HELP! Need an answer about engine!!!

Bekki_B · Post by **Bekki_B** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:55 pm

Hey

Just had a look at my engine because it doesnt tick over properly to find that there is a load creamy coloured substance over the oil cap. Looking a bit closer there seems to be a lot of oil over the bottom of the engine. I thought the reason it didnt tick over properly was due to filters but they seem to be ok.

It seems to drink oil a fair bit too.

Any ideas what this could be?

Also, my central locking doesnt unlock the boot but it does lock it. How do i go about fixing this?

Hope you can help a desperate Polo enthusiast!

dragon_green · Post by **dragon_green** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:09 pm

Oil on the underside of the engine is nothing to get too worried about, engines get little leaks from all sorts of places.

However.....

If it's using a fair bit of oil and you've got a mayonnaise-like liquid in your oil cap, it looks like your head gasket may need replacing. Is the coolant in the header tank (round bottle in the back right hand corner of the engine bay) oily at all? If you only do short distances and the engine never really gets hot, then the white liquid could just be condensation - a longer drive (30 minutes or so) should sort it out.

Bekki_B · Post by **Bekki_B** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:06 pm

The bottle doesn't seem to be oily. Do you think it would be a good idea to do a oil flush and replace it? And yes I don't do a lot of long distance driving.

Is there any other signs that would indicate the head gasket has gone?

dragon_green · Post by **dragon_green** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:24 pm

It depends on how the headgasket has broken as to what symptoms you'll see. Any of the following can indicate a blown gasket (but they could be caused by numerous other things too):

Smoke
Using water
Using oil
Mayonnaise-like oil
Oily coolant

One way to be sure is to take it to a garage and get them to do a compression test on the cylinders.

When did it last have an oil change? I would start by taking it out on a longer run (take your AA card....) - make sure the engine gets up to temperature and then see what the oil looks like.

It sounds like you've just got an oil leak on the outside of the engine and some condensation inside the engine, to me.

Bekki_B · Post by **Bekki_B** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:34 pm

After further investigation it seems to be condensation, and a slite blockage of the collant. So I'm going to clean it all and monitor it and hopefully that is all it is.

As for that list none of the others are obvious and it had an oil change in August.

Thanks for your help.