Astra 2.2 Overheating and white sludge

gavinf

Can somebody please help me. Last weds i did a full oil change, used engine flush etc.. changed the oil and filter.

i put in the correct amount of oil 5 litres (according to Haynes), when i checked it last thursday the level was perfect.

I have checked the dipstik today and the level has shot up over max, any sugesstions??

There is a small amount of sludge or something on the filler cap only.
On sunday i drove 150 miles and noticed the temp gauge just creeping to half way, whilst sitting in traffic then the fan will kick inn, but until sunday the temp gauge never moved that high. the same has happened tonight.

When the fan kicks in the temp does drop to where it normally is..

Coolant seems clear no change in colour or anything, no losses of coolant either.

*** APOLOGIES, THERE IS NO SLUDGE ON THE DIPSTICK, JUST ON THE FILLER CAP. ***

Going back to what ephid0r said, my car is only used for about 20 mins at a time also.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

GAV.

rushy

The max oil for the 2.2 is 4.75l mate. The wrong mark was put on the dipsticks. There is a VX field remedy on this. Also you should check your oil when the oil is warm to get the correct reading. Have you done a compression test? Although how do you do a compression test with a coil pack?

MikeS

same as you would do with a dispack or dizzy

unplug the unit and move it away from the engine

screw in the compression tester in to one of the cylinders and turn her over 🙂

then drop a bit of oil into the cylinder after the dry test if the dry test has a low psi and see if that makes any difference

you shouldnt be getting sludge on the bottom of the dispstick as if it is condensation then it will rise and be apparent underneath the top of the cam cover and oil filler cap

if you have got sludge then it is water in the oil - i get a slight sludge build up on the oil filler cap but my car is rarely in use for then 20 minutes at a time and these engines hardly warm up

you need to investigate further, a compression test wont confirm whether you have a head gasket fault but it if you have a low psi on one cylinder then you might as well take the head off for inspection before you do even more damage

but if your not losing power or have any bulging coolant pipes along with streams of sweet smelling smoke eminating from your exhaust then i wouldn't worry 2 much

the last time i had a head gasket failure was on a nova gte, as she warmed up the coolant pipes started to bulge and a nasty green haze of smoke would come out and she would idle rough, i then released the gas from taking off the coolant filler cap and she would run normal again, she would be a bitch to start up as the cylinder was full of crap

vocky

the white sludge might just be condensation, the dipstick seems to have a mind of it's own, sometimes it reads nothing other times over full.

the reason is that inside the sump there is a long channel which feeds the dipstick, so the oil level can vary if this becomes blocked, just keep an eye on the level 🙂

MikeS

*** APOLOGIES, THERE IS NO SLUDGE ON THE DIPSTICK, JUST ON THE FILLER CAP. ***

Going back to what ephid0r said, my car is only used for about 20 mins at a time also.

take the car for a blast down the motorway for an hour during the night time [less traffic]

i bet the white sludge buildup has gone 🙂

gavinf

I have just drove the car back from work (15 min drive), it seems to be driving normal still. When i stopped i turned the heaters on cold and let the car tick over. The temp gauge did not move, all appeared OK?.

i kept the engine running and looked at the filler cap, there it was again a white compound around the centre.

I then wipped my finger across it, it seems like oil, more than anything!.

Also there seems to be condensation as you can see it on the cap, do you think the white stuff could be a mixture of oil & condensation??

Once again coolant level not moved and colour remains the same.

Any further advice?

GAV.

MikeS

you need to take it out for a blast 🙂

wipe the cap clean and go do 50 miles down the motoroway

vocky

don't worry about condensation on the filler cap, short journeys cause that, it's very common

gavinf

Thanks guy's.

Will keep you posted if i encounter any more problems.

Gav.