My car works fine but I noticed that the sparkplug holes have oil on the outside. The hell? Bad head gasket????
#Oil in sparkplugs
magic mantle
opaque mica
looks like a leaky grommet if the valve cover is integrated
there's usually little O rings around the plugs, idk what you have but they might be shot
tranquil forge
My car works fine but I noticed that the sparkplug holes have oil on the outside...
That does not look like a leak. Looks like leftover residue from an old valve cover leak. That type of head construction does not have an I-ring around the plug since it does not go through the valve cover. Definitely not a headgasket either.
Get some degreaser and clean it out if it concerns you.
magic mantle
Well, I just did a radiator flush and there was oil in the water
Not a lot though but still oil
tranquil forge
How much is not a lot? A thin film in the coolant bucket?
magic mantle
Yep
I'll show you once it all flushes down the bucket
It has perfect compression though so I dunno how this happened
And that oil in the spark plugs happened recently because it wasn't there when I changed the spark plugs two months ago
tranquil forge
What car is it and how old?
tranquil forge
I'll show you once it all flushes down the bucket
That’s how coolant looks, it has a slight oily film.
tranquil forge
Even if there is oil. After 32 years on this planet menas it has had plenty of time to be messed with. Could be headgasket, but could equally be explained by grandma putting oil in the coolant 20 years ago, or an old headgasket issue that never got entirely cleaned.
Old cars are never factory perfect.
magic mantle
I just called an auto parts store to ask how much a headgasket would cost and the dude immediately said that its 500% a "mirror gasket" issue
What in the world is a mirror gasket??
Apparently, its common with Corsa's
tranquil forge
Who calls an auto parts store to ask for advice? Minor means you can ignore it.
magic mantle
I didn't. I just wanted to know if there are still headgaskets for this thing and the guy said that its probably that. Its not just an auto parts store though. They also do repairs there.
I live in a bit of an economically bad country so these old cars are everywhere here.
tranquil forge
Flush out the system, if there is in the future enough oil for it to be identified though the coolant fill then replace the gasket.
magic mantle
I flushed it twice and so far, no oil.
The distilled water is still on the dirty side but that's because the tank itself needs cleaning
I also checked the spark plugs and they were loose as hell
Unscrew-them-by-hand kind of loose
When I started the engine for the first time in 15 years months ago, it was misfiring so bad, it looked as if it would shoot out of the bay.
I wonder if that made the spark plugs loose
Anyway, thanks very much. I appreciate it. I'll look into that weird gasket if it keeps spitting out oil.
tranquil forge
A friend has a trick for cleaning coolant systems. Flush it won’t with water. Put two dish washer detergent cubes. Drive it for a bit and then flush it again and replace with coolant
magic mantle
I used a coolant system cleaning solution
Bought it for about ten euros
Its a milky substance that smells like white spirit
tranquil forge
Be aware that it will never be clean.
magic mantle
In better news, this gasket is located beside the timing belt, which made me realize that its probably a good idea to replace
It hasn't hit the miles yet but it probably hasn't been changed since the car was made in 1993
My understanding is that the engine is toast is if the timing belt snaps while the engine runs