Hi Well my car was cutting out on idle so i cleaned the breather box out on top of the rocker cover i noticed white gunje in the box and a little bit on the oil cap i checked the dipstick and thats nice and clear no gunje . I was thinking head gasket but surely the dip stick would be white as well it runs fine apart from that . I have a vent right ovr the airbox do you think it could be drawing in moisture from there ???
yeah i thought as much like i say the oil on the dipstick is fine it runs well its just that breather was clogged up with it the one that goes into the air filter im wondering if its those luvres on the bonnet is drawing in moisture . Do anyone else get the gunje in that box?? and if the head gasket has gone it would be on the dipstick wouldnt it?? Hows it going pigbladder by the way
One of the normal products of combustion is H2O, better known as water/steam/ice depending on temperature. Older engines may let some of this steam past the piston rings into the crank case. This will condense into liquid water if the engine is cold and may partially mix with oil to form a whitish-yellow emulsion (worse with old/cheap oil). The crank case warms up pretty fast and evaporates this emulsion back up through the breather system, finally being recirculated into the inlet where it passes harmlessly through the cylinders and out of the exhaust, as long as the breather system isn't blocked solid. If the car is only used for short journeys, say less than 10 miles between cold-starts, this stuff may not have time to be fully purged from the system, and may gradually build up until you see worrying sights like you have discovered. This will tend to be much worse in winter, when the engine takes longer to get up to full operating temperature. So there is no need to look for an external source for this moisture, your engine is making it, all the time the engine is running. Hydrocarbon (petrol/diesel) + oxygen makes water + carbon dioxide + a few other minor bits and bobs. [Don't tell everyone this, it's quite secret]. Take the car for a long run now and then, and keep checking and clearing any flexible breather pipes at the top of the engine, and it should go away. Only if you already do long journeys, and you clear the breather pipes and it returns, would it be any cause for concern.
maybe the vented bonnet is overcooling the engine a bit..does the engine warm up nicley? id clean it out , oil n filter change and keep an eye on it
thanks for that great write up really appreciate it . I think the vents are overcooling it a bit takes about 10 miles to get up to temp sometimes longer . Well i run it up to temp today and seems to have mostly dissapeared thank god . I will have a look inside the breathers tomorrow and clean out properly as i have a day off. Its still cutting out when cold tho any ideas ?? im thinking this car is a bit of a dog my old v6 vectra never missed a beat for years and is still going now maybe i just got used to the reliability .
my gfs 4 year old fester had mayo under the filler cap due to only doing short trips my catch tank used to catch a lot of water/condensation in the colder months but now ive reconnected the breather back to the intake system, it seems the condensation is reduced
10miles sounds a bit much for warming up..think mine takes 3-4 to get oil to 80 on mfa. could be worth checkin ur stat isnt sticking.
