Hi

Can someone please give me some advice? I have 2000 Fabia 1.4 16v and i have noticed white gunk under my oil filler cap. Is this the start of head gasket failure? My car is not overheating and don't have any symptoms just this white gunk under filler cap. I cleaned it away and drove a 60 mile round trip. I checked again the the gunk had appeared again and more of it! But as i mentioned no other symptoms.

Does anyone have any ideas??

Thanks

Might not be, if the car is typically used for short journeys then the gunk build up is not uncommon. The cold weather we have had recently will only make it worse, and it may take a lot more than 60 miles to burn off the gunk thats built up in the engine.

Mayonnaise around the filler cap is apparently not uncommon with this engine (mine has suffered with it even though it is in good nick and has been well maintained). Has the oil been changed regularly and do you do long journeys to warm everything up properly? Does the oil look normal on the dipstick and do you have excessive oil consumption? Does the coolant look ok in the header tank - level not dropping, not contaminated with oil, not over-pressurised when you unscrew the lid (with the engine cold and switched off, a little pressure is normal), no petrol fumes coming from the header tank? You can also take the spark plugs out to check the appearance of them to make sure they are normal. It is also worth cleaning out the breather pipe on this engine regularly. If you are still concerned then the only other option is to book it into a friendly garage to get a compression check done (which will also diagnose piston ring problems which is a known problem with this engine). Good luck.

The car was serviced about 6/7 thousands miles ago and i don't do long journeys the 60 was the first since i bought it. The oil on dipstick looks fine no gunk and i checked the cooler tank no gunk everything fine. So do you think if i changed the oil this might solve it?

Thanks again

more than likely condensation on filler lid especially if frequently run short journeys clean cap if it doesnt reapear do not worry if neccesary seek a leak down test for piece of mind i wouldnt worry unless suddenly temps starts going up or you see mayo in the header tank

its the short runs causing it because the engine never gets enough of a chance to burn off the condensation that forms every time you start a cold engine. This moisure mixes with the oil and forms the mayo on the cap. The only cure is to make regular long runs, changing the oil will make no difference since the symptoms are still present (the short runs).