Is this a blown head gasket?

PhilH67

PhilH67

Zorg Addict
Supporter
British Zeds
The M44 Massive
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
Points
59
Location
Derbyshire
Model of Z
2.2
ok so on my M44 (I have sooo many Z3s, don't you know :) ) it's really hard to start and when it does there's white smoke out of the exhaust. I decided to whip the valve cover off in prep to 'whip' the head off and change the gasket, there's a small amount of cream froth on the oil cap but not much in the valve cover. I took the spark plugs out and pots 1 & 2 were oil/grease fouled on the spark plug itself and the long plug cap. I've done a compression test on all pots and 2, 3 and 4 have a healthy 175 and above whereas pot 1 is barely over 50. should I put some fuel injector cleaner in the pot get rid of any crap around the rings so they can seal again, or is it just going to be a case of taking the head off and change the gasket?
 
Rudyrov

Rudyrov

Zorg Guru (I)
American Zeds
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Points
95
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Model of Z
2.8 L Roadster
Sounds blown to me. Froffy oil is water and oil as you know. Oil in the cylinder would raise the compression.
White smoke is also a tell tale sign.
At this point it sounds to me like you are going to be doing a head-gasket / valve job repair with a head resurface.
Is there creamy oil in the crankcase as well?
There is a test done with compressed air that can be done but most people don't have the gear to pull it off.
 
A

Ado1379

Regular Member
Joined
May 13, 2022
Points
19
It does sound like HG issue. But back when i had a few classic mini's i had an issue where i would get some slight creaming around the oil cap on the ricker cover but the oil in the dipstick was fine. This turned out to be a blocked breather pipe and something to do with it causing condensation on the inside of the cap. This is completely different car and engine so may not be prone to this problem but maybe worth checking before whipping the head off?
This wouldnt explain your compression issue however.
 
Rudyrov

Rudyrov

Zorg Guru (I)
American Zeds
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Points
95
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Model of Z
2.8 L Roadster
Ado1379 said:
It does sound like HG issue. But back when i had a few classic mini's i had an issue where i would get some slight creaming around the oil cap on the ricker cover but the oil in the dipstick was fine. This turned out to be a blocked breather pipe and something to do with it causing condensation on the inside of the cap. This is completely different car and engine so may not be prone to this problem but maybe worth checking before whipping the head off?
This wouldnt explain your compression issue however.
Click to expand...
low compression is usually bad valves, bad pistons/rings or bad head gaskets. Pretty simple.
 
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