Has my head gasket gone?

[N.Walliams]

There is a build up of browish mayonaisey sludge in my header tank, the car still runs fine doesnt smoke or use any oil, the oil on the dipstick and near the filler cap looks fine.

could it be that the head gasket has gone for a previous owner and there is still a load of ****e in the engine which the water is picking up?

The car hardly gets used and have just noticed th sluge tonight after not using the car for 2 weeks.

cheers for any help

[lee866]

could be pourous head

[Paul]

Try flushing the coolant for starters

[toj28]

there is still heads out there that are mixing.

[Astra Dan]

Does it lose water?

[N.Walliams]

Does it lose water?

Doesnt lose any

[Jack]

Any pressure in the header tank?

[Scoobler]

Does it lose water?

If its a porus head, the coolant level will rise slowly as the oil is under higher presure than the water and is forced in through the crack.

Read up here for some info on 'porus' heads

As paul says, first thing, clean the coolant system and run the car for a while, maybe a week or so of driving it. If it comes back you will need the head off for inspection. If the gasket looks fine it could have cracked and will need repairing

[N.Walliams]

not much but havent really let it get to the point where its hot

[toj28]

Try flushing the coolant for starters

i had to do this 1ns a week till i got mine done filled the bottle every time if you flush it and it reapears this will give you idea.

[N.Walliams]

well I recently fitted brand new silicon hose kit and bailey header tank with a new coolant then? so looks like head is porous ?

the header tank is now caked in sludge

cheers for the info too

[mr-omega]

smell the header tank and if u smell petrol then ur looking at head off job i can do it for u pm if interested

[Scoobler]

Taken from: http://topbuzz.co.uk/info/porous_heads/porous_heads.htm

Some users have put a small amount of washing up liquid in the coolant tank. The cleaning agent in the washing-up liquid cleans the oil veins more efficiently than water can, hence it basically flushes out the head, and then dumps it back in the coolant tank.

Makes sure your car keeps on cooling its self till you get it fixed....