well i checked my oil level today first time since the tapets done good thing is car hasn't burnt any oil YAY but i did notice under the oil cap again there is the good old mayo looking stuff but more concerning was the fact that mixed in with the mayo was a concerning amount of water the mayo and water is also all down the oil filler flute, does anyone know if this is a normal condition or should i be concerned that the head gasket is going cars only done 5500miles

any help would be greatfully recieved

pandaman

It's quite normal on any Fiat FIRE based engine (that includes Multiairs) and Alfa Twinspark at this time of year due to the condensation in the air. don't worry about it.

cheers for that does that include the mayo looking stuff??

Take the car for a long, fast run on a motorway, see if the sludge disappears (it should....!)

well driving 150 miles on motorway in 6 days so hope that will sort it if not ill get dealer to look when cars in for new climate control unit as still faulty after repair

Honestly, don't worry about it. 4 fiats + 2 alfa's. All had winter mayo, never had a problem.

2 Fiat's, daily drivers, never sludge or "mayo"...
Keep an eye on the oil level after driving on the motorway, it may drop considerably...because of evaporating moisture.

Peter Pick-Up said:

2 Fiat's, daily drivers, never sludge or "mayo"...
Keep an eye on the oil level after driving on the motorway, it may drop considerably...because of evaporating moisture.

Click to expand...

if this happens should i be rather concerned

No, the sludge, (or mayo) you noticed is moisture inside the engine, trapped by the engine oil.
A good oil is designed to do so.
But by trapping moisture, the oil level will rise, or at least, it will not drop, because moisture has taken the place of oil..!.
When the engine gets real hot, the trapped moisture will evaporate, and you actually see the REAL oil level on the dipstick.

Peter Pick-Up said:

No, the sludge, (or mayo) you noticed is moisture inside the engine, trapped by the engine oil.
A good oil is designed to do so.
But by trapping moisture, the oil level will rise, or at least, it will not drop, because moisture has taken the place of oil..!.
When the engine gets real hot, the trapped moisture will evaporate, and you actually see the REAL oil level on the dipstick.

Click to expand...

Fantastically incorrect.

If you had that much moisture in your oil for the level to "drop considerably" your engine would be completely knackered. It is just water vapour introduced into the engine via the breathers/ intake etc. It is normal on all fiats, worse when the engine is used for short journeys (under 10 miles) and does no harm.

What's normal...??
I'm driving Fiat and Alfa Romeo for more than 35 years now, never ever sludge in my engines, not even my wife's Fiat, and she drives a lot of "short journeys" for shopping, taking kids to school etc.....!!
It's just the oil doing it's job.
And yes, the level MAY drop, so take good care.

Hi guys. Going off subject a bit but I do a lot of motorway miles and noticed oil level was low recently so i asked a fiat mechanic and he told me they use something like 1ltr of oil per 1k miles as they are loose engines, but that seems a lot. Is he telling porky pies?

I was told when my oil was low that it will loose more oil when running in then it will calm down. Did not get told about using that much oil !

The LIMIT before Fiat consider it an issue is 1 litre per 1,000 miles. Most use nowhere near this amount.

My original Evo went through 6litres of oil in the first 1000 miles It's long-gone now though. New one is fine.

My Panda 100HP used to need about 300ml every 1000 miles.

Yet the Multiair Turbo engine in my Sporting hasn't needed ANY top up at all yet! That's after nearly 9000 miles.

With the Panda I was gentle with the engine for the first 1000 miles (revs mostly kept below 4000). With the Sporting I don't hold back after it's warmed up if I can help it. Wonder if doing that has made a difference?