Hello, I am the proud owner of a Y reg 2001 MGF with 40K on the clock and have enjoyed driving and owning it so far though I have just noticed some mayo on the dipstick which I would like some advice about please.
When I started the car up today it felt very jumpy so I turned if off again and had a look at the coolant / dipstick. My coolant looks fine as far as I can tell I have topped it up maybe three or four times since purchashing the car last August but the coolant level always seems quite constant, but I guess you could say it has a very slow leak? On checking the dipstick I noticed a very small (a drop size) amount of white mayo on the very bottom of the dip stick. I drew out the dipstick a couple more times to check, most times it would always have a small drop of mayo right on the very bottom which I have never seen before with this car. The oil is a very dark colour though apart from the one small drop of mayo on the end. I started the car up again afterwards and ran it for a minute this time and this time it ran smoothly as normal. The car previous to this had been sitting for about 48 hours. This car normally gets light usage, with on average about a 5 mile round trip in traffic every week day and slightly less or more usage at the weekend depending on what I'm up to, it never get's a proper run though. Generally the car has been running fine. It has had a slight problem with the rev's swinging up down a little bit whilst sitting in traffic which I haven't had looked at. I did top up the oil about two weeks ago by about 500ml as it was looking a little bit low. (Though this might have just been as it wasn't on completely level ground.) Once on more level ground though topping up the oil brought it back into the middle of the high and low marker on the dipstick and I don't hink I have seen the swing in the rev's since.
I don't know much about cars but am aware of the HGF problems with this car from what I have read on the internet. Could this mayo be due to condensation, the cold weather we're having and not having a proper run for awhile? or is it a sign of something more serious?
I'm really not sure of what to do next? At the moment I have left the car sitting on my driveway. Should I give it a run and see what happens? (I don't want to damage the car or break down) Or should I take it down to my local garage to let them have a look at it? or should I have it towed to a garage rather than driving it?
I bought it from Autoplanet in Southampton and if it needs work I will take it back to them. I assume they will know what they're doing as it used to be a mg / rover dealership and talking to a mechanic there before he'd been working there since it was a rover dealership. I also have 3 years warranty on the car with them although I noticed my warranty it doesn't cover HGF. I don't think the car has ever had any previous problems looking through it's service history.
Sorry if all that's a bit long. Thought it was best to list everything that has gone on with the car recently. Any adivce would be very much appreciated.
When I started the car up today it felt very jumpy so I turned if off again and had a look at the coolant / dipstick. My coolant looks fine as far as I can tell I have topped it up maybe three or four times since purchashing the car last August but the coolant level always seems quite constant, but I guess you could say it has a very slow leak? On checking the dipstick I noticed a very small (a drop size) amount of white mayo on the very bottom of the dip stick. I drew out the dipstick a couple more times to check, most times it would always have a small drop of mayo right on the very bottom which I have never seen before with this car. The oil is a very dark colour though apart from the one small drop of mayo on the end. I started the car up again afterwards and ran it for a minute this time and this time it ran smoothly as normal. The car previous to this had been sitting for about 48 hours. This car normally gets light usage, with on average about a 5 mile round trip in traffic every week day and slightly less or more usage at the weekend depending on what I'm up to, it never get's a proper run though. Generally the car has been running fine. It has had a slight problem with the rev's swinging up down a little bit whilst sitting in traffic which I haven't had looked at. I did top up the oil about two weeks ago by about 500ml as it was looking a little bit low. (Though this might have just been as it wasn't on completely level ground.) Once on more level ground though topping up the oil brought it back into the middle of the high and low marker on the dipstick and I don't hink I have seen the swing in the rev's since.
I don't know much about cars but am aware of the HGF problems with this car from what I have read on the internet. Could this mayo be due to condensation, the cold weather we're having and not having a proper run for awhile? or is it a sign of something more serious?
I'm really not sure of what to do next? At the moment I have left the car sitting on my driveway. Should I give it a run and see what happens? (I don't want to damage the car or break down) Or should I take it down to my local garage to let them have a look at it? or should I have it towed to a garage rather than driving it?
I bought it from Autoplanet in Southampton and if it needs work I will take it back to them. I assume they will know what they're doing as it used to be a mg / rover dealership and talking to a mechanic there before he'd been working there since it was a rover dealership. I also have 3 years warranty on the car with them although I noticed my warranty it doesn't cover HGF. I don't think the car has ever had any previous problems looking through it's service history.
Sorry if all that's a bit long. Thought it was best to list everything that has gone on with the car recently. Any adivce would be very much appreciated.
