Gunk in specific place on engine

Chickabiddybex

I hope someone can help me! I have gunk on my engine where the yellow circle indicates:



(note: not my photo, just lifted from the internet of the same engine as mine, ignore the bits saying ignore!)


It's a 1998 Ford Fiesta 1.3 endura engine.


Do you know what could be causing this?


Also what is this part of the engine called?

---

I discovered this when my car juddered when accelerating so I sprayed it with WD40 and it seemed to be ok. I figured it was just a bit of damp somewhere. Not sure if this is related or not.


Also I noticed the coolant was very low. I refilled it yesterday and it doesn't seem to be leaking out since then.

colino

It may well be a small oil leak from your rocker cover gasket leaking and pooling into the well of plug number one if it is, "gunk". They are common though to collect water there from a leaking, adjacent, thermostat housing.
Both easy fixes.

topdaddy_2

What sort of gunk? Vasaline looking gunk or something else? I doubt its come from there probbably just dropped off something else. Have you got a photo? Also what did you spray with wd?

Ransoman

The part circled is the spark plug well of the first cylinder. The cable is the HT lead and sends the high voltage current to the spark plug. Any contamination here will affect the running of the engine.

Gunk is most likely old oil that has gone a bit sludgy and mixed with dirt around the engine. If it is white-ish then it has mixed with moisture (could be atmoshperic but likely coolent).

I would imagine the cam cover (the metal cover behind the row of spark plugs) has weeped some oil that has collected in the plug well. If you can provide a picture of your own engine we should be able to tell exactly where it has leaked from.

Chickabiddybex

I'll try to get a picture of my own. In the meantime the gunk is yellowy and looks like it has been there quite a while.


I sprayed pretty much all joints or exposed wires.

Chickabiddybex

My engine showing the gunk.
If you want to see it large click the link http://i.imgur.com/7T97jdt.jpg

espresso

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

My engine showing the gunk.
If you want to see it large click the link http://i.imgur.com/7T97jdt.jpg

Don't want to see it any bigger!

Clean it with some real GUNK:



When clean you should be able to check the area regularly and establish where it is coming from. The hose to the thermostat housing looks like it has been leaking.

forgotmyname

Looks like a water leak from the thermostat housing or hose attached to the housing.

See the white depsoits on the hose. Antifreeze has boiled away leaving that residue.

Ransoman

Excellent picture, thanks.

That is definately leaking from the coolant pipe going into the thermostat (the round bit that pipes are going into on the far left of the picture).

It doesn't look like much oil has leaked so i wouldn't be worrying about the rocker cover gasket. You will neeed to do something about the coolent leak though. If you are not a competant home mechanic then take it to the garage.

If you are good with the spanners then you can drain the coolant, remove the hose, clean and replace (replace hose or thermostat if necessary), refill the cooling system and bleed.

In the meantime, try to clean up as much of the gunk as possible. Brake cleaner works well for this (in an aerosol called "Brake cleaner").

Chickabiddybex

Thanks everyone!


Would WD40 be any good for cleaning this?


Also, what sort of problems could this cause? I'm wondering if it was contributing to the juddering... and if so is it likely to be caused by the lack of coolant or the gunk that has formed?

jaydeeuk1

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

Thanks everyone!


Would WD40 be any good for cleaning this?


Also, what sort of problems could this cause? I'm wondering if it was contributing to the juddering... and if so is it likely to be caused by the lack of coolant or the gunk that has formed?

wd40 no. You;ll want degreaser.

Is the coolant level low at the moment? If crap has got in beyond under the HT lead, or the spark plug has fouled then yes it can misfire causing juddering.