[Si95]

Hey guys, just been out for a drive with some friends along the country roads and wen i stopped i laughed at the smell of burning clutch, but then opened the bonnet to find wet oil around the headgasket area on the engine, im just wondering if the headgasket is gone/on its way out or that the heat melted and boiled existing dirt/oil on the engine, any help would be appreciated because i'm currently crapping the thought of a head gasket job.

 

[Demon]

A head gasket will be signified by either white milky oil or oil in the coolant,

or a smoking exhaust or on a compression test two neighboring cylinders low.

at the same time all three of these situations can represent

a) cracked block,

b) a cracked head

or c) blown head gasket.

wet oil around the headgasket

lol

 

[Si95]

None of the above seem to appear, i'll do a compression test once im back at college, i'll use their equipment haha, so i've little to worry about? sorry if im being a bit ahhh over it as ive only had the car for 2/3 weeks and it's my pride and joy. Thanks again for the super fast responce!

 

[Demon]

proberly nothing, pushed it to hard maybe.

do you mean the rocker cover or the head?

 

[Kenny]

an easy and quick way to tell if the headgasket is gone is to take the oil filler cap off when while the engine is still warm and check for white fluid on the underside of the cap. even if the head is only just starting to go, white fluid will be present.

 

[Si95]

Yeah I think I just pushed it a bit far, just checked filler cap and there's no white fluid what so ever, the oil or fluid is at the top of the cylinder head.

Yes wet oil haha, i'm half asleep, i know oil is always "wet", i meant fresh oil

 

[Kenny]

well, when my head gasket was a bit loose, and i mean minutely loose, i had white fluid underneath the cap, and most mechanics will check that if they suspect a head gasket is gone. personally, i would look elsewhere for the problem.

recently, one of the breather pipes on my corsa burst and put fresh oil everywhere and there was heaps of white smoke. maybe an idea to check the 2 breather caps that come off the top of the head/rocker gasket

 

[Demon]

while your compression testing check the rocker cover bolts are at correct

tighness.

 

[Si95]

Just wondering, do you mean white smoke from the engine bay or excessive white smoke from the exhaust. I'll have a look at the breather pipes, thanks!

 

[Demon]

exhaust, cloudy blue when the car is cold, white when warm

 

[Si95]

Thanks mate, I'll I'm heading to bed now I'll take a look tomorrow morning before work and inform you if i come across any issues.

 

[Demon]

ok, stop worring about it. it'll be fine. lol :thumbs_up:

 

[Clutch]

Oil might of seaped through somewhere, where you had a blast around country lanes the engine is likely to of been working harder therefore pumping oil around the engine quicker, this also increases its temperature, higher temperature means the oil is thinner. Thinner fluids find the smallest gaps, especially when its flowing more.

 

[Chris]

Mine was leaking oil, so i just got a new gasket seal for about £2 and it fixed teh problem, make sure you remove 100% of the old one with something like a razor balde 1st tho

 

[Si95]

Thank everyone for the help! No more oil has seaped through so everything should be fine and there's no running problems. :thumbs_up: