My 180,000 mile 1986 Golf GTi 1800 8v has mayonnaisy white deposits under the oil filler cap. The dipstick oil is fine.
I rang my local VW specialist to get a price for a head gasket replacement and he was cagey and said book it in and it may not be the head gasket but just a 'sub £100' repair. Now the car does not seem to be losing coolant so perhaps he is right and it is not the head gasket, but any ideas what it could be??? The rocker gasket is leaking but can't see that making a difference??? He would not tell me his thoughts so would be interested if anyone has any ideas...
Ian
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Ian,
Not an uncommon problem, and indeed not necessarily anything too horrible.
So long as the oil in the sump is looking OK, and the engine is not using oil or water, it is probably NOT the head gasket. What type of use does the car get?
Lots of short trips mean the condensation that occurs naturally inside any engine does not get a chance to literally boil away - it then forms this "mayonnaise" in the cam cover and breather system. Try cleaning the inside of the cam cover (and the oil filler cap), make sure the crankcase breather system is clean too, and give the car a regular longer run. Oil quality is also important - you should be using a 10/40 semi-synthetic. Also, make sure the thermostat is working correctly, so that the engine gets good and hot before the radiator, as running too cool is also a factor.
HTH. Adam
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I read Ian's post and immediately checked my oil filler cap.
It is covered in what seems to be ONION GRAVY. Can anyone help?
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Ladas
I've warned you one last time.
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its not me, also i am now on bt internet, so i am not a cache.pol
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'your email' wont take my btopenworld.com address??
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wipe off the salad dressing, then take it out for an italian tune-up (ie a good motorway blast at 70 for 100 miles) and see what occurs. In the old days, a white exhaust (lead deposit) used to show the engine was in good nick - in these days of PC juice, I don't know ...
(BTW, I run the astra on 97 unleaded. It burns the pipe as white as snow!!!)
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Could be a £0 repair if you've been doing all short trips lately.
Maybe just your GTI's way of telling you it's overdue for a long fast run.
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Gentlemen! We agree!
3 posts in 3 minutes, all recommending much the same!
YEEHAA! Off you go, Ian M! Go visit the relatives in Inverness!
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Very common on some engines Ian. Every old series A BMC engine was the same and people used to fit a shield to stop the cold air strking the rocker cover. It may well be the very cold air we are having at the moment and perhaps short runs. It was never considered a problem apart from it tending to block the breather pipes from the top cover to the air cleaner.
I would check any pipes and leave it until the warm weather arrives and it will probably disappear. Some types of engine oil were said to be worse than others.
alvin
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Excellent responses guys, the car gets used for a 6 mile each way trip to work on an A road which passes though a few 30mph zones, with an occasional 30 mile longer run. The oil is 10-40 semi synthetic (VW synta) and is probably about due for a change.
As suggested I think a job for the weekend is an oil and filter change, rocker cover/breather clean, new rocker gasket and a good long blat, thats after I have freed up the rear brake calipers that have siezed up again...
Ian
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Ian
The Golf MK3 rear calipers fit, even the MK4 items do, these are reputedly seize-free.
Cheers
Andrew
www.hispecgolfs.co.uk
>
> Excellent responses guys, the car gets used for a 6 mile each
> way trip to work on an A road which passes though a few 30mph
> zones, with an occasional 30 mile longer run. The oil is
> 10-40 semi synthetic (VW synta) and is probably about due for
> a change.
>
> As suggested I think a job for the weekend is an oil and
> filter change, rocker cover/breather clean, new rocker gasket
> and a good long blat, thats after I have freed up the rear
> brake calipers that have siezed up again...
>
> Ian
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Having said all of which, if it's the original head gasket then 16 years and 180K is pretty good going. I have found these gaskets tend to crack at the outer edges when they get this old. Keep an eye on the coolant level. If the head gasket starts to fail it may pressurise the system and blow coolant back into the header tank when the engine is running, giving a false indication - best to check it when cold.
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This is classic 80's car stuff. PSA XU engines do the same thing - which scares the hell out of those who don't know whats happening - and especially on BXs where anything out of the ordinary sends the incurious owner into a blind panic, knees jerking furiously.
I know absolutely nothing about the golf engine - but if there's a crankcase breather system it may need "blowing out" (which could be the sub-£100 the garage is talking about).
David
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>Author: ladas are slow (---.cache.pol.co.uk) <----------------
>Date: 22-02-02 01:00
>
>its not me, also i am now on bt internet, so i am not a cache.pol <----------
What a prat !!!!!!!
But it does explain my slight doubt that we had a couple of pathetic queries from "new" people on BT Internet.
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You'd think the little twerp would be getting bored by now.
Unfortnately, he isn't but we most certainly are.
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Is your local VW specialist one in Essex ? Just that's what the bloke I go to always says in a cagey fashion - "It might not be that, book it in and I'll have a look."
Last time anything went wrong I was sure it was the head gasket (horrible oil/water mix in the coolant pipes and tank & no oil in the sump) but he said it might not be. Lo and behold it wasn't, the oil cooler had given up.
Does anyone know if the rocker cover cleaning exercise is easy or difficult ?
I'm going to change the oil at the weekend, weather permitting so I might as well have a go at that once my hands are dirty.
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If its similar to the one on my better half's polo then its a doddle.
Just 3 6mm colts, undo and voila.
Remove the oil splash plate and you can see whether the mayo is clogging the works or not. In my case it was just around the breather pipe and filler cap. Good clean out and looks like new.
Just remember don't, i repeat DON'T overtighten the bolts and 2 of mine went snap and a lot of buggering around. £1.61 each from vw.
Check if the rocker cover gasket needs replacing and thats a 2 min job also. they cost around £6
Jonathan
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