Phil wrote:
> I have a 99 honda civic with a d16Y8 sohc engine with vtec (its actually an
> acura 1.6 el, but for simplicitys sake, we'll call it a civic since its the
> same thing). and I have milky tan\white colour stuff (gunk i guess), in the
> head (under the valve cover). This is a symptom of a head gasket leak going
> from the coolant to the oil, but I dont seem to have many of the other
> common symptoms!
>
> here is a list I made of what i know
>
> -thick tan coloured residue in the head
> -oil looks normal on dip stick
> -engine is not overheating
> -the engine runs and idles normally
> -the engine hasn't lost power
> -spark plugs appear normal (somebody compared the plugs from there intega to
> mine)
> -cant smell coolant in exhaust gases (at least I cant)
> -no bubbles in coolant resivoir with the engine running (should I check in
> the rad cap with the engine running?)
> -looks like there's oil in the coolant but the coolant is not milky, its
> bright green. however, when I take the overflow hose out of the resivoir,
> coolant drips out of the hose and when it hits the coolant in the resivoir,
> i can see a little bit of black liquid which dissolves into the coolant (is
> this oil?)
> -the exhaust dosent look too white (from burning coolant), but it IS winter,
> so it might be hard to tell
> -The coolant level dosent seem to be going down (if it is, its too slow to
> tell after just a few short trips)
> -my PCV valve could be clogged, I dont really know (which would cause
> condensation in the block\head, leading to the residue in the head), but
> given that it looks like there is oil in the coolant, Ii think this is
> probably less likely the problem.
>
> What do you think, is any further testing nessecary? I would like to stay
> away from spending money on any testing equipment if possible, but basically
> the only two problems seem to be blown head gasket, or clogged pcv valve..
> and i guess a possibility of a badly warped or cracked head.

if the head was "badly warped or cracked", it wouldn't be drivable.
yes, mayonnaise under the oil cap is a symptom of head gasket, but
usually it's a /lot/ of mayonnaise, not a little. a little is not
getting the motor hot enough like curly says. check/replace pcv and
keep driving until "symptoms" get worse. do /not/ warm up engine on
driveway.