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
13,383 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

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

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?

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

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

DAVE H

MECHANIC
13,383 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