head gasket on car!!

[J.C.E]

1L 2002 manual petrol Corsa

When I took the oil cap off, there was a little bit of milky brown on the bottle of the cap, but there isn't any on the dipstick when I take it out.

Also now I found that, I am sure my exhaust is giving off a little bit of smoke aswell now!

These are signs that my head gasket has gone correct?

How much will this roughly cost to repair at a local garage??

 

[mechelec]

petrol engine oil caps often have a bit of gunk on them. are you loosing any coolant? What colour is the smoke? white indicates steam or unburnt diesal, blue oil, black patially burnt fuel

 

[J.C.E]

I don't think I am losing any coolant, and the smoke is white

 

[bugsy]

Are you loosing water? have you got that milky film in the rocker cover , if you can answer affimative to both then in all probability it's a blown gasket

 

[Marvo]

If you remove the radiator cap and run the engine for about a minute, maybe rev it slightly, do you see any bubbles in the radiator water?

 

[telectrix]

the milky brown in the cap is usually condensation. white exhaust smoke is also water vapour. don't think it's head gasket . best thing is to get local garage do a compression test and a pressure test. it's less than 1 hour's labour.

 

[rocker]

If you look in the water you should see like gross cottage cheesy looking stuff if your head gasket is gone.

Are you getting any other complaints from the car, or did you just notice this on the oil cap?

 

[Amp David]

You can usually smell exhaust gases in the coolant if the head gasket leaking too.

 

[mattmoo1974]

1L 2002 manual petrol Corsa

When I took the oil cap off, there was a little bit of milky brown on the bottle of the cap, but there isn't any on the dipstick when I take it out.

Also now I found that, I am sure my exhaust is giving off a little bit of smoke aswell now!

These are signs that my head gasket has gone correct?

How much will this roughly cost to repair at a local garage??

Does it overheat? Tell tale sign. Also the radiator hoses will go rock hard. The milky oil in the cap by the sounds of it is, Not taking the pee 1L corsa im guessing you dont do long journeys Alot of stop start? Thus you dont get the engine up tp temp alot. Tehn in turn you get the milky stuff in ya cap. As long as the oil isnt milky, Its not miss firing or overheating. Id say i needs a good run mate
Hope this helps.

 

[J.C.E]

Does it overheat? Tell tale sign. Also the radiator hoses will go rock hard. The milky oil in the cap by the sounds of it is, Not taking the pee 1L corsa im guessing you dont do long journeys Alot of stop start? Thus you dont get the engine up tp temp alot. Tehn in turn you get the milky stuff in ya cap. As long as the oil isnt milky, Its not miss firing or overheating. Id say i needs a good run mate
Hope this helps.

this is correct, so hopfully a good long drive will do it the world of good?

 

[mattmoo1974]

As long as its not doing ne oof the things iv said mate im sure its fine.Cars dont like alot of stop start and not getting to running temp.
You could even leave it ticking over on your drive until the fan cuts in, Once its does rev it a little and the temp should go back to the normal range.
Dont rev it just leave it ticking over for 20 mins until the leccy fan kicks in. If it dumps all the water out the rad cap you COULD have head gasket issues.
Also if it doesnt get up to temp,your thermostat could be sticking thus making it run cold all the time.
As said before bubbles in the water with the cap off is a sign(not aways headgasket tho) Could just be a pipe drawing air in some where.
Could be many things going on,Best bet is to leave it ticking over. If you go belting off down the road and the headgasket is on its way and goes, You gotta get it recovered (£100 upwards)
Check all the fluid levels oil/water.Sounds to me like the old girl has had to much stop start and yearns for a nice run.
oh the white smoke is condensation. Blue smoke is burning oil and Black is overfeuling/unburnt feul.
Hope this clears it up for you
Happy Motoring

 

[thekingiam]

If still worried get an oil change at quick fit ,this will show if you have a problem or not.
Even if you need to replace head gasket this is quite simple and kits cost about 20 quid.
Although it's easy, it's recomended to have it skimmed and this costs about 50quid.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Take it to a garage and get them to do a sniff test on the expansion bottle, this picks up hydrocarbons in the water which shouldn't be there if the head is OK, it is the definitive test for head gasket failure. It only takes two minutes including a tea break, so they should do it for a fiver for a beer if they are a decent garage.

 

[Colin Integrale]

I'd put it down to the tyre pressures personally.

 

[Marvo]

Whatever you do, don't go to a mechanic and tell him you think the head gasket has gone, that's a license for him to fit a new one whether you need it or not.