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gaz b
Member
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Posted: Wednesday March 12th, 2008 09:00 pm |
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I'm making regular (every day) short journeys to work (3 miles) and my mini is never really warming up. The deposit on the inside of the rocker cover can only be described as double cream! , I believe this is because of condensation (?). Does anybody know of any way of preventing this or is there any special oil made for short journeys?.
I keep meaning to get back on my bike to cycle to work but i can't bring myself to walk past my cooper!.
Thanks
Gaz B
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chillbean
MCR Committee
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Posted: Thursday March 13th, 2008 04:42 pm |
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Gaz,
simple answer and I think you know it, is to stop all those short journeys. The engine will never get to operating temperature and will always be running on its cold cycle. The MPG on your car must higher than normal too.
Take the car for a good long hard run to get it nice and hot, then change the oil and filter. This should remove the contaminated oil.
Provided you don't have any head gasket problems,this should fix it.
If it is not possible to avoid the short journeys, then it would be best to change the oil much more often.
Or: use that bike, get fit, save money on fuel and help the engine to last longer. 
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DaveShreeve
Administrator
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Posted: Thursday March 13th, 2008 05:04 pm |
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Some oil/engine combinations used to have a reputation for this problem, is it still the case? I can't comment on short run usage but maybe someone who does daily short journeys could recommend an oil.
Otherwise, how about a quick 100 mile run every weekend?
Last edited on Thursday March 13th, 2008 05:06 pm by DaveShreeve |
hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Saturday March 22nd, 2008 08:37 pm |
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I found the 'NON-magnatec' castrol GTX still turns into cream cheese.
Basically you need to take your rocker cover off and scrape out all the crap, if it's bad. Rinse out the oil cap in parafin (or white spirit) and check the breather hoses are all clear.
Then give your car an oil and filter change, if its not totally clogged in the rocker cover then an oil change will probably do.
As you say the reason is short journeys, best thing to keep the mayo to a minimum is take you car for a good hard run once a week, 1/2hour on the motorway or a nice blast around some a roads for an hour. Doing that will stop the moisture from building up in the system.
Of course as already mentioned you may have head gasket problems, but its more likely to be just the short journeys doing it.
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Itsarek
Member
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Posted: Saturday March 22nd, 2008 09:39 pm |
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If you fit one of those deflector shields ( I dont know if you can still get them?), I think they were an option in the 70s for the 1100s, if not make one to deflect the cold air away from the rocker cover, if I am not mistaken my Mk 3 has a seal on the bonnet abuts the slam panel to restrict the airflow. If your engine does not get hot enough the cold rocker cover acts as a condenser for any vapour, also see JK and get a radiator muff. 
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Sunday March 23rd, 2008 11:28 am |
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The seal on the front of the bonnet was meant to stop water from getting into the engine bay (and plug leads), it never really worked properly as there is a huge hole behind the grille for moisture to get through, and it just caused more of a rust problem, hence Rover deleted it on later models.
I take it the deflector you mean is the splash shield ?
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=34217
Again the primary use for that was to stop water getting onto the ingnition electrics, to try and combat the age old problem of not starting on damp mornings. I suppose it would have a slight thermal insulating effect and may slightly reduce the amount on mayo build up but it wouldnt make a huge difference.
The reason you get mayo is simple, when you drive the car the engine becomes warm, when you switch it off the engine cools down. Moisture in the air around the engine then condenses as the air around the engine cools it gets in through the breather system. This then mixes with the oil to form an emulsion (mayo), when the car is brought to full operating temperature the moisture evaporates off as the oil has a higher boiling point, but if you only make short trips it doesnt get warm enough to do this. so it just builds up. It's one of the reasons that it's recomended that you change your oil more frequently if you only make short journeys.
The engine shield is worth getting if you dont already have one though, it stops you conking out if you hit a big puddle.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Sunday March 23rd, 2008 01:50 pm |
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Also try to avoid spraying WD40 over your electrics unless you really have to in a get me home situation.
But even then clean it all off afterwards otherwise it'll sit there and attract dust and dirt and your Mini will become dependent on the stuff.
Good quality electrics that are serviced as required make a hell of a difference too.
I use NGK BPR6ES Spark Plugs and red Lumenition HT Leads (Part No HV22) from Mini Spares and I've not had any problems driving in the wet.
Quite good really considering it's always raining like hell here in South Wales.
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jamesquintin
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 14th, 2008 03:25 pm |
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Hi,
I do about 5 miles to the train station in the mornings every week day and I didn't have the cream problem. Then out of no where it appeared (hadn't changed my driving habits) so I put a new head gasket on and the problem went away...
Q
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Wednesday May 14th, 2008 09:23 pm |
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I've heard that certain oils can cause this problem and Castrol GTX in the white container was mentioned.
So a good quality classic oil like Duckhams Q Classic 20W/50 should help.
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Thursday May 15th, 2008 08:30 am |
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| Unless as in James' case above the head gasket was shot
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gaz b
Member
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Posted: Thursday May 22nd, 2008 06:14 pm |
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it's cleared up ! !
I've thought for a while that the thermostat may be stuck open (so the car is not warming up fast enough) so i changed it about 3 weeks ago and hey presto, all clear!.
I hope it is that and not just the weather getting warmer !
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Friday May 23rd, 2008 02:00 pm |
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| Well you can test the old one to check if you like. Any haynes manual tells you how.
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gaz b
Member
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Posted: Wednesday June 4th, 2008 06:23 pm |
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| Yep, stuck open!
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