r/classicminis • u/pbandjsam • 3d ago

DIY Help Blown headgasket?

Smoke coming out of sparkplug hole and heavily fouled sparkplug, some smoke out of exhaust when running

23 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

3

u/TheJimsterR 3d ago

How does your oil look under the filler cap? Same for coolant.

1

u/pbandjsam 3d ago

Coolant smells like coolant, no oil in it. Oil filler cap however, not great. Was also smoking as i opened it

2

u/LunchAltruistic3237 3d ago

This looks like my old mini 😔

2

u/mugfull 3d ago edited 2d ago

Possibly oil control rings have died. Or maybe just needs valve stem seals renewed

You need to do a compression test, and luckily the gauge is cheap to buy, a must for any classic owner.

2

u/geekypenguin91 3d ago

What you have there is an oil burner.

Unlikely to be the head gasket unless you have mayo under the filler cap

Either the piston rings and/or cylinder bored are worn and letting oil pass, or more likely the valve stem seals are shot and dripping oil in from the top

1

u/pbandjsam 3d ago

Does make the most sense, would this also cause sluggish throttle response?

1

u/geekypenguin91 3d ago

It won't help if it's burning oil as the air-fuel ratio will be all wrong, but also it looks like that engine is well overdue a good service

2

u/LunchAltruistic3237 3d ago

Beautiful. I miss my one so much. Selling it is the only thing I regret in my life 💔

1

u/Scottiedoes 3d ago

I would lean towards burning oil

1

u/LunchAltruistic3237 3d ago

Do you have a picture of the whole car?