ZX blowing oil out of dip-stick & slight mayo...

AthlonZX · Post by **AthlonZX** » 14 Jan 2006, 20:18

Well my ZX volcane has given me 6-months of great service, but something rather odd today happened that I'd like to pick everyone's brains on.

Today when I pulled up I thought I could detect a slight smell of engine oil fumes. I opened the bonnet to be greeted with the sight of oil spashed over the gear-box, pipes and plastic air intakes. The dipstick was pushed out slightly (I'm guessing this was the source).

The dipstick itself was covered in Mayo (as was the oil cap)...and for the first few miniutes that's all that seemed to appear on it. I left it for an hour and it seemed like a mixture of mayo and oil on the stick. A drive home...and the situation seemed to have settled down allot more ( oil almost normal on the dipstick).

The car hasnt overheated, oil pressure looks great (according to the guage), and the oil temperature guage reports normal while driving

Any suggestions on what might have been the cause of this? I'm assuming that a blocked breather might have caused the negative pressure that forced the dip-stick out?

I'm thinking a change of oil might help (my Dad's volvo also suffers from foaming on short-trips with magnetec).

Can anyone offer any comments/suggestions?

Many thanks

AthlonZX (Dave)

Citroen ZX 2.0i Volcane L-1994
Citroen BX 16valve - A project

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 14 Jan 2006, 20:37

Is the coolant level O.K. and does it look clear-not greasy or oily??? If so then its most likely down to the weather, more likely than a head gasket, anyway!!!

What sort of journeys do you do?? At this time of year if you are just going short distances with a lot of cold starts,the oil never gets hot and you will get a lot of mayo building up at the top of the motor,in the cam cover, dipstick tube, breathers, etc: these are the cooler bits where damp lurks!!

Mayo is condensation mixing with the oil- give it a good caning and the oil heats up to its proper working temperature and the condensation all evaporates off. Ignore the oil temp gauge-get the motor good and HOT!!!

Either drive further and faster and change the oil more often, or go by push bike for local trips: thats what I do!!!

Post by **Peter.N.** » 14 Jan 2006, 21:19

Yep, I will go with that.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 14 Jan 2006, 21:53

My favorite is a tired coolant thermostat - likely on a '94.

test it :
from cold (morning cold !) engine start and let idle while you keep observing the temp on the large top hose leading to the radiator - USING YOUR HAND as temp sensor

The most accurate temp sensor you have (at hand 8) ) - because the hose must remain dead cold for some 5 minutes until the thermostat suddenly opens and the hose temp rather fast increases to the scalding point.
Thats a working thermostat.

If however the hose slowly increases in temperature forever - the thermostat is shot.

Do NOT rely on any indicators - the above test is the most accurate you can get.

AthlonZX · Post by **AthlonZX** » 15 Jan 2006, 13:26

Thanks everyone

I've given it a good look-over today and it looks like it was down to the weather & lots of short runs. I've taken it for a nice run on a dual carridgeway for 50 odd miles and everything looks allot better

AndersDK, I've done a check on the thermostat, which seems to be opening fine, radiator is nice and hot all over too (my ZX td died through headgasket/cyclinder head failure...so these were the first things I checked for).

I'm going to alter my journey patters, and swap to another brand of oil at the next change, and just keep an eye on things for now.

Thanks again everyone

AthlonZX (Dave)

Citroen ZX 2.0i Volcane L-1994
Citroen BX 16 Valve - a project

sooty · Post by **sooty** » 15 Jan 2006, 17:41

Nothing above has made any suggestion as to why the dip stick has been pushed out slightly.

There must be some back pressure in the crankcase to do this. The first thing that must be checked as suggested by Athlon(Dave), was the crankcase breathe pipe, to be sure thats not blocked with gunge/mayo etc.

Otherwise I agree that short runs and thermostat fault are the main causes of mayo where the engine is not getting to temperature to rid itself of condensation.

The only other drastic thing that could cause the dipstick to be blown out is a sudden case of blow-by on one of the pistons, where a ring has failed. Is the engine running smoothly at tickover speed?? Also what sort of mileage has the motor done ??

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Jan 2006, 17:46

The dipstick popping out a bit is nothing more than a worn seal on the dipstick itself. 205 GTi's with the similar engine do it all the time. As Tom Jones would say.. "It's not unusual"

Spend about a fiver on a new dipstick and all will be fine...

AthlonZX · Post by **AthlonZX** » 15 Jan 2006, 22:04

Hi Sooty.

I do suspect that one of the breathers was mayo'd up leading to the build up in pressure (they seem to be clearer now...after the good run I took it for earlier). The car iself has done 94,000 miles and runs very sweet

, so I'm pretty confident it isnt blow-by although it was one of the things I considered early on. Idle tickover is very stable (I can barely hear/feel it in the cabin at tick-over...something in the dash seems to buzz louder than the engine!).

I'll continue to monitor it for now, and perhaps as Citrojim suggsted get a new dipstick for it as well

Thanks

AthlonZX(Dave)
Citroen ZX 2.0i Volcane L-1994
Citroen BX 16Valve - a project