Emulsion In The Oil Filler Cap

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Hi all,

 

I've got emulsion in the filler cap of my pug. As far as I can tell it hasn't lost any water and it hasn't been overheating- I'm concerned I may have a head gasket fail.

 

Is there any way to confirm it?

 

I've also checked the breather pipes from the throttle body etc and they are clagged up- it was fine a month ago.

 

I'm driving about 45 miles a day- water temp is reaching its normal level on the gauge but oil temp never really gets very high as its been quite cold here recently so im wondering/hoping that it may just be condensation.

 

Any advice would be great - I cant really afford to carry out a gasket change at the moment ( and don't want to!- it would be nice to have Xmas without having to fix the car!)

 

Thanks

 

 

Paul

[dcc 855]

frequent use over short journeys leads to this. some believe its a sign of poor/blocked breathers in the engine, but also a mix of slight condensation in the oil. its common, but nothing to really worry about.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Hi Dan,

 

Is 40 miles a day considered short? I literally drive to work and come back in the evening 5 days a week - it doesn't do any short stop start journeys.

[dcc 855]

to be honest it varies, if you had hg failure you're likely to notice a drop in power, or pressurised water system (above normal pressure - and leaking out the overflow), or milky oil on dipstick, or white smoke out the exhaust. personally I would not be worried, keep an eye on engine temp and so long as your incar heaters keep working you'll be fine (when they stop blowing hot air it means engine is empty of water )

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Well its due a service so I might just do that and see what happens

 

Thanks

[DanteICE 72]

Use a good oil. I moved to a higher quality oil and I don't get emulsion in the oil cap any more.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Last service I used magnetex which I thought was ok - that was 6K ago.

 

Previously I've always used Halfords and never had this issue!

[scbond 15 1 Cars]

Perfectly normal for a bit to occur. Mine started doing it this winter after I switched from 15w40 to 10w40 so it might be worth switching back to 15.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

It was due a service (240K!) so I changed the oil etc- no sign of any problems with what I drained out.

 

Thanks for the advice guys I was all ready to start ripping the head off

 

P

[welshpug 1,661]

I have heard of magnatec causing more than the usual amounts.

[2-Pugs 57]

In my experience if your head gasket has gone, you'd normally see at least one other symptom as well as mayo in the filler cap.

 

See if you can get a compression test done, while its no golden bullet, is a good guide of the top end health

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Hi 2-Pugs,

 

I think maybe its ok the expansion bottle isn't over pressured, Water not boiling over or blowing out the expansion bottle when I release pressure and I don't seem to be losing water.

 

The last time I had the mayo symptom it was a head gasket hence my 'oh no!' reaction! Looks like I jumped the gun this time though. I kept an eye on the oil temp on my normal drive to work- it doesn't even get to the 1st mark so the oils not really getting that hot- the only way I can get it to really rise is a long run on the motorway. I guess its the cold weather that's causing the symptom.

 

Thanks all

 

P

[Anthony 1,003]

For what it's worth, I don't think I've ever seen mayo in the oil filler on a headgasket'd 8v XU.

 

It's simply an issue of condensation from cold ambient temperatures building up in the oil breather system and low oil temperatures meaning that it doesn't get "burnt" off, hence the issue is usually much worse on cars that only do short journeys (low oil temperature) and much more prevalent in winter (colder ambient temperatures)

 

If it's a non-PAS 1.9 GTi you've got with the standard air-oil cooler, which I'm assuming it is from your signature, I'd strongly suggest blocking/covering the cooler in this weather to help get some temperature in the oil - the oil cooler setup isn't thermostatically controlled and hence tends to over-cool the oil in winter, making the mayo problem worse.

[scbond 15 1 Cars]

I have heard of magnatec causing more than the usual amounts.

 

Must add that I have added some of this to my oil, though most of it is Shell Helix.

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Anthony thats not a bad idea- i think i might try it out for a week or so and see what temperature difference it makes

 

 

cheers

 

 

paul