Yellow gunge in pipe

[chanellle1234]

Hi

My boyfriend serviced my car for me today and he came across a pipe which had yellow goo in it, he reckons it could be the oil breather but not sure as it smells like petrol. it is located in the top left of the engine that locates at the bottom of the plastic case and leads through to where the air filter is. i have a 1.4 8valve. does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem may be and where the goo is coming from?

 

[lemonslap]

When engines run they get hot then cool down again this causes condensation to form within the engine then when it is started again the engine gets hot and these evaporate through the crankcase breather system however the yellow sluge you speak about is caused by the engine not getting used on long journeys there for the vapour cannot be "burnt" off or it has a leaking head gasket, the best thing to do is clean all the yellow gunk out and take the car for a good run park it up and let the engine cool down then re check. hope this helps.

 

[chanellle1234]

Hi lemonsap

I do around 30 miles a day. the car doesnt use any oil or water so i dont know if its the head gasket, it shouldnt be surely.

 

[lemonslap]

I noticed my wifes 1.4S had some in the breather as well and it gets maintained very well plus does 30 miles a day like yours. I cleaned the gunk out and took it out for a good long hard drive (I know she drives it softly) once back there was none returning, It is due a service in about 5 weeks so I will recheck it then. I'm not to worried unless I find yellow gunk under the oil filler cap then there are big problems. BTW slightly off topic these engines have two weak points that are worth checking, 1st: Depression valve throttle side hose splits (take air cleaner assembly off and it is the black plastic mushroom shaped thing infront of the throttle housing) causing poor idle. 2nd: The throttle body get very dirty, its only 4 torx bolts and a plug to take off and clean I was amazed at the diffence it made to the running of the car as it never when starting in cold conditions (-0C or under) idled well for the first 10 seconds and now it will idle straight away when cold at 1000rpm. I hope this helps you.

 

[chanellle1234]

hi lemonslap

I really appreciate you help with this as was worrying all day yesterday about it being the HG. I didnt think it was the HG as there are no signs ie white smoke out if exhaust, no mayo on oil cap and coolant and also no leaking from HG. i was just worried as when you see a mayo coloured goo you just presume the worse. thanks a lot.