Damaged engine?

[Southwell]

Well i went round my parents for lunch yesterday and my mum just said a comment in passing. 'A light comes on when i go round corners, it's been on an off for a couple of weeks' Ok, so straight away im thinking oil light, which is confirmed after turning over the engine and hearing the tappets make a noise like ive never heard in her car.
The oil was very low, not even registering. So i go to fill it up and low and behold i find some nice mayonnaise on the oil cap and inside the rocker? box. I know this can happen on short journeys, but it seemed quite excessive to me and im thinking head gasket. As far as i know it hasn't overheated yet.
Anyone got any suggestions? The tappet noise did quieten down after the engine was to temp but it was still most definitely there, and i have not heard it on her car before so i am thinking that the engines been starved of oil and it's not a waiting game until detonation.

It's a 1.6 Astra 2001.

Cheers for any advise.

[burgie]

head gasket or cylinder head is cracked in my experience....

[markwilliamson2001]

Yeah sounds like a head gasket to me...
get it towed and sorted asap...
Bill wont be cheap either, used to cost about £5-600 on the rover 1.4/1.6/1.8 K series engine to sort out.

[Southwell]

The car isn't worth much, they wouldn't want to get it fixed, just buy a new one. Looks like their years of not getting a service done has caught up with them

[markwilliamson2001]

HELL YEAH!!

[timmy121]

if it's using water head gasket
but if not maybe ok
you can get white stuff in rocker cover from condension
if your not bothered about car to much run it for abit
but keep checking water and oil

[bodgit]

If as you say there was no oil in it ,the head may have warped too. My daughters clio went with no warning cost us £398 for new gasket head skim and cam belt

[Southwell]

This was a whitey brown mix. The car probably does a max of 5-10 miles a day. Not sure about water, i didn't check it.

[bodgit]

what colour is the exhaust smoke my daughters blew like an F1 car
If they are only doing 5-10 miles a day then they really need a smaller engined car as the 1.6 will barely have time to warm up if they do 2.5 miles to the shop ,stop then 2.5 back

[Southwell]

I didnt see any. i will check. I take it if it's white then water is getting into the exhaust?

[bodgit]

If its white like you see on the F1,s then you,ve got water in the cylinders and the gasket has gone. try checking the plugs too Check the water level in the radiator fill up see if its low. If your lucky its only condensation because of such short journies , but the tappets may need seeing too due to lack of oil. If its drivable without clouds of white smoke coming from the back then get it to kwik fit they do a cheap service and can advise you of any other problems,

[Southwell]

Ok, cheers mate.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by timmy121

if it's using water head gasket
but if not maybe ok
you can get white stuff in rocker cover from condension
if your not bothered about car to much run it for abit
but keep checking water and oil

agree with above

Originally Posted by bodgit

If as you say there was no oil in it ,the head may have warped too. My daughters clio went with no warning cost us £398 for new gasket head skim and cam belt

nope, lack of oil will NOT warp a head, it will sieze beirings etc, warpped heads are caused by over heating

Originally Posted by Southwell

This was a whitey brown mix. The car probably does a max of 5-10 miles a day. Not sure about water, i didn't check it.

if coolant level ok its just condensation build up, which can be normal

Originally Posted by bodgit

what colour is the exhaust smoke my daughters blew like an F1 car
If they are only doing 5-10 miles a day then they really need a smaller engined car as the 1.6 will barely have time to warm up if they do 2.5 miles to the shop ,stop then 2.5 back

sorry but a smaller engine makes no differene to warm up time, modern engines have less coolant which aids warm up, engine size is irellivant, deisels take longer to warm up due to design

Originally Posted by bodgit

If its white like you see on the F1,s then you,ve got water in the cylinders and the gasket has gone. try checking the plugs too Check the water level in the radiator fill up see if its low. If your lucky its only condensation because of such short journies , but the tappets may need seeing too due to lack of oil. If its drivable without clouds of white smoke coming from the back then get it to kwik fit they do a cheap service and can advise you of any other problems,

Kwickfit, we have a nick name for tham at our dealership..............Krapfit, they send all thier cock ups to us!!

normal F1 blow ups is oil you see burning, hence the flames, have you ever seen water produce a flame?

[Lee]

I think from reading some of the comments on here, it's best to consult a trained professional, oil is not a coolant, its a lubricant, yes some cars have oil coolers but that is to stop the oil breaking down.

Southwell,

The K series engines are renowned for heads going, but to be honest, yours doesn't sound like a head or a gasket has gone, if it is not using water and the expansion tank is not pressurising you might be ok, you would see lots of smoke if your losing water, also, have a look at the oil, has it gone milky, if it has then this is a good indication that water is in the oil and you either have a crack in the head or a blown gasket.

Are they K series engines on hydraulic tappets? if you have low oil then it will sound tappety, top it up and run it for a minute and see if it quietens down.

[Northy]

Originally Posted by Southwell

It's a 1.6 Astra 2001.

Since when was the K series fitted to astras?

G

[Lee]

Sorry, i picked up on what someone else said.


It will be fine then if it's not a K series

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by Lee

I think from reading some of the comments on here, it's best to consult a trained professional, oil is not a coolant, its a lubricant, yes some cars have oil coolers but that is to stop the oil breaking down.

Southwell,

The K series engines are renowned for heads going, but to be honest, yours doesn't sound like a head or a gasket has gone, if it is not using water and the expansion tank is not pressurising you might be ok, you would see lots of smoke if your losing water, also, have a look at the oil, has it gone milky, if it has then this is a good indication that water is in the oil and you either have a crack in the head or a blown gasket.

Are they K series engines on hydraulic tappets? if you have low oil then it will sound tappety, top it up and run it for a minute and see if it quietens down.

would that be like somone who has been in the motor trade as a technician for 26 years then??

oh thats me

[Southwell]

Originally Posted by Lee

I think from reading some of the comments on here, it's best to consult a trained professional, oil is not a coolant, its a lubricant, yes some cars have oil coolers but that is to stop the oil breaking down.

Southwell,

The K series engines are renowned for heads going, but to be honest, yours doesn't sound like a head or a gasket has gone, if it is not using water and the expansion tank is not pressurising you might be ok, you would see lots of smoke if your losing water, also, have a look at the oil, has it gone milky, if it has then this is a good indication that water is in the oil and you either have a crack in the head or a blown gasket.

Are they K series engines on hydraulic tappets? if you have low oil then it will sound tappety, top it up and run it for a minute and see if it quietens down.

Yeah i know, i had a Rover 25, never blew though.

Originally Posted by mark christopher

agree with above



nope, lack of oil will NOT warp a head, it will sieze beirings etc, warpped heads are caused by over heating



if coolant level ok its just condensation build up, which can be normal



sorry but a smaller engine makes no differene to warm up time, modern engines have less coolant which aids warm up, engine size is irellivant, deisels take longer to warm up due to design




Kwickfit, we have a nick name for tham at our dealership..............Krapfit, they send all thier cock ups to us!!

normal F1 blow ups is oil you see burning, hence the flames, have you ever seen water produce a flame?

Thanks for your replies everyone, i think ill get it in for an oil and filter change for see how it goes. Ill check all the levels tonight.

[MK999]

There doesn't have to be white smoke for the head gasket to have gone, it seals between 3 different things, oil, water, and combustion, can go between oil and water, which is not uncommon.

I assume it's 16 valve from the year? If so I wouldn't worry too much about the head being cracked, have never heard of it happening on these engines (C20XE's without the coscast head are the vauxhall engines famed for this, although I've never heard of someone having one of those crack either )

If it's 8 valve you've got even less to worry about, it'll run without oil and water for weeks and still come back for more (slight exaggeration but they're bombproof)

Either way it almost definitely needs a head gasket change imo!

Also it wouldn't be unusual for a smaller engined car to warm up faster, especially if it's the smallblock variant in the range, less casting to warm up and also my little 1.2 8v regularly sees 4k revs daily in order to make it move rather than crawl, wouldn't be doing that in a larger engined car... I really wouldn't put any problems down to that, or agree they *need* a smaller engined car though. All 1.6 vaux engines I know of are smallblock anyway.

[JJ The Boat Wizzard]

Originally Posted by Lee

I think from reading some of the comments on here, it's best to consult a trained professional, oil is not a coolant, its a lubricant, yes some cars have oil coolers but that is to stop the oil breaking down.

Yes Oil's Main Purpose In The Engine Is Lubricant However , It Dose Slightly Cool The Engine . If I Were You Just Take It To A Well Known Garage And Let Someone Take A Look At It