Well, my wife's cylinder head is off now (2001 1.4 Rover K Series), but it
turns out there is no obvious damage to the gasket - in fact the only thing
I can see is a 5mm section of silicone bead is not bonded to the gasket, but
the bead section is completely intact.

So, is this the cause of the oil/water mix? Is it poossible that this can
happen elsewhere, i.e. around the water and oil pump?

The only bad news I can see is that the two exhaust valves on the cylinder
at the other end to the cam pulleys are bright white, whereas the rest are
grey or black. Could this be pointing to the cause, or is it more likely to
be because the engine has started to overheat in the 3 mins it took for her
to bring the car back?

When I inspected it 10 mins after it was brought back (engine off), there
was a little steam coming out of the oil filler cap and a little mayonnaise
around the inside of the cap (and upon later inspection in the pipe running
from the cam cover to the inlet manifold), but not much to see elsewhere.
And of course there was no coolant visible in the header tank.

Anyone had an experience like this?

In article <f23uua$5to$2$8300dec7 (AT) news (DOT) demon.co.uk>, Andy says...
rocker cover or was it also in the sump/water expansion tank? If you're
going by mayo on the filler cap, that can be caused by just doing short
journeys and is perfectly normal.

White valves indicates a very lean mix and black, rich so it worries me
that you're getting a spread from one to the other across the
cylinders.

Did you do a compression test before removing the head?

Also it's possible for a cracked/warped block and/or head to cause the
problems you're having. Was there any sign of blow by on the gasket?
(Carbon deposits outside the fire rings?)

--
Conor

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak.........

Andy wrote:
The cylinders are liners which seal at the top via the head gasket and
at the bottom via special goo. I expect the problem lies at the bottom

That's the cylinder it's leaking at then.

Resealing the cylinder is not an easy job and one that never appears to
work 100% afterwards.

John

"Andy" <nospam (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

the dowels in the block that locate the head to the block are they black
plastic ? if they are plastic then there lies your problem, the plastic ones
allow the head to shift on the block causing the gasket to blow, you should
get two new metal ones in the new head set, you wont see any physical signs
of the gasket gone, but you do need to get it skimmed, dont skimp on this by
not getting it done ! you can re-use the headbolts but you need to measure
them for length, im not at work at the mo so i cant give you the exact
measurement, but your prolly find it on the net somewhere.

the white valves are the sign the head gasket has been leaking into the
cylinder.