Technical Head gasket problem or just my worrying?

[Big Black Stilo]

I have a Fiat 500S 1.2 8V and last month we had the cold start issue where it revs all over the place. on checking oil filler cap there was a spot of mayo, i put it down to condensation as it was cold where we were. today's it's been out for a run and up to temp, and then stood for an hour and i'd thought i'd check it. the photo is what i found under the cap. oil
on the dip stick is clean, coolant is ok level and is clean pink.
the car does get used for short journeys a lot (the other halves job) so i'm thinking that, but the panicking side of me is thinking head gasket.
what's everyone's opinions?

 

[varesecrazy]

keep an eye on levels..but almost certainly just not getting HOT enough

 

[jrkitching]

keep an eye on levels..but almost certainly just not getting HOT enough

:yeahthat:

But if you are really concerned about this, then pressure testing the cooling system will tell you for sure.

 

[T Bay]

When you get HGF you get a load of 'mayo' and usually swirly rainbows in the coolant as well. Add to that a big pressure release when you take the cap off and it's usually quite easy to diagnose. As said above that looks like a lack of temperature. If it's used on a lot of short runs then it may take several hours of warm running to clear. Years ago I was told by an old school mechanic to run the engine for half an hour with a cotton hanky cable tied around the oil filler neck and no cap on to allow the engine to 'breathe' and get rid of the moisture without making an oily mess everywhere but not sure on a modern engine.

 

[Tresim]

Nothing to worry about , you'll know if it fails.I had a fiat 127 that was like that all the time .never missed a beat .
Regards Trevor

 

[Big Black Stilo]

cheers everyone, i'll keep a good eye on it and see how it goes, my mind is a little more at rest!
with the cold starting issue and then this, this was how one of my cars crunched it's engine not long after!

 

[varesecrazy]

cheers everyone, i'll keep a good eye on it and see how it goes, my mind is a little more at rest!
with the cold starting issue and then this, this was how one of my cars crunched it's engine not long after!

does it warm-up properly / quickly..?,

if the thermostat is "lazy" you'll be getting it worse than it should be..,

(back in the last millennia we used to blank off the front of the RAD.. - zero airflow = quicker warm-up)

and popped headgaskets now things aren't all "pig-iron"

Charlie

 

[Big Black Stilo]

it warms up ok and never gets hot. the cold start issue we had is when you run it, and it's not warmed up and you stop for a while, then try and start it. for example my mrs drives to her business premises that are less than half a mile away, stops for a couple of hours then goes to start it, it will either die straight away or it will rev erratically showing either 500rpm, 1200rpm or 2000rpm, stepping between all three and misfiring/running like a bag of spanners till it's warm.

 

[John202020]

Engine management issues, could be all sorts first guess spark plugs and leads? Next lambda info/not failure really a car should never be started run a very short period of time and turned off again, what happens if she takes the long route like 5 miles? Saying that I've started ours driven it 100 m turned it off gone back an hour later and it's fine, more than once recently.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

it'll be be fine 9 times out of ten, there isn't a long way round option for her as she basically travels to the end of the road you'd use to escape where we live so she can lack the car