Outer Limits 4x4 Board

i went to look at a vitara for a friend(94 SWB carby, 250k) and after we drove it there was a touch of milky oil under the oil cap. they assure me it doesnt over heat and we went for a big drive 10mins on main roads and it was fine. ive had a cracked head gasket before and there was ALOT more milky crap under the cap. also when we started it cold it ran good. is this slight milkyness normal and something to worry about?

will a compression test tell for sure if it is a cracked head gasket.

i'd get it checked by a mechanic in case, if he were real interested in the vitara.

keeping in mind that when oil and coolant mixes it turns milky white...it could be a minor crack or gasket leak that has gone undetected to date. something may go wrong after that 10minutes...

i think inspection of spark plugs and radiator pressure test would be useful

Also exhaust gas testing the coolant would tell if there was any leaking into the coolant. Could just have been used extensively on short trips and is just condensation under the lid. My drover had it all through the crankcase breather pipe and a bit under the lid when I got it.

yeah when i had the 1.3 in mine and worked only 7km away i used to get milky under the cap too... but on longer drives it'd disappear - so it was just condensation.

I'd try taking it for a longer drive - or park it in full sun and rev it up to see if you can overheat it.

So long as the oil is not milky and its not loosing fluids, I would not worry about it.
Mine used to so it after shortish runs ..
Long runs it went away.

cool thanks. the oil was clean and it pulled well. 10 mins is a short run i guess and my gut feeling says it fine also.

Would be worth checking out the other oils too as it may have been submerged at some point.