Possible Head Gasket Going/Gone

hendomagic

Ok here goes. Had my veccy about a year. Runs fine most of the time. At startup however it revs at about 1300 rpm for about 20-30 secs then drops down t about 800 and stays there. If i try and drive off before revs settle its all stuttery and on the odd occassion as stalled. Changed the oil about 1 month ago and noticed some white/brown sludge under oil filler cap and on dipstick (is this a definate head gasket issue??) Dont know if the revs issue is anything to do with the head gasket :confused:
Any help or input appreciated

Fonzz

Is the car smoking at all? Are you loosing any coolant? Is the coolant a funny colour?

si_c1978

as above ^^

however these engines are known to build condensation and can often have a milky filler cap.

hendomagic

Hi guys thanks for quick repies. Coolant looks as normal. Not funny colour and the level stays the same. Theres some smoke at startup but not what i would call excessive. its the scum on the dipstick that worries me cos there seems to be alot on it

pottsey

hendomagic said:
Hi guys thanks for quick repies. Coolant looks as normal. Not funny colour and the level stays the same. Theres some smoke at startup but not what i would call excessive. its the scum on the dipstick that worries me cos there seems to be alot on it

mines the same on the dipstick has been ever since i bought the car 4 yrs ago,once ive gone for a nice long drive it usually clears

hendomagic

How about the revs situation. Is it normal?

pottsey

hendomagic said:
How about the revs situation. Is it normal?

might be worth giving the throttle body a clean out ,maybe new set of plugs and service will all help

Fonzz

Is there alot or any oil loss? Could be stem seals?

sandyc

Head Gaskets rarely fail on these cars. I think most are replaced during engine work to stop them smoking.

hendomagic

Fonzz said:
Is there alot or any oil loss? Could be stem seals?

I do have top up the oil more lately. No sign of oil leakage that i can see so im guessing its just burning it.

hendomagic

pottsey said:
might be worth giving the throttle body a clean out ,maybe new set of plugs and service will all help

Thats all my to do list. Its looooong :-)

mattg

Hi guys mine has a milky muck on the dip stick as well. I took the filter cover off as well and it is a bit milky if you wipe the top layer of oil off. Nothing under the cap.

I will be giving it some new plugs and will do a compression test. What should my compression be?

I have done about 145,000 km. engine isn't smoky have lost a latte bit of coolant. Cheers

Matt
Zafira 2003

MikeS

filter cover ?

mattg

By filter cover I mean the screw on cap that hold the oil filter cartridge in place . Cheers Matt

MikeS

what temp does the car sit at when driving ?

mattg

No change as far as I can tell. I have just got a Bluetooth OBD plug in so I will get that connected tonight to measure the actual temp. what should it run at. ambient here is about 20deg

MikeS

should be getting over 86c when warm

had a vec b sitting at 82c and it had mayo under cap and on dipstick

mattg

Can water get into the oil at the water pump?

mattg

Yep about 86 deg c and stable. Any thoughts on water getting into the oil from the water pump?