White gunge on filler cap

[nutskoda]

Hi i have a skoda octavia 1.6i the engine oil is fine but when i take off the filler cap there is a white gunge around the cap and just inside the cap area,,,, is this normal or what...ihave just changed the oil,,

[Moleh]

Any signs of coolant loss or overheating? Start looking up about head gasket issues :(

[P13SST]

Head gasket is failing mate.... It's going to cost you big bucks...

As above also is there a smell of coolent?

White 'smoke' from exhaust?

[BigW]

Probably just condensation if your journeys are mainly short ones, fairly common problem on these engines, take it out for a good run and you'll probably find it dissapears.

[robmawer]

"They all do that."

You get condensation around the filler cap which causes the oil to emulsify - you might also notice that the engine cover around the filler cap gets condensation on it (I know I did).

Wouldn't worry unless you start seeing emulsification on the oil on the dipstick...as you did an oil change, I take it the oil coming out looked OK?

Rob.

[ap0gee1978]

Head gasket is failing mate.... It's going to cost you big bucks...

As above also is there a smell of coolent?

White 'smoke' from exhaust?

Knee-jerk?!?! :eek:

Wouldn't normally recommend anything off the 'bay, but I'll make an exception in this case - have a read of this (and try to ignore THAT IT'S ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS!!! )

eBay.co.uk Guides - HOW TO TEST FOR A FAILED HEAD GASKET

Went through it, and sure enough, even though my wife's car had been run with no coolant on a couple of short trips (thank goodness it was during the cold snap - aircooled!!!) I checked it out and it's been fine since.

[KenONeill]

If you do a lot of short trips (under 2 miles) when the car doesn't get fully warmed up, it's entirely normal. It's called mayonaise (guess why), and is caused by condensation inside the rocker cover.

If you're really worried, follow Ap0gee's link, or think about asking a local garage to do a coolant test, which should cost about £10.

[BJM]

Knee jerk reaction

Before doing anything else, especially if you only do short trips, as mentioned above, go for a 20 - 50 - 100 mile drive (around a local ring road or similar just in case) to get the engine and oil up to full worki8ng temperature for a reasonable period, then check it.