2000 Rover 45 Head gasket failure. Or not?

PAULKEARTON

MEMBER
2000 ROVER 45
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
169,000 MILES

I have found a small amount of creamy residue on the oil filler cap and a small sign of the creamy substance when I look inside. I also have very dirty/rusty/slightly oily water in the coolant resevior. I do not have any over-heating problems, or bad smells, no smoke, and no loss of coolant or oil. Why would the resevior be so dirty and why is there a slight creamy residue on filler cap? I have been advised to use K-Seal in case the head gasket is on its way out.

3 Replies

DAVE H

MECHANIC
13,384 POSTS

A slight amount of cream on the oil filler cap can be caused by condensation. But the other symptoms your describing do indeed point to headgasket beginning to fail

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Monday, November 2nd, 2009 AT 6:31 AM

PAULKEARTON

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Even if I have no smoke or smells, no overheating, no loss of water or oil, and my heater still works. Would flushing the coolant, and adding a product such as K-Seal to repair gasket work?

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Monday, November 2nd, 2009 AT 6:38 AM

DAVE H

MECHANIC
13,384 POSTS

Have a cylinder compression test carried out to check the headgasket for failure !! I have found that using a sealing agent very rarely works for long .. you could try flushing and adding ? ... I think ultimately the gasket will need replacing