Scum in valve cover, compression normal WTH?

[Gene in NC]

Scum in valve cover, compression normal WTH? Blew gasket on heater cover on throttle body near home on short 4 mi in town trip.

Replaced gasket and refilled with water to test. Some trouble bleeding but idled up to operating temp without indication of trouble. Checked compression, OK, and then the dipstick and found scum.

Any way to tell if problem is head/gasket vs other worse problem like a cracked block?

Have had previous experience with clogged radiator overheat. Need to replace radiator again?

What are all the things that need to be done now, and on a regular scheduled program to prevent future cooling or other problems? This is my wife's car and we can't risk breakdowns.

Is the '89 525 with 172k now so old that it can't be made reliable enough for a 70+ year old grandmother?

She has AAA but that's a joke. One hour response for free tow is not good enough, especially if the card holder must be present when the tow truck arrives. It is better than the NC State Highway patrol which has a two hour response criteria and no call for local tow service until trooper arrives.

[632 Regal]

Hi Gene,

Condensate is pretty normal in cold weather, are you losing coolant still or does it seem stable. Dont freak out yet, you have a long way to go yet. ;)

[Bill R.]

scum is present, you're going to find some unless the car is only driven for long distances and fully warmed up always.




Hi Gene,

Condensate is pretty normal in cold weather, are you losing coolant still or does it seem stable. Dont freak out yet, you have a long way to go yet. ;)

[Gene in NC]

Never scum before this. Previous w/e 400mi round trip with 3,200' net elevation change. Two days into following week, splat.

This car has had two previous clogged radiator overheats in about seven years. First on trip as above to Boone, NC. Failed on Christmas Eve in Boone with no indication of high temp on the climb to 3,500' at Deep Gap. Repair done by highly reputable BMW shop included new radiator.

Second came about half way to today. Local failure. Fixed it myself with new radiator.

[BMWCCA1]

I always enjoy your posts; a real challenge for my reading-comprehension skills.

Do you have a different list membership than I do? Are you charged by the word?

Please try to use complete thoughts, words, and descriptions. Sentence subjects would be nice, too. It's as frustrating for those trying to help as it is for those wanting help themselves.

It sounds like you've had two overheating incidents on an M20. That's usually about one-too-many for the head-gasket or the head itself.

:(

[Bill R.]

mentioned in the past the new SUPER Whammy cracked head and block repair in a can that Autozone/checker/oreilly etc have started carrying in the last year or so... Typically around 50 bucks for a can... I haven't commented on it yet but one of my fellow mechanics who works on a lot of poor downtrodden beaters, lotsa mazda, focus,corolla,sentra etc has used both of the most common ones that have money back claims,

He followed all the instructions, drain cooling system completely yada yada... and none of them have worked on any of the cars he's tried them on. Did get money back without any qualms however.... So unfortunately there still is no free lunch.

[Gene in NC]

Cat dealer ran oil analysis today. "Water and ethylene g in oil. Find coolant source and correct, change oil, monitor closely for 3,000 mi and retest." Or, something to that effect.

[ryan roopnarine]

Is it the Shell instant test or something like that? Hopefully they gave you a printout. If there's water in there, it should show elevated bearing metals too. If you have the printout, give us the numbers, as it seems that you took some effort to make sure that it wasn't your headgasket.

[Gene in NC]

Have experience with this Caterpiller dealer analysis. No detail this time, only the "alarm". Saved my Chev diesel with analysis/recommendation on Castrol Syntec x/40 diesel oil.
***********************
Report:
WATER AND GLYCOL DETECTED IN SAMPLE. SCHEDULE UNIT FOR INSPECTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO EVALAUTE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF COOLANT ENTRY. AFTER INSPECTION,
Action Required CHANGE OIL AND FILTER(S) AND RESAMPLE IN 3000 MILES TO MONITOR
***********************
Suspect this coolant came from the overheat. 25 miles before incident, returned from 360 mi round trip from Raleigh to NC mountains. No indication of trouble on trip.

If trouble not head gasket, at least affecting compression, what are other indications/sources.