Help! gunk in the radiator and reservoir??

[Adder]

Hello, I wondered if any of you guys had come across this in the past? my 1991 K10 Micra has lots of mayo type gunk in the radiator and water reservoir, the engine oil cap has no signs of mayo build up nor does the dip-stick, the car starts alright, but sounds a little tappety more than normal. Oil levels are ok from what I can tell, a little down on the last time I checked, but the mayo stuff is really thick and loads of it? is it a HGF? (head gasket failure) or is it something else??
I hope you guys can shed some light on it as I stumped?
Thanks in advance.

 

[gtsnissanb]

Hello, I wondered if any of you guys had come across this in the past? my 1991 K10 Micra has lots of mayo type gunk in the radiator and water reservoir, the engine oil cap has no signs of mayo build up nor does the dip-stick, the car starts alright, but sounds a little tappety more than normal. Oil levels are ok from what I can tell, a little down on the last time I checked, but the mayo stuff is really thick and loads of it? is it a HGF? (head gasket failure) or is it something else??
I hope you guys can shed some light on it as I stumped?
Thanks in advance.

Hi mate, it can be indeed hg failure but when was the last time it was flushed?
Other gunk can build up over time
If it's an MA10 engine it's less common for the hg to go than the MA12
Does the car use oil/water allot, smoke White over heat? I know it will only smoke White depending on where it had gone, but if there's oil in the water then most likely there will be some water in the oil!
Pressure test the system or take it to a garage and get the header tank sniffed and engine compression tested again this only works dependent on where it's gone

 

[porkpie700]

I had a similar thing when my carb-to-manifold gasket started to leak. It mixed coolant with the fuel which mixed with the oil when it was sucked into the engine. Flush your cooling system, fill it with clean water, get rid of any air loacks and then take it for a nice easy couple mile drive. Check the water when you come back to see if it's gunked up quickly or if the level has dropped. Also smell the coolant and the gunk, does it smell gassey or oily?
Smell the underside of the oil cap too, does it smell gassey? Head gaskets are good at giving faulse clues, depending on exactly where the leak is it can mix fuel with coolant only, hense the gassey smell. It can mix oil with coolant which will give you the mayo inside the rocker cover & on your cap. In the extreme case it can mix all three, smeeling both gassey and oily.

Keep your eye on the temp gauge for erratic or unusualy readings, either it'll yoyo up and down or go way up into the red if the leak is bad. If you suspect that it is the head gasket then i would stop driving the car untill you've had a new one on there coz alluminum engines have a nasty tendancy to warp if they're driven witha blown HG.

 

[essexpunx]

Sounds like Headgasket to me, had this on my Saxo VTS, no water in the oil, but plenty of oil in the water, it all depends on where the gasket has failed.

 

[dg_unit]

A friend asked me to look at his Saxo VTS the other day and same thing. I wasn't sure if HG cause no mayo around the oil cap but I think the giveaway way the black sludge dripping from rocker cover.

 

[Adder]

Well my micra may be up in the classifieds soon spares or repair! haha, Shame I loved it, the best car I have had in years, better value than my Lotus Elise! :laugh:

 

[gtsnissanb]

Well my micra may be up in the classifieds soon spares or repair! haha, Shame I loved it, the best car I have had in years, better value than my Lotus Elise! :laugh:

Changing the head gasket on a MA takes about 30 mins providing the head doesn't need a skim
I did a guide to removing the gasket
http://www.micra.org.uk/showthread.php?t=44831

Where are you by the way?

 

[Adder]

gtsnissanb down south, East Sussex, I dont have the space to do it, I have to park it on a busy road.

 

[dg_unit]

Maybe put a post on the general forum asking if anyone in Sussex can do the work for you? There's a few guys down here who are pretty handy with those things (myself not included). Failing that, if you're getting rid of it and it has white doors/beige interior I'd be interested in some parts.

 

[Adder]

dg_unit Its Beige in colour the interior is beige, and its ALL yours for £160!