clutch pedal and more

[sam_sport]

my clutch pedal is abit buggered ie the plastic bit at the top which holds the clutch cable its weakened and the cable slips out, any ideas on a temp fix?
also i have gunk on my dipstick, not under the oil cap, im aware it could be the head gasket BUT there isnt any loss of power?!!? any ideas?

thanks alot!

[LesterPiglet1]

Dipstick is a big problem. Change the oil and filter and take the car for a run(30 miles). If it still occurs I would look towards a head gasket.
Oh. Clean the dipstick and oil filler cap.

[Sam58]

The clutch problem could be solved with pulling the cable out a bit, and opening up a spring washer, put it around the nipple. Trouble is your cable adjustment might not stretch that far, but it should.
The dipstick is showing gunk on it, but not the oil cap filler, seems a bit strange. If there is water in the oil, as the dipstick would demonstrate, then the rocker cover should be showing this as well. I cannot think of any other way that water can ingress into the sump, except through the cylinder head, but it would be best to check all the breathers and see if they are gunked up as well. Have you checked the water tank to see if there is oil in it? Are the water and oil both up to the safe marks? Could it just be condensation in the sump, if the car has been left for a while?
Clean up what you can, and when in doubt get the Radweld out, as well. If your rocker cover is still clean oil after a run, then suspect condensation at this time of the year.
The most telling symptoms of h/g probs. are: Not loss of power, but overheating, steam/black smoke from exhaust, and mayo caked rockers, dipstick, and or, oil in the water.

[Corsa84]

mine has some mayo on the oil cap,but none on the dipstick and the water is clean and at the correct level and mines been like this a few weeks now,i was worried it may be the head gasket but after taking it to a mechanic he said it was more than likley just condensation,especially with the cold weather were having at the moment. but im still keeping a eye on it.

i do get some ''steam'' from the exhaust but again i was told its probably just condensation.However my car does not overheat,and ive even tried to make it overheat be just leaving it ticking over for about half hour with the heaters turned off! but it wouldnt overheat,the fan kept kicking in which i suppose is a good thing!

as far as your car is concerned i would just keep a eye on the and water levels and watch out for overheating,the mayo ''could'' be signs of a blown head gasket but is more than likley to be condensation,seen as you have no reports of lost oil or water and no overheating issues.simlar to mine really.

just keep a eye on it tho,thats all you can do,unless you pay for the head gasket to be regardless.

hope this helps.

[sam_sport]

i dont have any funny smoke or anything comming from my exhaust, it overheats but my temp sensor is broke, and there isnt any oil in the water just gunk on the dip stick, i think it is condensation because its most of the way up the dipstick im gonna clean it all out and then rad weld it and see what happens,
thanks guys!

[Corsa84]

you could put some oil cleaner in the oil,run it for 15mins,the change the oil too,if you think it may help cleaning the gunk out.

[elijah]

The clutch problem could be solved with pulling the cable out a bit, and opening up a spring washer, put it around the nipple. Trouble is your cable adjustment might not stretch that far, but it should.
The oil dipstick is showing gunk on it, but not the oil cap filler, seems a bit strange. If there is water in the oil, as the dipstick would demonstrate, then the rocker cover should be showing this as well. I cannot think of any other way that water can ingress into the sump, except through the cylinder head, but it would be best to check all the breathers and see if they are gunked up as well. Have you checked the water tank to see if there is oil in it? Are the water and oil both up to the safe marks? Could it just be condensation in the sump, if the car has been left for a while?
Clean up what you can, and when in doubt get the Radweld out, as well. If your rocker cover is still clean oil after a run, then suspect condensation at this time of the year.
The most telling symptoms of h/g probs. are: Not loss of power, but overheating, steam/black smoke from exhaust, and mayo caked rockers, dipstick, and or, oil in the water.

A friend of mine who is worried about his dipstick because it has a gunk on it. Since, he is quite a newbie in troubleshooting his car, he is pretty confused what's causing it. But having read your post, it's a possibility that it could only be condensation that's happening to the dipstick of my friend. Anyway, I'm gonna let my friend check out the things you mentioned just to make sure it is only condensation. Thanks for the info.

[uvs166]

The clutch problem could be solved with pulling the cable out a bit, and opening up a spring washer, put it around the nipple.

Another way of doing this is cut a slot the thickness of the cable out of a cup washer, that's what I did, I used an ordinary washer to begin with but this slipped off so went with the cup version and its been like that for about six months now.