2 replies to this topic

[bigminiandy]

after using my mini last week, i removed the oil cap and the underside and the inside of the rocker cover was covered in emulsified in oil and a small amount of water droplets. The oil in the bottom of the sump is still fine.

The rocker cover is fitted with a breather connected to the engine tappet breather and a vented oil catch tank.

I thought the head gasket had gone because of the emulsified oil but on second thoughts I wondered if the water was there because of condensation as the temperature was probably -1 or 2 and the fact that its effectively an open breather system.

Any ideas????

[Big_Adam]

My Mums Astra had a terrible amount of mayo under the cap, turned out it was just from short trips.

It has been wet and cold of late while will condense in on around the rocker cover and mix with oil. That said, I'd get either a sniffer test or just keep checking oil and water over the next few days.

If you find all seems well then chalk it up to running for too short a time.

[lawnmowercrap]

As stated its more than likely because you have been doing short trips.

Oil needs to get to a certain temperature before it can actually function correctly. If it hardly ever gets up to temperature it cannot, in essence, clense itself of the crap that it picks up from the wear / combustion products of the engine. So in turn it produces a sort of mayo / moisture which ends up on the rocker cover.

Best thing to do is go for a 15-20 mile drive. So it at least stays off choke for a while.