I have a 1996 X300 and last year I parked the car for 10 months. At the time the engine just wouldn't start. There was milky foam on the oil dipstick and a hissing sound from the exhaust side of the engine. Those of us familiar with 4 cylinder Alfa Romeo engines that spells blown head gasket. After many months of ignoring the poor girl I parked the car in the garage and began the gruesome task of removing the head. To my surprise the head gasket was in remarkably good shape. I sent the head off to check for streightness and it did need resurfacing. I lapped all 24 valves by hand and replaced the guide seals. After firing up the car it worked very well. I have been driving it for about a month with little issues. However today I checked the oil and it was a quart low, leaking sump gasket, and the milky oil returned. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Head gasket leak into the oil . Do not run engine as this will ruin the bearings

 

Hmmm interesting...... haven't come across a faulty head gasket after replacing, assuming you did replace it.


Either way sounds like it needs to be changed again. The ones Ive used in the past have a sticky feel to them. Once back together, run the engine without coolant just till the head begins to get warm, then put coolant in, helps in sealing. Never had a problem afterwards.

 

Do you think some of the old oil was still in there and the foam just hid in some cavity somewhere? Another oil change couldn't hurt.

 

Yes on the bit of oil hidden in the engine as you drained it so may require another drain / fill . I'm assuming you did not reuse the old head gasket and if you need the torque pattern and valves on the AJ16 engine I have that on file in my laptop .

 

Yes I used a complete head gasket set, Rienz I believe. Torqued it down to spec. The engine is running great. Just concerned about the foam.

 

Hi italcarnut,

Did you inspect the gasket mating surfaces of the block and head for any erosion between water and oil jackets or cylinders? Such erosion is common and can often be repaired with JB Weld (I've done it a few times myself), but if left unrepaired it will allow coolant into the oil or combustion chamber even with a new head gasket.

A mechanic with a combustion gas test kit can test for gasses in your coolant reservoir, and there are ways of testing the oil for glycol, though no reliable DIY methods that I'm aware of.

Hope it's something simple.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don,

Yes I was very careful to make sure the surfaces were good. The head got resurfaced and the block was in great shape. I'll just have to give the ol girl another oil change and see what happens. I was just hoping any moisture in the oil would eventually eveporate.