my dad recently bought a 1.1 fiesta, a cheap run about motor to get him to work and back, every few weeks it refuses to start, there is a spark and fuel is getting to the cylinder but when the air filter is removed, the single injector is covered in a tan coloured oily foam, its wet and shitty! a bit like mousse texture! the breather pipe from the rocker cover is full of this foamy crap and blocks it.

Can anybody tell me what causes this problem and how to rectify it?

ATB Alex

water in the oil, normal means head gasket has gone, worst case cracked head.

take off all pipes that are full of crude and clean out and replace head gasket, may mean having head skimmed.

may just want a good cleaning out (breathers & engine flush) older fords engines always prone to old creamy stuff
Edit & I am not claiming be an "expert" of course
And it may need a good thrash or hit with hammer expert talk that is

[Edited on 22/3/06 by raccoonradar]

thats what we thought, thanks for the confirmation, imho i dont think its worth getting the head skimmed on a car that only cost £250

I believe in the trade it's known as 'Mayonnaise'

As others have said - could be head gasket or cracked block - but hopefully like the other suggestions - you'll get away with a good engine flush and clean of all the pipes

If its only a short run to work and back then it may just be condensation causing it, mine does it to a point in the top of the filler neck but you just wipe it clean and its ok for a while then.

If its the cylinder head thats suspect doesn't the water in the header tank end up with an oily film on top?.

If its not near MOT time would it be possible to put the breather into a cach tank?

quote:

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Originally posted by muzchap
I believe in the trade it's known as 'Mayonnaise'
I did try & spell it but its to late & we only have brown & red sauce it the min

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muzchap - 23/3/06 at 12:31 PM

Raccoonrader - LOL

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rusty nuts - 23/3/06 at 07:06 PM

Is the car only used for short runs? does the engine reach normal operating temperature? Both of these will cause this problem .Used to find when using Castrol GTX that mayo was common . As already suggested clean out rocker cover and breather , flush out engine and change oil and filter.

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liam.mccaffrey - 23/3/06 at 11:07 PM

i had a 1.1 fiesta with a cracked block

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