apr 3, 2009

ORIGINAL: edh

A headgasket job's not hugely expensive - Zentrum did mine for IRO £500, including a couple of other small jobs - and if your belts are due, it's almost free []

My HG was done about 4 years ago but I don't have alot of faith in some of the work done by the garage of choice of the previous owner.
I'm going to send it in to have a new water pump and turbo water pump (and more new belts!) so would a new HG not add very much to the bill then?
Is it worth stretching to a Cometic gasket?

edh · Apr 3, 2009

the belts need to come off to get the head off - worth pricing up with your garage, but the hg job shouldn't add more than a couple of hundred quid to the bill.

No need for a cometic gasket (assuming you're running reasonably standard motor)

sawood12 · Apr 3, 2009

ORIGINAL: bennyboy

Thanks Andy, though I am positive I have an actual coolant leak and my garage floor can testify!

If that's the case then the mayonnaise stuff you're seeing is probably normal. My comment was indeed aimed at the possibility of a HG leak where the coolant was finding it's way into your sump.

edh · Apr 3, 2009

I wouldn't discount the possibility of both at once though...

Hilux · Apr 4, 2009

if the water is brown, then you have oil and water cross contamination, normally caused by head gasket failure.

Or the oil/water intercooler, a common source of cross contamination I am led to believe.

bennyboy · Apr 5, 2009

Erm, so I topped up the oil, but the warning light (red box with !) and engine oil light have not gone out - any thoughts? Car is holding good oil pressure, goes down to 4bar in neutral?

944 man · Apr 5, 2009

Separate from the other issues that you have, Id suspect the low pressure warning switch, if the pressure gauge appears to operate correctly.

edited to show that I can spell separate...