Just done a six month oil change on my daughters 1.4 Corsa (first one I have done as car is only 18 months old).
Lots of creamish brown foam in the oil filler. Some sites list posible cause as HGF ! ! !
Car has done less than 3k in 18 months and generally on short runs (2 miles). Will this be the cause or is there a bigger issue I need to look for (or get Vauxhall to look for)?
BTW - Did oil change on my sons 1.0 a couple of weeks ago and none in that (its runs are generally 10-12 miles when it is used.
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If it helps you, the first (and only) time I've ever had to top up the oil on my wife's Corsa when it was running in from new, it had loads of browny-white "mayonnaise" around the filler cap. Car is perfect three years later & uses no water. I assume your daughter's Corsa uses little or no coolant? A combination of low mileage, often short runs and a plastic oil filler cap not getting hot (like the metal caps used to) to burn off the moisture I think.
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Ian
Mayonnaise of any colour is never a reliable single indicator of HG problems. With the described usage of this car, it should definitely be disregarded until there are other, less ambiguous, symptoms.
Quite a bit of water vapour will inevitably enter the crankcase when the engine is cold and, unless the oil temp gets hot enough to boil it out of the breather as steam, then this is the inevitable result.
Certain oils [particularly one that's over-hyped in endless TV ads] seem more prone to this effect.
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Thanks for the responses. Will check the coolant level tonight - didn't think about it on Saturday.
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If the coolant level doesn't drop, then this is classic Low mileage plus short runs = almost certain condensation and 'mayonaise' in the top of the engine. My Corsa was exactly the same with more use than that one is getting. A good motorway run always left it clear. This is exactly why low mileage/short trip cars need regular oil changes.
JS
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My Y reg Corsa 1.2 gets that mayonnaise stuff all round the filler cap, as does a friends. The difference is he uses his for less than a mile trip to work and back, whereas mine has a good half an hour run on dual carriageways at 70 mph. But it still gets gunked up! Could it be anything to do with the oil its on? Comma Syner-g changed about 5000 miles ago.
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This is exactly why low mileage/short trip cars need regular oil changes.
There are those on this forum that advocated sticking to the yearly oil changes ! ! !
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It makes me smile that the Corsa suddenly went to 20,000 mile or 2 year servicing about 2 years ago when apart from the "Twinport" bit they are the same engines that up to 2003 needed annual servicing. Most Corsa's hopefully don't do anywhere near 20,000 miles between oil changes (unless they are hire/courtesy car/driving school cars) and these "fleet" cars seem to get changed for new ones every six months anyway. I once had a nearly new bodyshop courtesy Corsa that was bone dry on the dipstick. I felt so sorry for it I bought it some fresh 10W/40 to keep it happy!
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It makes me smile that the Corsa suddenly went to 20,000 mile or 2 year servicing about 2 years ago when apart from the "Twinport" bit they are the same engines that up to 2003 needed annual servicing.
That's because of the different oil used for the 2yr / 20,000 mile service. Long life fully synth, as opposed to the semi synth stuff for the 1 yr / 20,000 mile service.
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Yes in theory, but how do you know they don't really stick 10W/40 semi-synth in for every service they do? I don't think the Corsa has any special VW style oil type/quality sensors. Vauxhall seem to say use a 10W/40 A3/B3 type oil in the manual.
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