Suzuki Club UK

hi guys m new to the forum..i just bought a suzuki vitara JLX 1.6 ...and found some serious problem..there was oil gunk in the radiator and tip of the dipstick while the engine was cold...so took it to a workshop and they opened the engine..and the head gasket was fine ..even the water jackets were fine...my question is could it be a crack in the block itself ? i mean how common is that problem with the 1.6 petrol engines...please show me light here..thank you

it could indeed be a crack in the block, ive never done one myself but dan has a crack in his block!
not sure on how to test it properly but scottie should have a good idea..

thanks a lot for the reply mate..ill wait for some more suggestions...coz i need to decide whether to get another engine or flush everything and put the engine back together and see if it happens again...i really dont know what to do atm...

Is it overheating? Are you getting any other serious symptoms?

It might be worth draining the coolant and oil and replacing it all just to see... its possible it has had a head gasket replacement and not had the coolant system flushed properly.

Do you have white gunk in the oil filler cap as well?

Where my block is cracked it just leaks to the outside above the starter. This is where most of the others I've seen have cracked too.

Prior to buying how long had it been stood? Had it been off road?

Very possible it has ingested water and been luck enough not to hydraulic.

If it's running fine as suggested, flush coolant system out, flush engine out. New oil, filter and coolant and see how it goes.

twiss wrote:Is it overheating? Are you getting any other serious symptoms?

It might be worth draining the coolant and oil and replacing it all just to see... its possible it has had a head gasket replacement and not had the coolant system flushed properly.

Do you have white gunk in the oil filler cap as well?

exactly as i thought mate...and yes no over heating problesms ..everything was running fine and no white gunk in the filler cap only in the radiator and tip of dipstick when the engine was cold..

Jordi wrote:Prior to buying how long had it been stood? Had it been off road?

Very possible it has ingested water and been luck enough not to hydraulic.

If it's running fine as suggested, flush coolant system out, flush engine out. New oil, filter and coolant and see how it goes.

it was being used daily mate..i think ill do as said...and see wat happens..thank you all for your suggestions..

Good luck and let us know how you get on! Post up some pics of the rest of the zook as well

Flush the rad out and do an oil/filter change to be on the safe side. If it's running fine it'll probably run finer. If there is such a word...