Blown Head Gasket ?

Checked oil yesterday,had to add a little.Pulled filler cap and found
heavy deposit of what looked like white grease.Cleaned it off.Checked
today,even more. Slight loss of antifreeze in the overflow but don't
know if it just started? Live in NE wonder what I should expect to
replace either dealer or private.I know it's a subjective qquestion but
figure I'll get an idea.

 

I believe its NAPA Auto Store that sells a test kit to see if there is
any oil in the coolant which would signify a bad head gasket.

 

Hi, I do not know what the weather is like where you live, but very low
temperatures and short runs do not evaporate off the condensation formed
within your engine. Come winter, my wife's car suffers from 'mayonnaise
under the filler cap because the water vapour causes and emulsion to form in
the coldest and highest part of the engine (top engine cover where filler
cap is). If you have a leak into or out of the coolant system, your level
will tend to change in the coolant expansion bottle.

Gio

 

Thanks Gio,It is cold here in the NE NJ hopefuly your right.I have a
feeling though combined with the MPG loss of 5 MPG it is the head
gasket.I'll keep a close eye on the antifreeze just to double check.

 

I hope it is not a head gasket or cracked head and the fix is something
simple and cheap.

Gio

 

It's probably as Gio says, especially if you primarily take short
trips. Coolant will evaporate from the reservoir over time since it's
not sealed. In addition, the significantly colder temperatures in
wintertime northeast (or is that Nebraska) will also cause the same
amount of coolant to take up slightly less space.

 

Well<i filled the overflow to the top and it was 40 degrees yesterday
and raining.Drove about 20 miles total and the coolant dropped about 2
inches in the resevoir and the mayonaise looking stuff was all over the
oil filler cap and on the ledge over the valve train.Also MPG has
dropped about 5MPG and it may even be lower on this tank????

 

Was the 20 miles in one trip or several? You mention that the foam was
on the ledge of the valve train... was that because it flowed out of the
oil cap and on to the ledge or did it get there from the valve cover
gasket? One other thing to be aware of is that even though your
temperature gauge might indicate that you have reached "normal"
operating temperatures it takes several (depending on outside
temperature) more miles/minutes for the oil to reach the operating
temperature. When I had an oil temp gauge in one of my cars I was
surprised to see that it did not come up to temperature in the winter
for as many as 15 minutes after my water temp had reached normal.

 

Basically short trip in succession.Temp guage did read midway.The grease
not foam is inside the valve cover.There is a metal piece (I call the
ledge) just at the mid point in the opening for the filler cap.That had
the grease and so did the cap.This has never been present before on the
car.Car has 100K on it.

 

What about the big loss of MPG!.I'm anal about filling the tank myself
so I know the loss is real time.Barely going to hit 30 (if)
this tank.Normal is 37-40???The other 2 vehicles I've had BHG have lost
MPG too?

 

This is all consistent with failure to burn off the condensation in
the engine. As for the drop in fuel economy, you should look at other
potential causes first:
-- Colder temperatures will cause lower fuel economy
-- If you're waiting for the engine to warm up enough for the heater
to work before driving away, this will lower fuel economy,
particularly if most trips are short
-- Check tire pressures. Colder temperatures are enough to drop them
a few psi.
-- Review driving habits.
-- If the check engine lamp is on, diagnose and address the cause.
-- Make sure the transmission, if automatic, engages all four forward
gears.
-- Verify engine power feels normal.
-- Check tires for wear primarily on either the inside edge or outside
edge. Excessive toe in/out will cause poor fuel economy.

 

Mechanic did compression check and it was good he says no HG
problem.Tires good,no check engine light,air filter clean,new plugs?MPG
at 32,from 37 -40

 

What kind of car is this? I find 37-40 MPG for nearly any car on
short-trip drives to be almost too good to be true.

 

2000 accent.I drive very conservativley,keep tires at 40psi coast to
lights long down hill,and am anal about filling my tank to full (even
though illegal in NJ to pump your own) the odometer is accurate by GSPW
mile markers.
Check engine light finally came on yesterday car bucked and sputtered
no power,pulled over shut off restarted,light went out.came back on in
shoort order bucked and sghuddered and finally ran ok to get home
(computer fail safe?) and light staye on.Will take to shop for
diagnosis.Several months ago had Cat,map flow replaced so may just be
wires?? as it was rainy and wet.Had come on for 1 second flashiing 2
months ago in same wet conditions.

 

Got car back and it showed missfire # 1.New wires and on the
road,but,filled tank and usually when car is running well the guage
doesn't move till 100+ miles are on the odo.When it started running
crappy before the check engine light it was moving at 50 on the odo.This
time it was 1/2 way to half tank at 30?? I hope this is the time the
computer is resetting???? Do all cars have to be driven a certain milage
after clearing the check engine light as my mechanic said I had to go at
least 100 before the computer completely resets and the guy at the
inspection station said the same thing???

 

They do take some time to reset. I don't know the specifics of your
model though.

 

It takes some time for the computer to run all its self-tests. That's
what they're referring to. For all practical purposes, the car should
run properly out of the box. More likely, you've lost some fuel due
to the car running while not moving at the repair facility (and/or the
facility not driving it like you drive it).

As for your fuel economy, after checking the EPA figures, 37-40 still
seems high. Vehicle is listed as 23/31 for automatic and 24/33
highway. Typically, I'd expect close to the city value for short-trip
driving, but we also know that driving habits play a large role in
actual fuel economy. I could see that if you're very conservative,
you'd get close to the highway value even for short-trip driving, but
37-40 is in the "I'll need to see it to believe it" range.

 

I can understand your skepticism.When people tell me they get wonderful
gas mileage it's usually because they don't fill the tank to the top.I
have always gotten much better than epa figures.First I replace the
motor oil with Mobil 1 or Rotella synthetic 5-30 5-40 respectively.Then
I replace the transmission oil with Redline synthetic and the rear
(truck) end oil with Redline synthetic.Finally replace the stock air
filter with a K&N.On my 1982 Nissan diesel pick up I was pulling 39 city
and 50 highway.On my 1976 Datsun 710 station wagong 30 city 35
highway.My 1973 510 was over 30 but can't remember the absolute
figures.Same for my motorcycles.I reduced rear sprocket size and could
pull 50mpg on my CBX's and easily get 50 on my Kawasaki A-10
Concours's.I do drive very conservatevly anticipating lights and traffic
and very rarely go above 70 on the highway.(retired so where do I have
to be in a hurry) *<))
Back to the car now.Haven't had time to put miles on a new full tank
riding motorcycle with GF in this nice 25* NJ weather with my GF..With
it resetting the computer the milage was going to be horrendous ,264.7
fillup was 8.8 for 30.07MPG This was second worse milage ever,worse was
MAF and Cat needing replacement.Hopefully the situation is remedied and
milage will go back to normal.SO GLAD it wasn't head gasket.Thanks for
every ones help.

 

Not looking like the problem was solved.Gas guage is 1/4 down for less
than 100 miles (normal is not moving off full till 100 miles) well over
300 miles on computer reset but no check engine light on yet???????

 

Today (snowing wet) in a turn like last time only in rain my check
engine light flashed about 30 to 45 seconds then went out??? Any
suggestions what would cause that?