is my head gasket gone?

[aaron-j 0]

hello people iv got a vr i think the gasket might be going or gone but how can i be sure? i havent drove it for 3 weeks coz iv been using my van, started it up today but found some mayo on the oil filler cap and the engine revs kept dipping slightly on idle, what could this be? how much to fix and could i drive it like it is coz i need to do a 200 mile journey xmas day,

 

thanks for any help guys

[Jon_vr6 1]

Mayo on the oil filler cap at this time of year is very common as the condensation in the engine doesnt get burnt off as fast and if you do short journeys where it doesnt get up to temp that also causes mayo.

[aaron-j 0]

thats the best news iv heard all week mate thank you for that

[Jon_vr6 1]

thats the best news iv heard all week mate thank you for that

 

Its not a guarantee fella usually you get oil mixing with the coolant when the head gasket has gone. Mine has had mayo on the filler cap in the past as its only 4 miles to work.

 

Best bet is to give it a good run out and get everything up to temp nice and hot and then check your filler cap if you've still got mayo then you know you have a problem

[andy 0]

I wouldn't be worried with those symptoms either. As already said mayo is not that unusual, especially this time of year.The revs dipping is more than likely an ISV problem. (Idle stabilisaton valve). Do a search, loads of stuff on here about fixing that. Give the old girl a good run, works wonders!

[Diesel Junior 0]

Hi Aaron, best of luck with this, let us all know how you get on with this as you can see from my post (directly under yours on the list - VR6 HG problems allegedly!) i am in a similar kind of position. Best of luck!

[carter711 0]

Did you disconnect the battery before not driving it for 3 weeks?

When you reconnect the battery the ECU takes a while to settle down which can cause the idle speed to differ.

Mayo can come from short journeys and sometimes it will look like a load of smoke is coming from the exhaust but it's just the cold winter air causing it.

 

As said take it out for a good run and watch the temperatures. If the gasket is starting to go the car will try to overheat. If you turn the car off before it overheats you won't warp the head, which is an extra expense.

[fla 9]

if the gasket is gone you'll also get extra pressurising of the coolant header tank, so you'll see the level go higher than normal.

[delfinis38 1]

I wouldn't get to excited about it... i don't use mine allot and have mayo on the oil cap at this time of year. as said before it's normally condensation that would get burnt off normally at running tempreture. it's very common.

 

I'd be more concerned if ther was mayo on the dip stick.

 

give here a run then do and engine flush and oil change to see if that cures it.

[aaron-j 0]

thanks for all the replys guys, i had a run in it and it seens ok now i think but there are so many things that need sorting, drivers side window has stopped working, spoiler is sticking, lumpy idle ect ect.... but most recent was today, engine was upto temp but was idling a little higher then usual, just over 1000 rpm, like the choke was stuck on or sumthing, any ideas??

[dubbed_up_daz 0]

mines just had a similar idle problem which I traced to a vacuum hose that comes out of the throttle body area and over to the air box,it had dropped down onto the exhaust heat shield. Easy enough to check and rule out but I read that idle problems could be one of a few air leaks in the vac. system. If its not that hose I mentioned listen for anything thats obviously sucking air