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[martinzed]

I have had my 1999 facelift 3L MV6 for a few months and all has gone well apart from oil seeming to leak occassionally from the rocker covers (?) and causing a stink.  Then recently it started to use coolant.  Then more recently this was compounded by white sludge on the oilfiller cap.  The car runs fine, although I have stopped using it, but I have heard that it may not be the head gasket but other issues.  Any ideas?  How can I tell for sure without taking it to the garage, bearing in mind it is no longer insured.  Your words of wisdom appreciated.  I recently spent 500 quid to get it through the MOT and not sure if it is worth 'wasting' any more money on.

[sierrapaul]

most likely the oil cooler that sits under the inlet maifold its a coman fault on v6s and easy to replace

[Welung666]

Most likely 3 seperate issues. so one at a time....

Mayo on the filler cap - do you do lots of short runs? If so this is perfectly normal. What colour is the oil on the dipstick? Normal oil colour or a dark coffee/milky colour?

Cam covers - get them changed and only use genuine Vx cam cover seals, o rings and black sealant. Cleaning the breathers is a must when doing this job otherwise it'll just cause early failure of the new gaskets.

Coolant loss - check the HBV behind the drivers side head. You should be able to get your hand to it and feel if it is wet.

As an extra check, make sure the coolant in the expansion bottle is clear and the right colour and not oily as this could be an early sign of the oil cooler failing.

HTH

[martinzed]

Thanks Sierrapaul and Welung666.  Will check those things out. 

[martinzed]

I took the car to a local garage who tested the gases coming off the coolant and they said there was no sign of contamination from oil - ie.  the head gasket probably had not gone. (they did this for free too - Melbury motors, Shaftesbury.) Seems like the most obvious thing now is the oil cooler pipes as suggested.  Thanks again for your help.

[henryd]

I took the car to a local garage who tested the gases coming off the coolant and they said there was no sign of contamination from oil - ie.  the head gasket probably had not gone. (they did this for free too - Melbury motors, Shaftesbury.) Seems like the most obvious thing now is the oil cooler pipes as suggested.  Thanks again for your help.

if there is no oil contamination in the coolant bottle your oil cololer is ok,as wellung has said mayo in the oil filler spout is normal if the car is used on short trips

[martinzed]

damn - then I have a new problem as it is using coolant - and I don't use it for trips that are that short.... altho I do have more short trips than long ones thinking about.  Thanks for that henryd. 

[albitz]

Seems to be a bit of confusion creeping in here.
You have 2 problems to resolve. 1. you need to change your leaking camcover gaskets (use genuine items only) and clean the engine breathers to prevent the problem reoccuring  soon.
2. you have a coolant leak which you need to trace. Most common cause is the heater bypass valve so check that first. If the source of coolant loss cant be found by visual inspection, have the system pressurised to reveal where the leak is.
Hope that helps.
Mayo in filler neck - nothing to lose sleep over.

[martinzed]

Seems to be a bit of confusion creeping in here.
You have 2 problems to resolve. 1. you need to change your leaking camcover gaskets (use genuine items only) and clean the engine breathers to prevent the problem reoccuring  soon.
2. you have a coolant leak which you need to trace. Most common cause is the heater bypass valve so check that first. If the source of coolant loss cant be found by visual inspection, have the system pressurised to reveal where the leak is.
Hope that helps.
Mayo in filler neck - nothing to lose sleep over.

Thanks.  have been losing sleep over it and even bought another car to replace it but now much happier.  You're right about there being two issues, and I was adding one and one and making three. Omega back in good books.   Next question: which car to sell?  Don't need two.

thanks Albs.

[John Willby]

I too have a coolant leak. I first noticed steam coming from under the passenger side rear of the bonnet. My first thoughts were the HBV so I took scuttle off and had a good poke around. The HBV is not the culprit. It seems to be coming from somewhere under the plenum at the back. Looks like I too will be ripping the engine apart to try and find the source of the leak... I think that its something to do with the oil cooler plate or leak from the oil cooler pipes. Typical signs of failure start with the coolant turning brown, and exhibiting slightly oil tinge to it. Mine has rusty coloured coolant sort of dark brown. Not seen any obvious oil tinge as such. Complete failure of oil cooler results in clogged radiator, and a sludge forming in the header tank. But I have not got that. Going to have to strip it down and pressure test it. It definitely does it the worst when hot and at high revvs. It seems to be pouring out empting the coolant tank after a few miles when driven normally. Drive slowly and it only uses a little bit. Some one said use a decent radiator leak fix... Comments please...

[RobG]

Seems to be a bit of confusion creeping in here.
You have 2 problems to resolve. 1. you need to change your leaking camcover gaskets (use genuine items only) and clean the engine breathers to prevent the problem reoccuring  soon.
2. you have a coolant leak which you need to trace. Most common cause is the heater bypass valve so check that first. If the source of coolant loss cant be found by visual inspection, have the system pressurised to reveal where the leak is.
Hope that helps.
Mayo in filler neck - nothing to lose sleep over.

Thanks.  have been losing sleep over it and even bought another car to replace it but now much happier.  You're right about there being two issues, and I was adding one and one and making three. Omega back in good books.   Next question: which car to sell?  Don't need two.

thanks Albs.

Which ever goes first on the bay of fleas

[albitz]

I too have a coolant leak. I first noticed steam coming from under the passenger side rear of the bonnet. My first thoughts were the HBV so I took scuttle off and had a good poke around. The HBV is not the culprit. It seems to be coming from somewhere under the plenum at the back. Looks like I too will be ripping the engine apart to try and find the source of the leak... I think that its something to do with the oil cooler plate or leak from the oil cooler pipes. Typical signs of failure start with the coolant turning brown, and exhibiting slightly oil tinge to it. Mine has rusty coloured coolant sort of dark brown. Not seen any obvious oil tinge as such. Complete failure of oil cooler results in clogged radiator, and a sludge forming in the header tank. But I have not got that. Going to have to strip it down and pressure test it. It definitely does it the worst when hot and at high revvs. It seems to be pouring out empting the coolant tank after a few miles when driven normally. Drive slowly and it only uses a little bit. Some one said use a decent radiator leak fix... Comments please...[/quote       Could be in the area of the cooler cover plate as you say, but not the oil cooler pipes, as they would leak oil rather than coolant. Wouldnt use stop leak type products myself, they just clog up the system and it will start leaking again - probably at the worst possible moment.
Take the plenum etc. off and have a look, it may well be very obvious where its leaking form due to staining of the surrounding area.

[martinzed]

I tried some stop leak stuff (a couple of months back), and, as you said, solved the problem for about ten minutes and then came back unexpectedly.  Leak so subtle though that hard to determine.  I s'pose I also need to get in there and investigate.   

[martinzed]

Seems to be a bit of confusion creeping in here.
You have 2 problems to resolve. 1. you need to change your leaking camcover gaskets (use genuine items only) and clean the engine breathers to prevent the problem reoccuring  soon.
2. you have a coolant leak which you need to trace. Most common cause is the heater bypass valve so check that first. If the source of coolant loss cant be found by visual inspection, have the system pressurised to reveal where the leak is.
Hope that helps.
Mayo in filler neck - nothing to lose sleep over.

Thanks.  have been losing sleep over it and even bought another car to replace it but now much happier.  You're right about there being two issues, and I was adding one and one and making three. Omega back in good books.   Next question: which car to sell?  Don't need two.

thanks Albs.

Which ever goes first on the bay of fleas

You've seen my ad on fleabay then.....?  necessary evil.  I'm hoping someone who appreciates them will go for it.  If it's just gonna get scrapped I could do that.  (open to any offers incidently. Especially if buyer mentions he/she is a member.)  Want it to go to good home.... unless I sell the other one first.

[John Willby]

Well I took the plenum and gubbings off. I made a cap to pressurized the system. Pumped it up to 15PSI and expected to find the leak

http://www.facebook.com/M6JWY#!/photo.php?fbid=10150089188202239&set=a.10150089188187239.266866.537632238&theater

Nada zip nothing no visible leak :-(

It obviously has to get hot before it leaks water :-(

What next guys :-(