Engine problems (possible head gasket?)

[steve_uvs]

Hi all!
This is the first problem ive had with my williams so far and i hope its not a hint of things to come :( its been running fine when warm, but when its cold it struggles to idle properly, dipping down to 500rpm and then stalling without my intervention. i originally though it would just be because its old and its getting chilly but the coolent levels dropped, so though it could be the head gasket. so with the engine running i took the oil cap off to see it it was turning to mayo and it spurted a bit of oil out.

so am i right in thinking that the head gaskets gone and pressure from the cylinders is getting into the crank case? causing the rough idle and the oil coming out of the cap?

as there was no white oil around the cap in thinking the gaskets not gone completely, as to the extent of the water and oil to mix, but thats what will happen next isnt it?

is the head gasket a difficult job to do? been reading on here its a couple of days work inc. a head skim

any advice would be greatly appreciated

Steve

[steve_uvs]

sorry ive put this in the wrong thread haven't i! how do you delete it?
Steve

[Wobba]

So there was no mayo in the cap?

I wouldn't go opening the oil cap with the engine running. Makes a mess.

Could be HG but the poor running could be several other things too. With the engine cold, try unplugging the coolant temperature sensor and see if it settles the idle, if so replace sensor. Could be a duff lambda sensor as well. Also, check battery terminals, check spark plugs and okay and there's not oil in the plug wells, clean ISCV too with carb cleaner, always worth doing anyway.

[Smokey McPot]

Mine did that. A new battery fixed it.

[steve_uvs]

no theres not any mayo on the cap, and cant see any leaks so think the head gaskets out of the question, posted this up in the mechanical forum too and MatBrown said to check the temp sensor so ill do that tomorrow, where abouts is it btw? and ill do the same with the leads, plugs, terminals and the iscv too, were abouts is that as well? thanks for the help

[Wobba]

I answered this CTS location just a week or two ago somewhere here. The rest is all available with the search function, but the ISCV is in between the airbox and the inlet manifold.