hello,
i have the above van, it has 108k on the clock and service history.
i have just had it serviced and was told that the mayo/ ceamy paste in the oil cap and the small deposits on the dip stick is a sure sign of head gasket problems.
is this so and what other ways is there of telling the head gasket is on its way.
the van runs and starts fine with no other problems(i hope/think)
any advice would be appreciated...
cheers
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steve
Mayonnaise, on it's own, is never certain evidence of H/G failure - particularly in colder weather.
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steve Mayonnaise, on it's own, is never certain evidence of H/G failure - particularly in colder weather.
I agree with Screwloose and also where it may have been used for short journeys. Then engine does not reach its full operating temperature to get rid of any moisture in the oil or engine, giving you the Mayo.
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thanks for the advise.
i spent a few hours in the garage last night and have now cleaned out the breather hoses that were full of gunk/mayo/paste what ever you call it.
i have topped up the water, so i'll keep an eye on things over the next week and see how we go.
what are the other signs of head gasket failure?
cheers
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Lost compression and high water usage or good signs of HG failure.
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ok,
i have run the van this week daily and done 20-25 per day, i still have water dropplets in the filler cap and on the dip stick, the oil on the dip stick is grey.
the coolant level in the black resovoir seems to be steady with the water level on the red marker. i have checked presure from the coolant when cold and there is none,i have look for bubbles in the coolant while the engine is running but with the resovoir being black it hard, but i could not see any.
when warm the top rad hose is soft.
the engine temp stays a 70 after rising to 75 initially
after read my way through the forum my head is spinning, is it the h/g
cheers
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On these engines, the normal failure is for the head gasket to leak combustion gasses to the water system - which gives the pressure symptoms. It's not unknown for the HG to fail between a water way and oil way though - but then this usually results in oil in the water rather than the other way around (the oil runs at higher pressure). You however, definitely sound like you have water in the oil, and the logical conclusion has to be the HG - these things can work in mysterious ways! I'd change the oil and the filter (use good oil!) and then take it for a good hard thrash - like 3000+ rpm in 3rd gear up hill to get it really hot, then see if the water comes back. It may just be a hang over of a blocked breather - but then I've never heard of a blocked breather on these engines either!
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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ok,
since my last post-
i have lost around 3/4 litre of water in 350 miles.
the temp is normal.
there is mayo starting to form on the filler cap and in the breather hoses.
so thing are not looking good...
i have check for leaks there are none-
there is no loss of power, but the mpg has dropped 140 miles to £20 diesel.......
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You say you've checked for leaks- do you mean visually or using a pressure tester? A pressure test should indicate if there are any leaks within the cooling system, not all leaks are visible, especially if a small leak is only occurring when the engine is at it's normal operating temp of 75-80 deg, as small leaks usually evaoprate. Losing 3/4 litre of water in 350 miles is a significant amount, so the water is obviously going somewhere. Given that there is mayo on the oil filler cap and breather hoses, I would say it's the head gasket, but as Richard says, HG failures on this engine are usually recognised by means of coolant being lost through pressurisation.
Martin
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hi, i spent a few hour yesterday on the van trying to get to the bottom of this water /oil / mayo problem and.......................
i think its the oil cooler leaking,
i have bypassed the cooler and run the van for 30-40 miles and the dropplets of water have disappeared, the water level is steady and there is no signs of mayo.
so next question -
will i do any hard runing with out the cooler?
is there a good online shop that stock them and much are oil coolers?
steve
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