Milky residue on radiator cap

[Martin]

Hello guys! This one is simple i think. Just changed the head gasket and did a cylinder head job (changed valve seals, and did a mild port an polish of the ports and chambers. Assembled everything but now i have this symptoms:

White goo-ish residue on the inside of the radiator cap

Now i would say thats a blown gasket and oil in the coolant but wait, there are things that still give me hope about not having to do the head again:

– Coolant level remains the same all the time, also coolant color in the radiator and in the expansion tank is green as healthy grass.
– I took off valve cover, oil looks healthy and clean, no coolant in the dipstick.
– Did a leak down test, 5% leakage on a cold engine and all cylinders are in that range. (albeit it was rebuilt just 5000 miles ago)
– Very clean combustion (no smoke, no smells) and spark plugs look very nice.
– Car pulls like it should.
– Cooling works great, no overheating.

What I DO have is oil leaking a tiny bit from the head gasket in a corner, i can see is leaking to the outside but is very very little and i can live with it for some time as it doesnt even make the oil level drop and doesnt drip into the floor, just leaves a spot in the short block surface.

So I know I need to do the head gasket to fix the oil leak eventually, but is summer down here, i would like to drive the car at least a few months and do the change in autumn, i can live with the oil leak for a few months while checking it and having a gallon in the tank in case of need, but i dont want to use it with oil in the coolant.

Could the white goo be other than oil? I dont use additives in the coolant.

Car is a 1994 1.8 mitsubishi mirage

Topic

[Billy]

Sounds like you may have an oil-coolant leak in the head gasket not involving a cylinder. I’ve heard of people causing that by putting the gasket on backward.

[Author]

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