XR2 RACER - water in oil? or HGF?

[dank]

Hi guys

Once again I have problems with the stock hatch racer, even though we JUST had the bloody thing rebuilt over winter. Today I got her out to run her for a bit as its so cold. I noticed a puddle of oil in the garage. Took the dipstick out and its on max, but there is mayonaisse type residue on the dipstick. Is this head gasket failure? We ran the car for a while and it was a bit smokey from exhaust but not excessively, could this just be a bit of condensation in the oil which will go when we run the car properly on track? I am really hoping its not HGF as we've only had the car back 2 weeks, is there any way we can see if it is hgf?.

Also our steering column seems to be at a slight angle now, about 10-15 degrees angled towards the drivers door. Can steering columns be put wrongly back? My Dad swears blind that it can't be put back wrongly, but I am 100% sure that it wasn't like that before the rebuild. The rebuild did consist of the whole front coming off and being rebuilt, we also have new suspension, could this contribute to this? Two weeks away from the first race and we have these problems, I am very annoyed. Any advice appreciated.

cheers

[Zad]

Take the lid off the coolant header tank and look inside. Is there mayonnaise in there? Alternatively, does it smell of exhaust gasses? Blowing head gaskets tend to blow from the gas side into the (low pressure) water side. Take the oil filler cap off and have a look in there, any mayo?

On the matter of the steering wheel. Is it possible to take off any of the shrouds and have a look? It's the best way to tell if there is any adjustment available.

Mike

[falcemob]

When you get the engine hot, does the coolant bubble out if you remove the rad/expansion tank cap? Is the smoke white, I had a head gasket go and the smoke got worse as it got hotter, it looked like a steam train.
Where is the oil leaking from?
You could get a Sniff test done to see if the HG is gone also try a compression test.
What sort of engine is it, a CVH?

[dank]

Yes its a 1.6 CVH which we recently had blue printed. The water tank in the engine bay did seem to be boiling over and there was some steam coming from the engine bay(only very very slightly) but this was because the engine was 3/4 hot. I had run it for about 20mins and it usually gets quite hot when doing this, then i switched the fan on to cool it down. I'll check the oil filler cap 2moro morning then.

cheers

[dank]

OK, I've just been out to look at the car. Checked the oil level and it's still on max, no visible oil drips or leaks from under the car, the puddle was on the far left hand side of the engine bay by the way, we think this may be a slight leak from the crank shaft bearing? The dipstick had some slight mayonaisse at the very tip, but not a huge ammount at all. I looked inside the oil filler on the engine and again saw no signs of mayo, shone a torch down in there and could see nothing amiss here. Took off the water bottle cap (this being the bottle located right hand side right up at the top of the bonnet, top being nearest to the windscreen) and saw no evidence of mayo here! Does this mean its not HGF?

[nighthawk]

I'd not be worried by this at the moment.

The dip stick tubes did and rocker covers did get "mayo'd" up on standard cars.

Hot oily gasses cooling down and condensing in cold weather is to be expected.

Water in the oil would reduce the level in the header tank and increase the oil level on the stick.

[Zad]

It sounds fine to me. Taking it for a drive somewhere appropriate would probably reveal more.

Mike

[dank]

Cheers Nighthawk. I double checked everywhere before I ran it again this afternoon and then let the oil settle and checked again and the only place mayo was found was on the very tip of the dip stick. The engine sounded normal and there was no loss in acceleration response(the car wasn't moving). I'll keep my eye on this situation. Is there any sure fire ways to tell if its hgf for future reference, other than listed before?

Re: the steering column being at a strange angle. Is it true that as long as the car is driving straight when the steering wheel is in the straight position then I have nothing to worry about? How major a thing would it be to get the steering coloumn back in its true position? There is no manual adjustment of the column, and anyway its horizontally moved and adjustments would only be vertical would they not?

cheers

[GreenV8S]

dank said:

Is there any sure fire ways to tell if its hgf for future reference, other than listed before?

Hydrocarbons or oil in the water are a pretty conclusive sign.

[dank]

So is the small ammount of Mayo on the tip of the dip stick NOT a problem?, there seems no other signs of this anywhere else?!

[Zad]

Difficult to tell, it may be that exhaust gasses are getting into the crank case past the piston rings and the steam is condensing out. If you continue to experience a buildup it might be worth taking the rocker cover off to see what is happening there. I would have thought contamination in the coolant header tank would show up though.

[GreenV8S]

Mayo in the oil is inconclusive unlss there are really humungous amounts which don't go away after a decent run. Oil or hydrocarbons in the water are conclusive though.

[nighthawk]

The steering shaft has no adjustment on it at all, the 84 shape fiestas all had that strange position.
There would be nothing cheap or simple you could do to get it square on to you.

As the others have said ignore the sludge, i wouldn't really bother with checking for Hc ppm in the coolant either, more often than not it false alarms.

I prefer the good old method of removing the header tank cap and holding the revs up for a few minutes....if the floor gets all steamy there is excessive pressure in the system

[dank]

Cheers for all the help!

We've got a full day at Brands next wednesday testing out the new adjustable dampers and getting ready for the first race of the season, so the car will have a full shake down and we'll hopefully be able to see if there are any problems regarding the sludge/mayo issue then.

Re: the steering column, so was it angled before and I didn't notice this??? So all mk2 xr2's have this inherent problem? I could swear that it was straight pre-rebuild!!!

[nighthawk]

If it's off in the way i'm thinking, yes they were all like that.

Post a piccie of exactly whats causing concern and i'll see if i can help.

[dank]

cheers Nighthawk, I'll do this on sat and post it in the afternoon.

[zzr]

dank said:

Cheers for all the help! We've got a full day at Brands next wednesday testing out the new adjustable dampers and getting ready for the first race of the season, so the car will have a full shake down and we'll hopefully be able to see if there are any problems regarding the sludge/mayo issue then. Re: the steering column, so was it angled before and I didn't notice this??? So all mk2 xr2's have this inherent problem? I could swear that it was straight pre-rebuild!!!

All Mk1 and 2 fiesta's have the steering column at an angle, the standard steering wheels are angled to correct this in the straight ahead position. If you put an aftermarket wheel on it sits at an angle all the time.

[dank]

ah ha! Yes we have an after market steering wheel on it, and yes it does sit at an angle. Have had a good look around the wheel and refitted the casing top and bottom (which we had removed for racing) and it does appear that even though the steering column is angled the casing fits on straight. Well I am glad there's no problem there.

RE: the mayo in the oil, our mechanic has said that a lot of race cars that have been sitting all over winter get a bit of condensation in the engine and this causes the sludge and that this is nothing to worry about.

I feel relieved now!

Cheers for all the advice once again.