Mayo = Headgasket failure?

[pandamonium]

Just checking fluid in my car. Noticed there is no water in the header tank. Oops.Checked the oil and found grey/cream gunge on the dipstick and under the cap. Yikes!Topped up water, cleaned dipstick and cap, and started the car. Ran it for 20 mins, and everything seems fine. Not losing water or oil, not overheating, fan cuts in when it is supposed to. I'm baffled.1 - Where did the water go? (I've had the car a week and I must confess I didn't check the water.)2 - Is the 'mayo' anything to worry about or is it due to the car sitting idle for ages and then only doing very short journeys?3 - Should I drive it or get it looked at pronto?Please help all you knowledgeable Autoshiters?!ps. The engine in question is a 3 cyl 847cc Daihatsu lump.

[Milford Cubicle]

Not necessarily, it can be caused by condensation on short runs. My old Subaru Justy was really bad for it.Give it a good flushing.

[Albert Ross]

Top it up, using a cheap antifreeze also, and run it for a month, monitor water usage. If it drops, you have a bill to pay for gaskets. If it's ok, flush the system and refill with good quality Antifreeze. Robert's your Mother's brother.

[scooters]

what type of car is it?it could be a leaky water seal in the water pump

[Cavcraft]

Had the same as Milford suggested in a 405 petrol yonks back. Good flush, change oil and regular long journeys/damned good thrashings eventually cured it.

[Guest greenvanman]

Not necessarily, it can be caused by condensation on short runs. My old Subaru Justy was really bad for it.Give it a good flushing.

+1, my wanky old Skoda Felicia did this too.

[UltimateJames]

If it was a Vauxhall it`d be dead by now !!

[Mat.T]

run away!

 

only joking could just be condestation from short runs, any water out the exhaust? My 323 lost alot of water out the exhaust (no mayo in the filler cap) just the tail pipe resembled a dripping tap, turned out it was the hg but it did last like this for 5000miles or so before i sorted it. Also dont be tempted to used any of those kseal type things, they seem to do more harm than good.

[pandamonium]

Pmsl. I love a good Monty Python sketch.'On second thoughts, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place'

[Cavcraft]

K-seal rocks. When you're putting fucked Vauxhalls and Rovers through the auctions!

[chester drawers]

The Montego used to collect Hellmans at the oil filler. Replacing the completely blocked catch tank cured it. No idea what venting arrangement your engine has but appeasing the crank seal is usually a good idea.

[trigger]

My old man had a Mk 4 Escort 1.3 hcs years ago which suffered from a creamy problem under the oil cap, He thought the H/G was pooped, Turned out it was from the short journeys it done and cheap oil he used, It turned out the oil had just emulsified, He flushed it out and it was fine.In fact i saw it last 6 months ago still on the road, 14 years after he sold it!.

[Guest]

 

What about if you have engine jizz tidemarked halfway up the dipstick, engine jizz in the sump but normal coloured (if extremely old) oil in the head or filler cap?

 

Car in question is TU engined Citroen C3 that gets so hot in traffic that water droplets evaporate off the bonnet.

 

Apparently, according to the Citroen garage in Bristol, it's fine and you can tow an automatic. And my Volvo is shit and people from Manchester know fuck all about French heaps of merde.

 

That car is complete shit. It's partially down to my mate, who hasn't serviced it 40,000 miles. And her sister, who pinballed it off every car in the street and then the kerb. I'm surprised the shell is still straight.

 

There was definitely something wack with it, because the NS rear wing that should be steel was full of filler. And she's owned it from new and it's never been repaired, even when her older less fit sibling stuffed it. Actually she's sort like my mate but less doable and more dull.

 

Should I just go and give her one and stop thinking about it?

[Station]

If it was a Vauxhall it`d be dead by now !!

I drove my 1.4 Astra for three years with a dodgy head gasket and constant mayonaise on the oil cap! Five years later of not being started, today it started on the button and ran like I'd just gone in and out of the shop. Say what you like about Vauxhall, but every engine pre-Ecotec is totally unbreakable!

What about if you have engine jizz tidemarked halfway up the dipstick, engine jizz in the sump but normal coloured (if extremely old) oil in the head or filler cap?

Looks like it's just a bit discoloured by hot oil. You'd think they'd use the tried and trusted metal dipsticks, and not some absorbant shitey plasticy polystyrene jobby.

[CortinaDave]

I agree old vauxhall engines are unbreakable.. my Calibra 8 valve's last duty was a blast down the motorway to the weighbridge, during which I floored it and enjoyed seeing off a tailgater in a bmw with easeThe rest of the car had simply fallen apart around the superb engine.

[Guest]

Not necessarily, it can be caused by condensation on short runs. My old Subaru Justy was really bad for it.Give it a good flushing.

+1, my wanky old Skoda Felicia did this too.

Was that the black one GVM? I remember that thing, it was bollocks even when it lived in Wales.

[dollywobbler]

Has it got a temp gauge? I hate it when cars don't as you can't tell if the thermostat has jammed open. When my old BX did this, I could at least see that it wasn't getting up to temperature, and it was mayo city under the filler cap. New stat, no problem.

[Guest greenvanman]

Not necessarily, it can be caused by condensation on short runs. My old Subaru Justy was really bad for it.Give it a good flushing.

+1, my wanky old Skoda Felicia did this too.

Was that the black one GVM? I remember that thing, it was bollocks even when it lived in Wales.

The very same. In the space of about three weeks the ignition switch fell to bits, the ABS stopped working and the clutch packed in as I was coming up the drive one day. There had been plenty of other issues too, seized calipers, snapped handbrake cable, exploding thermostat housing, leaking piss-poor windscreen seals and (factory fitted) sunroof etc, etc. It had been written off by then after getting side-swiped at a roundabout (Skoda don't do doorskins for the Felicia, only complete doors) & I'd bought it back for almost nothing, so I was actually up on the deal and didn't give it a second thought when it came to weighing it in. That car was the biggest pile of crap I've ever owned... actually, second biggest. I did once have an automatic Mini 1000...