Head Gasket??

[Plantytheblue]

Looked under my bonnet the other day as my power steering has stopped working and noticed alot of oil on the engine ?? Is this common or has the head gasket gone?? There doesn't seem to be a leak i haven't put any oil in and the levels are okay

[Tom5190]

Pictures?

[huricane]

oil on the engine thats not common but for the head gasket you can do some checks before taking to the garage is to check your oil filler cap see if it got a mayonaise looking stuff in or around it if your blowing alot off smoke form zorst or if you got a oily on top off you water in your expansion tank

[Stevo123]

Find were the leak is coming from to be sure, pretty obvious you might not have thought to check that first (not being sarcastic mate). Maybe have a clean up in thhat area to make it easier to spot?

[Railroader]

oil on the engine thats not common but for the head gasket you can do some checks before taking to the garage is to check your oil filler cap see if it got a mayonaise looking stuff in or around it if your blowing alot off smoke form zorst or if you got a oily on top off you water in your expansion tank

a smoking exhaust is symptomatic of valve stem oil seals
, or worse a knackered engine, rather than head gasket surely

[Lew_C]

a smoking exhaust is symptomatic of valve stem oil seals
, or worse a knackered engine, rather than head gasket surely

nah what he means is the coolant coming from the exhaust, not billowing smoke because the piston is about to come through the block lol.

Get a pic of the leak, rocker cover gasket is a common one

[gazwiththevtr]

could be a number of things mate ...You say your power steering has stopped working ? could be power steering fluid thats on your engine and not oil .

Head gasket symptoms are a white/mayo residue in your oil (lift the cap to see) but this doesnt always mean head gasket failure ,could also be because you do a lot of short journeys in the car ,ie to the shops and back ..

also white steam from the exhaust - if theres a lot of it then likely the gasket is fooked

overheating is a definite if your gasket is away ,and also if the car is drinking lots of water.

[warner88vts]

hurricane is right or it might be a rocket cover seal

[huricane]

you can try this i dont know if it works as i read it on another site

first thing is to go to your car when its cold and
1)pop your bonnet
2)start your engine
3)remove the water fiiler cap (top of radiator)
4)take 1 rubber glove (like doctors wear) and hold it round the neck of the radiator!

Know if the rubber glove inflates your head gaskets naffed and needs replacing!

[Plantytheblue]

cheers i'll try that tonight see what it brings, the car isn't over heating engine is running fine was just concerned by the oil thats all.