hi all, before buying my skoda fabia recently from a dealer i spotted white oil residue around the oil cap..asking the dealer about it he said it is because of the car not being driven for a long time and since it is left outside in cold. As my mate who came with me also agreed to it, i ignored the issue and thought that it is not something to worry about. Today after reading few posts about white oil residue, it made me worried and i am thinking could there be a head gasket problem? :( any advise welcome..cheers.

hi all, before buying my skoda fabia recently from a dealer i spotted white oil residue around the oil cap..asking the dealer about it he said it is because of the car not being driven for a long time and since it is left outside in cold. As my mate who came with me also agreed to it, i ignored the issue and thought that it is not something to worry about. Today after reading few posts about white oil residue, it made me worried and i am thinking could there be a head gasket problem? any advise welcome..cheers.

Very unlikely to be head gasket, its just because its so cold out side at the moment, give it a good blast up the motorway for half hour or so and it ll soon be gone

thanks for the reply mate..ill surely try that..my car has done around 59k miles..what is the typical age for a head gasket to blow off?

thanks for the reply mate..ill surely try that..my car has done around 59k miles..what is the typical age for a head gasket to blow off?

No, head gasket failure isn't "typical". It's likely to be condensation and as previously said it should burn off given a good run. It usually appears when it gets colder and if the car is only doing short trips

As said, give it a good run and check the coolant level

If you do lots of short journeys, then it's common for this oily mayonnaise to develop at the top of the engine. It's oily steam/water vapour cooling onto the cold roof of the rocker cover.

A quick test would be to wipe that crap away with a tissue, take the car for a long hard run up the motorway and see if that mayonnaise comes back..

Diesel engines need around 7miles atleast before the water temp reaches 90 (so I've seen), which means even longer before the engine oil temp reaches normal temps. short journeys and cold weather just don't mix well