Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[benbrunt]

I know the V6 head gasket is supposed to be almost bombproof but I went out earlier and used 2.5 litres of coolant on a 12 mile journey. The cooling system is also over pressurising.

The mayo under the filler cap is horrendous and now the dipstick has creamy mayo on it too, albeit much less than the filler cap.

Photos are below, it's booked to have the HBV and oil cooler at the weekend with Elite Pete but now I don't think I'll be able to drive it to him. It's definitely not running on 6 cylinders and I can't see a bloody leak of coolant from anywhere underneath the car. The coolant looks like Tizer but slightly less appetising.

Am I the 1% whose head gasket has gone? How much is that likely to be?

Cheers in advance before I turn to self harm


Mayo in the oil filler, also appears on the bolt to the left of it



This is the colour of the coolant

[Welung666]

Oil cooler most likely. DO NOT drive it as it is though!

[Seth]

Look in the 'FAQ' section.
'Hotel 21' has posted a flowchart, which should be helpful for you.

[cem_devecioglu]

have a compression test when the engine is completely cold..

This will give the real picture

[TheBoy]

mayo on dipstick? How much?

[benbrunt]

mayo on dipstick? How much?

[feeutfo]

any coolent in the sump? Whats the oil like?
Cant quite make out from the pic. Is that solid mayo in the filler or is it just down the walls?

[TheBoy]

mayo on dipstick? How much?

Hmmm, not clear enough to comment...

[feeutfo]

ah just seen dip stick pic. Fear the worst. Unless thats bright gold oil? How old is the oil? Trying to workout the colour.

[benbrunt]

Tis from my phone, I'll take the camera out, oil was changed about 1000 miles ago

[feeutfo]

need clearer pic of dip stick, as you say. Or drop the oil. Do you do a lot of short journeys?

[benbrunt]

Here's a better pic

[ians]

I would unclip the filler pipe (easy to do - just lift the tab and rotate 90 degrees) and have a look inside the camcover.
In this cold weather on short trips a mayo build up in the filler is to be expected.

... just saw the last pic, doesn't look encouraging :-/

[feeutfo]

Sorry mate,definately water in there, probably mayo up the breathers to plenum as well, if you want to triple check. What a bugger.

[Christian]

Mine has mayo in the filler cap but i do 2 miles a day at the most, ile be driving it to London from shropshire wensday so that will give it a run.

Sorry to see this and hopfully you get it sorted.

BTW how much of a rare case is it for the Headgaskets to go on these ?