Help - mayonnaise!

[Zedebee]

Hi all, I’m needing some help and advice please.

Yesterday son reported some squealing and odd bangs from his 2.5i roadster; like exhaust pops but from the engine compartment. He stopped the car but couldn’t see anything untoward and drove about five miles home with no further incident.

Today a visual inspection of the engine bay looked OK, ran up to temperature with no problems. No steam, no obvious oil leaks and no OBD fault codes. Oil level and coolant levels were both as they should be. However . . .

There was mayo under the oil filler cap (pic 1) which wasn’t there when I changed the oil a couple of months ago. I cleaned it up and ran the engine a bit more. No “instant” mayo, but definitely some water condensation on the inside of the filler cap. So I disconnected the breather pipe (pic 4) and it was like a smoker’s artery all the way down to the pressure regulating valve (pic 3). The pipe which goes from the PRV down to the base of the dipstick housing also had mayonnaise at the top end. I’ve cleaned it all up and got as much goo as I can out of the PRV itself.

I haven’t put the car back together yet, but when I pushed it out of the garage for the night, there was about a wine glass of coolant on the floor (pic 2). Now I’m worried we’re dealing with a blown head gasket or cracked block.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Beatman]

Are you do a lot of short journeys ? If the oil never reaches a decent running temp and you'll suffer with condensation.

 

[davidmudley12]

Hi all, I’m needing some help and advice please.

Yesterday son reported some squealing and odd bangs from his 2.5i roadster; like exhaust pops but from the engine compartment. He stopped the car but couldn’t see anything untoward and drove about five miles home with no further incident.

Today a visual inspection of the engine bay looked OK, ran up to temperature with no problems. No steam, no obvious oil leaks and no OBD fault codes. Oil level and coolant levels were both as they should be. However . . .

There was mayo under the oil filler cap (pic 1) which wasn’t there when I changed the oil a couple of months ago. I cleaned it up and ran the engine a bit more. No “instant” mayo, but definitely some water condensation on the inside of the filler cap. So I disconnected the breather pipe (pic 4) and it was like a smoker’s artery all the way down to the pressure regulating valve (pic 3). The pipe which goes from the PRV down to the base of the dipstick housing also had mayonnaise at the top end. I’ve cleaned it all up and got as much goo as I can out of the PRV itself.

I haven’t put the car back together yet, but when I pushed it out of the garage for the night, there was about a wine glass of coolant on the floor (pic 2). Now I’m worried we’re dealing with a blown head gasket or cracked block.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Sorry to hear that. While o can’t help you diagnose it I have learned that my wine glasses are considerably larger than yours (does it matter when you finish the bottle anyway :wink: )

 

[Zedebee]

Sorry to hear that. While o can’t help you diagnose it I have learned that my wine glasses are considerably larger than yours (does it matter when you finish the bottle anyway :wink: )

:lol: Thanks David, for the moral support at least. :lol:

 

[Chris_D]

+1 on short journeys being your culprit.
Swap in a new CCV system asap and go for the Febi cold climate kit - it has thicker lagging and can prevent condensation buildup a bit more effectively.
And stop doing any short journeys. 30 minutes running MINIMUM!
Good luck.

 

[Zedebee]

Are you do a lot of short journeys ? If the oil never reaches a decent running temp and you'll suffer with condensation.

Daily driver to work, perhaps 6-7 miles (dual carriageway most of the way) each way, with some longer journeys in between. Maybe this is the problem.

 

[Zedebee]

+1 on short journeys being your culprit.
Swap in a new CCV system asap and go for the Febi cold climate kit - it has thicker lagging and can prevent condensation buildup a bit more effectively.
And stop doing any short journeys. 30 minutes running MINIMUM!
Good luck.

Thanks Chris, I want to find out where that coolant came from, then I’ll have a look at replacing the CCV. Given where the pressure regulating valve is, I guess the manifold has to come off?

 

[Chris_D]

+1 on short journeys being your culprit.
Swap in a new CCV system asap and go for the Febi cold climate kit - it has thicker lagging and can prevent condensation buildup a bit more effectively.
And stop doing any short journeys. 30 minutes running MINIMUM!
Good luck.

Thanks Chris, I want to find out where that coolant came from, then I’ll have a look at replacing the CCV. Given where the pressure regulating valve is, I guess the manifold has to come off?

Not necessarily but possibly easier if you can't manage by leaving it in situ.
The pipework will prob crack and splinter on removal but you're gonna replace it anyway.
Don't forget to replace a new dipstick o-ring too.

 

[Beatman]

Are you do a lot of short journeys ? If the oil never reaches a decent running temp and you'll suffer with condensation.

Daily driver to work, perhaps 6-7 miles (dual carriageway most of the way) each way, with some longer journeys in between. Maybe this is the problem.

You'll be amazed how long it takes an engine to reach full oil temp, the water maybe hot and the heater working, but.
My daily golf 2.0 petrol, has an oil temp gauge, and on a cold morning I can do 10-15 miles before the oils reached anything above 70 deg.

 

[Beatman]

Are you do a lot of short journeys ? If the oil never reaches a decent running temp and you'll suffer with condensation.

Daily driver to work, perhaps 6-7 miles (dual carriageway most of the way) each way, with some longer journeys in between. Maybe this is the problem.

You'll be amazed how long it takes an engine to reach full oil temp, the water maybe hot and the heater working, but.
My daily golf 2.0 petrol, has an oil temp gauge, and on a cold morning I can do 10-15 miles before the oils reached anything above 70 deg.

 

[Mr Tidy]

You'll be amazed how long it takes an engine to reach full oil temp, the water maybe hot and the heater working, but.
My daily golf 2.0 petrol, has an oil temp gauge, and on a cold morning I can do 10-15 miles before the oils reached anything above 70 deg.

+1 for that! My Z4 only has oil temperature and this time of year it takes at least 10 miles to get up to normal.

Just a thought about the coolant but it may be worth checking the expansion tank.