I have just gone to take the spark plugs out to put new ones in and is it normal for the chamber each plug is in to be filled with oil and it looks  like I have oil mixed in with coolant. The car starts fine from cold and runs fine but on a couple of occasions it has took a bit to start after I have done a short journey and the car is already warm.  any advise and help would be appreciated

Edited 9 August, 20196 yr by Lynn67

@Lynn67 Do you mean there's oil on the insulator on the plug nose (matt white porcelain), or in the recess in the cylinder head above the hexagon head of the plug?

it's in the recess in the cylinder head above the hexagon head of the plug.

9 minutes ago, Lynn67 said:

it's in the recess in the cylinder head above the hexagon head of the plug.

 

That's just spillage, nothing to worry about.

thank you for that been a lot years since I had a petrol car. Any ideas on what would cause oil to get into my header tank?

2 minutes ago, Lynn67 said:

thank you for that been a lot years since I had a petrol car. Any ideas on what would cause oil to get into my header tank?

 

Cylinder head gasket 🙁

Thought that might be the case, what is the best gasket to get ?

A genuine head gasket is best. The head would also need skimming. Best get it checked out before spending anything, Need to confirm it's the gasket.

Love the pic of your cats. I'm a cat lover myself

@Lynn67 - As TMB says. The oil in the plug recesses is pretty normal, but oil in the header tank strongly suggests HGF. Similarly if you have any sign of water on the dipstick.

 

(but not if you have mayonnaise in the can cover; that can just be condensation.)

1 minute ago, TMB said:

Love the pic of your cats. I'm a cat lover myself

Yeah unfortunately the ginger one had to be put to sleep last year as he was very ill but we had ten good years togerther. The black and white one is an ASBO cat!! I have two more now though.

3 minutes ago, Lynn67 said:

Yeah unfortunately the ginger one had to be put to sleep last year as he was very ill but we had ten good years togerther. The black and white one is an ASBO cat!! I have two more now though.

 

Aww, that sad day always comes 🙁

 

ASBO cat

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@Lynn67 - As TMB says. The oil in the plug recesses is pretty normal, but oil in the header tank strongly suggests HGF. Similarly if you have any sign of water on the dipstick.

 

(but not if you have mayonnaise in the can cover; that can just be condensation.)

RAC bloke checked my oil dip stick on Wednesday afternoon when I couldn't get the car to start, turned out to be engine flooded but I had been sitting there for two and half hours waiting for him and he had to jump start with a power pack as i'd tried to start it a few times and he said to put new spark plugs and probably a new battery as well.

On 09/08/2019 at 21:32, Lynn67 said:

RAC bloke checked my oil dip stick on Wednesday afternoon when I couldn't get the car to start, turned out to be engine flooded but I had been sitting there for two and half hours waiting for him and he had to jump start with a power pack as i'd tried to start it a few times and he said to put new spark plugs and probably a new battery as well.

Seems reasonable, but get a competent fast fit place (so not Halfrauds or Kwik-****) to do a battery load test first.

12 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Seems reasonable, but get a competent fast fit place (so not Halfrauds or Kwik-****) to do a battery load test first.

No I don't go to Halfords or Kwik-*** never have done.

 

On 09/08/2019 at 22:07, Lynn67 said:

No I don't go to Halfords or Kwik-*** never have done.

 

Cool; I don't know how savvy you are, and assumption is the mother of all, ah, mess-ups.

15 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Cool; I don't know how savvy you are, and assumption is the mother of all, ah, mess-ups.

Unfortunately when you're a female you have to learn to be on the ball and savvy as years ago and probably still the case today you will always get the few bad apples that will try and con you when it comes to cars and repairs to them.

@Lynn67

How about posting an image of the so called oil spillage?

Even better, clean everything well in that area (as in spotless) then take a photo after a week of driving.

21 minutes ago, RicardoM said:

@Lynn67

How about posting an image of the so called oil spillage?

Even better, clean everything well in that area (as in spotless) then take a photo after a week of driving.

It's not really an oil spillage I just wasn't sure if it was normal for oil to be in where the spark plugs are, as the last car I had with spark plugs was a maestro reg(C308 CPW) I  have had diesel cars since that one until I brought the skoda.

On 09/08/2019 at 23:08, Lynn67 said:

I just wasn't sure if it was normal for oil to be in where the spark plugs are

Well, it neither is nor isn't; my BFF's Mum had a Toyota with pent-roof combustion chambers and central spark plugs that almost always had some oil in the plug recesses, but my Dad's BX16 had side mounted plugs that stayed dry. (and BTW the first time he tried to service it himself he couldn't understand why he couldn't get a 14mm plug box onto a 10mm plug!)

Put the new spark plugs in on Sunday.

Yesterday car started fine went to my first job three and a half hours later started fine again drove about 4 miles sat for 25 minutes went to start car again and it was flooded again, i managed to get it started went to my next job 3 1/2 hours later it started straight away again. That is similar  to what happen last Wednesday when I had to RAC out, although the bloke did say it was very unusual to get called to a skoda not starting. Any ideas on why or what could be causing this. 

Edited 13 August, 20196 yr by Lynn67
Repeated myself

@Lynn67 - Well, the timeline is helpful. I think the Coolant Temperature Sensor or Cold Enrichment are faulty, so that you get full mixture on a warm engine, but it needs a VCDS scan to confirm my theory, and tell you which the fault is with.

4 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@Lynn67 - Well, the timeline is helpful. I think the Coolant Temperature Sensor or Cold Enrichment are faulty, so that you get full mixture on a warm engine, but it needs a VCDS scan to confirm my theory, and tell you which the fault is with.

Okay it had a new rad last year and replaced thermostat etc. I'm going to Fakenham Auto electrics tomorrow to have the battery checked so I'll get them to scan while I'm there. Thank you. 

10 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@Lynn67 - Well, the timeline is helpful. I think the Coolant Temperature Sensor or Cold Enrichment are faulty, so that you get full mixture on a warm engine, but it needs a VCDS scan to confirm my theory, and tell you which the fault is with.

That would also explain when I do a very short trip first thing in the morning like to the petrol station it starts fine because it's still cold.

On 13/08/2019 at 09:08, Lynn67 said:

That would also explain when I do a very short trip first thing in the morning like to the petrol station it starts fine because it's still cold.

Well, a recent new radiator and thermostat make little difference to my theory, but this does support it. It also starts fine if you leave it until "cold" again?