Possible head gasket fail???

[tominator]

I'm slightly concerned that I may have a head gasket fail in my E85 2004 3.0se convertible 82,000 miles.

I recently purchased the car and a few weeks later noticed mayo on the inside of the oil filler cap. upon rubbing my finger on the inside of the rocker cover it appears to be coated in dark brown dried burnt oil, and only minimal mayo. Of late I have only been doing short journeys to and from work which is only a round trip of just over 3 miles.
There's no real white smoke from the exhaust to speak of, not sure if there's oil in the water as you cant see it!!!

I carried out an oil change yesterday adding a flush before draining the oil, the drained oil was pretty clean, no sludge, not too dark, and there was no sign of water or mayo at all. (my son owned the car before me and had an oil change 12 mths ago)

I took the car out for a blast this evening only around 8 miles, when I got home i checked under the oil filler cap and it appeared there was a very thin film of white, which could be the start of mayo build up again!!!

Can anyone shed any light on the above problems? Although there's a build up of mayo I don't seam to have any other signs of a head gasket fail?
How can I check the water for oil?

Other than I rolled up a paper towel took off the filler cap and dipped it in as far as i could, the end of the tissue got wet but could not tell if the water contained oil or not....it did feel greasy to the touch! does coolant feel greasy?

[Chris_D]

Ur CCV system could also be on the way out.
Short journeys will always generate mayo due to the condensation not being burned off like it would on a longer journey.
3 miles to work??/ U lazy fekker, you could walk or bike that!

[tominator]

Ur CCV system could also be on the way out.
Short journeys will always generate mayo due to the condensation not being burned off like it would on a longer journey.
3 miles to work??/ U lazy fekker, you could walk or bike that!

HaHa, I though someone might comment on the fact that I should walk. I do walk when the weather is good, the last couple of weeks has been pretty wet though

Thanks for the reply, what is the CCV?

[Chris_D]

Ur CCV system could also be on the way out.
Short journeys will always generate mayo due to the condensation not being burned off like it would on a longer journey.
3 miles to work??/ U lazy fekker, you could walk or bike that!

HaHa, I though someone might comment on the fact that I should walk. I do walk when the weather is good, the last couple of weeks has been pretty wet though

There's no such thing as bad weather. Only bad clothes.

Get your bike pumped up!

CCV = Crank Case Ventilation

It's probably the prime culprit in your case and where the sludge originates from.
Eventually it will fail altogether if not adressed via replacing. It's a PITA to do but IF you replace it get the cold weather version as it has thicker piping insulation. I made a post here somewhere when I did mine when it failed, NOT due to me doing ridiculously short journeys I hasten to add!

[tominator]

Ur CCV system could also be on the way out.
Short journeys will always generate mayo due to the condensation not being burned off like it would on a longer journey.
3 miles to work??/ U lazy fekker, you could walk or bike that!

HaHa, I though someone might comment on the fact that I should walk. I do walk when the weather is good, the last couple of weeks has been pretty wet though

There's no such thing as bad weather. Only bad clothes.

Get your bike pumped up!

CCV = Crank Case Ventilation

It's probably the prime culprit in your case and where the sludge originates from.
Eventually it will fail altogether if not adressed via replacing. It's a PITA to do but IF you replace it get the cold weather version as it has thicker piping insulation. I made a post here somewhere when I did mine when it failed, NOT due to me doing ridiculously short journeys I hasten to add!

I do use the car for longer journeys too, I've only had it around 6 weeks.
Thanks for your help Chris

[Thrustyjust]

I'd take it on a decent run. Watch the temperature gauge, then check the oil in the cap for mayo. If you can syringe some coolant out , then see what colour it is. I would suspect the short journeys are the key to this , but if in any doubt get a sniff done on the coolant to check.

[firebobby]

You need to go on a long run.

[tominator]

Thanks guys, will do

[tominator]

I did a 70 mile round trip the weekend, mainly motorway, It seems to have done the trick and burned the mayo away
No doubt It'll come back as I go back to short journeys!

Should I still be looking to replace the CCV?