Stuck In Snow, Overheat, Stoplamp, Oil Everwhere

[kyepan 291]

Morning,

 

part of my three hour commute this morning, was trying to get the pug out of a compacted snow parking space.

 

Now, i got stuck, was trying to push the car back out of a rut, and got in to find the temp gauge off the scale and the stop lamp on. also it had pissed oil underneath, opening the bonnet up after turning off confronted me with this.

 

 

Oil all over the breathers, down the front of the block, what the hell has gone on here? any ideas?

 

oil has pooled around the front of the fanimold... christ knows whats gone on.

 

I think this car may have shot it's last bolt..

 

J

[joe1joe 3]

you sure the coolant wasnt frozon? and it was overheating due to no circulation?

[Anthony 1,003]

Given how cold it was this morning (was still -8 in Swindon at 9.30am so I'm guessing Maidenhead was even colder when you left for work) is it possible that there was insufficient anti-freeze and the cooling system was partly frozen, hence cooking itself?

 

Not sure about the oil, but my guess is that crankcase pressure forced oil out, probably through the dipstick judging from the location of the oil in the photo.

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

It was -17 c near us last night J

Edited December 20, 2010 by Paul_13

[Flozman 4]

Morning,

 

part of my three hour commute this morning, was trying to get the pug out of a compacted snow parking space.

 

Now, i got stuck, was trying to push the car back out of a rut, and got in to find the temp gauge off the scale and the stop lamp on. also it had pissed oil underneath, opening the bonnet up after turning off confronted me with this.

 

 

Oil all over the breathers, down the front of the block, what the hell has gone on here? any ideas?

 

oil has pooled around the front of the fanimold... christ knows whats gone on.

 

I think this car may have shot it's last bolt..

 

J

 

I have to say if i had as much "luck" with my car id have taken a big hammer to it But anyway I've drove about 12 foot in the last 6 months so i cant talk!

 

I think this is one of those posts we are all scratching our heads, because both issues seem unrelated but shouldnt be and unless i had a look first hand I couldnt tell you whats going on. If I had to guess it might be that your head gasket is leaky and you didnt know it, so water has mixed with oil and frozen your breather pipes causing oil pressure build up (making the head gasket more leaky) before pushing out of the weekest spot. Also my cars headgasket was gone but it was still drivable, it wouldnt overheat once driving and i suspect the cold air temperature has hidden the problem.

 

I have to say the last paragraph is all my imagination and i may be well off base. Good luck

Edited December 20, 2010 by Flozman

[kyepan 291]

well i'll take off the breathers and clean it all up at the weekend, it did have a good half our run yesterday, and it's been going like stink recently... lets hope it's not the head.

 

i suspect it's coolant / frozen blocked breathers /crank case pressurisation... spurty dipstick like anthony suggested.

 

regarding the "luck" ... i have nothing to say, other than... no actually i just don't have anything to say. It's not going to beat me though.

 

Sounds like a school boy error / lack of maintenance on my part.. and the crack in the block loosing me more coolant than i anticipated.

 

To be honest i'm very close to giving up... I need an engine that is reliable and holds both oil and water, is it too much to ask.

Edited December 20, 2010 by kyepan

[Anthony 1,003]

To be honest i'm very close to giving up... I need an engine that is reliable and holds both oil and water, is it too much to ask.

You've got one.... it just happens to reside under the bonnet of an MX5, that's all

 

On a more serious note - how's the build of the new Mi16 engine coming along?

[kyepan 291]

You've got one.... it just happens to reside under the bonnet of an MX5, that's all

 

On a more serious note - how's the build of the new Mi16 engine coming along?

well, the head is back together bar the camshafts, i've decided to go with standard cams for the time being, as i originally planned.

 

Bottom end is still in bits, i need to send the crank to be checked and sorted, and the block to be cleaned, then get bearings and the bottom end kit to build it..

 

Will pull finger out, as i;ve been rather slack,

[Jrod 7]

I felt the same about 12 months ago...

 

Get the engine built and then all should be great, I know it is for me! *touches wood*

[Batfink 201]

I've had to sort two cars with frozen coolant over the last few days, boths cars that have been driven irregularly

[kyepan 291]

a quick update, the oil definitly ejaculated from the dipstick.

 

so it's been thawed out, cleaned up, topped up with oil, bump started and does not appear to be overheating.

 

it lives!!!!!!!!!

 

took it out, let it warm up and get everything good check, then proceeded to abuse it for half an hour or so, it goes like stink.

 

resilient little rot box.

 

happy new year from the french resistance