'97 Polo - Head Gasket Failure - Possibly???

[gadgetgricey]

Just got the wife's Polo through its MOT and think it may have been a pointless exercise.

 

Car has not let us down for the past 4 months. Starting whatever weather, not using any oil or water. Perfectly reliable, which is why I forked out £250 for a new exhaust and other things to get it through the MOT.

 

However just noticed there is a load of mayo in the filler cap.  Any ideas what can cause this as no water has been used in the cooling system. May have always been there, just never removed the filler cap until this morning.

 

Going to change/cleanse the oil and run it for a while to see what happens, but just wondered if anyone had any ideas on what to check.

 

Cheers

 

Dave 

 

 

[500tops]

Short journeys?

[cobblers]

It'll just be condensation, the air is cold and damp and on little runs this time of year the engine never gets hot enough to boil all the water out of the oil. Unless the dipstick is all smegged up, I wouldn't worry at all.

[Morgan84]

Short journeys will do this, plus of the VW's I look after a little mayo under the cap isn't unusual at all so as long as the coolant level is staying the same, and looks clean still,don't worry about it.

[Tetleysmooth]

My old Senators used to do exactly the same.

Once again, short journeys.

Good heater?

Cooling system pressurising to the point of exploding?

If no to the above, no problems.

[Vince70]

As already been said it's nothing to worry about... Mine did the same a few months ago.. And it's down to short journeys..

 

If there's no mayo in the expansion tank you will be fine.

 

I don't know if it's coincidence but I found I would have my heater on full blast so the interior was furnace hot at all times and the car never seemed to warm up for the journey to work as quick.

 

But when I had my woolly hat and scarf on and didn't use the heater as much the car warmed up quicker and the Mayo disappeared.

[beko1987]

Missus meriva is doing this, with the added bonus of clogging the main breather pipe up.

[DVee8]

Get it on the nearest long road and give it an Italian tune to clear the shite out.Cold weather and short trip do it no good.

[lovejoy]

Is it "Hellmanns"?  much better than Italian dressing....

[gadgetgricey]

Sounds promising. Any ideas how much a garage would charge for a "sniff test" to confirm???

 

Cheers all, in a much better mood now.

 

- Dave -

[spike60]

I have a 2.8 BMW and a 3.2 Merc. both mayo up the caps in winter and as soon as the the sun appears it clears up. If that's the only cause for concern forget about it.

[Stanky]

What engine is it? If it is either a 1.4 8v AEX or 1.6 8v AEE then they do this for fun. 

 

Open up the air box, or even better take the whole kit and kaboodle off and check the crankcase breather hose for gunge. You will know which one it is by the fact it is full of what looks like custard. 

 

They all do it, especially in the winter, and especially if you only do short journeys. I would be surprised if it is OMGHGF if its one of these engines as they are very underpoweredstressed. I've had 2 golfs with AEE and AEX engines and both required regular de-gunking but were fine apart from looking like they were about to die.

 

If you can get underneath and disconnect the crankcase end of the hose then blow it out with an air gun or even a garden hose, let it dry and re-fit, it will make the underside of the oil filler cap much less gunky, as the crankcase will be able to breathe again.

 

If you are a bit unscrupulous, you can buy an old Polo/Golf/Felicia/Seat? With one of these engines and absolutely hammer the seller by sucking in through your teeth and suggesting it has HGF and is therefore worth only marginally more than scrap value. I may* have done this in the past.

 

(edited to include punctuation)

[Stixy]

Sniff test kit on ebay 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-BLOCK-TESTER-KIT-FOR-GASKETS-CYLINDER-HEADS-BT500-/151046876264?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item232b186c68

[meggersdog]

As above,however, if it has an oil cooler above the filter these can crack.Quite common apparently and causes similar symptoms.If you do buy one order a gasket seal aswell as the oil cooler doesn't come with a new seal.

[gadgetgricey]

What engine is it? If it is either a 1.4 8v AEX or 1.6 8v AEE then they do this for fun. 

 

 

Yep, Its a 1.4.

 

Thanks all. Got the oil filter on order, and will check everything out next weekend.

 

I'll report back.

 

- Dave -

[Taff]

Ignore them all, they are all wrong. It's terminal, I can tell that from here.

 

Tel you what, leave the keys on the back tyre and I'll shift for you, gratis. save you a world of pain later, that will.

[wackywacerwill]

I had one of these that used to do the same when used for short runs for a period of time. Mayo under the cap and gunky pipe cleaned through followed by a good thrashing worked wonders.

HG replacement can't be too bad a job on these if it comes to that, come to think of it we may have a spare motor at work which could be had for cheap if needs be.

[michael1703]

I'd say oil cooler.

 

If its thick and looks like chicken soup rather than thin and white like Michael barrymores semen,it's definitely oil cooler

[Pillock]

I used to ignore the inside of the cap and just dip my finger into the expansion tank.

If it came out yukky and made me feel sick, it was trouble. If it came out wet, it was fine.

[londonm]

I'd say oil cooler.

If its thick and looks like chicken soup rather than thin and white like Michael barrymores semen,it's definitely oil cooler

You'd know, would you?

[gadgetgricey]

If it came out yukky and made me feel sick, it was trouble. If it came out wet, it was fine.

Rule that I live by......

 

- Dave -