Blown Head Gasket!

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:06 pm

Hi Guys, I seem to have a blown head gasket. The coolant level has been fluctuating for a while, no ominous gunge on the oil filler cap or dip-stick however i by chance removed one of the crankcase breathers and saw the tell tale signs. Now, my problem is this, i cannot do the work where i am and will possibly be returning to the UK soon so need my car. I found one of the off the shelf leak stoppers but it has had no noticeable effect. Many years ago i drove a Rover P6B which suffered this problem but it was obvious with gunge everywhere. I was advised to use some American stuff which came in a can and rattled when shaken, it worked perfectly, in fact i cant remember if i took the heads off later on! So what i need to know is, what product, if any should i use to get me through the next couple of months?
!´m crossing everything. Thanks.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:27 pm

i could be wrong but my girlfriends old punto sporting always used to have milky cap and tell tale signs of some milk in the pipes although the head was actually fine and that this particular engine just suffered from moisture getting in. especially in the cap.

another possibilty might be that maybe at sometime in the past the head gasket went and was repaired but not all of the gunk was clean out.

are you having any problems ie lack of compression, overheating etc etc

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:28 pm

condensation can form in the crankcase, if you do only short drives it never 'burns off' causes the mayo effect you have, could this be the case with your car? It really won't help if there is a blockage in the breather system, eg collapsed hose, gunge build up..

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:33 pm

sorry for the post hi-jacking but scotty ive sent you a pm cheers

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:56 pm

No problem with overheating, in fact i got stuck in a bad jam this morning and the temperature remained stable. As for compression, i have no idea but performance does not seem affected. I was considering flushing the system just to be on the safe side. On the picture you can see where the coolant is escaping from. Confused

Jules.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:32 am

my 6a suffered with the gunky mayo look and it was down to the oil cooler

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:04 pm

the crankcase breather gunk is not always a sign of head gasket failure.

does the car get used on a lot of short runs

try one of these

http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-engine-and-mechanical-tools/block-tester-kit.html

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:36 pm

The shortest run is about ten kilometers, anymore and i will end up in the sea, but at least one a week i go to the next larger island which is a good fifty five kilos. The plugs look fine by the way.
Would it be an idea to empty the system and just try and see if there was any change?

Jules.

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:12 pm

The reservoir inlet pipe, where you have indicated on the pic, tends to get brittle and crack over time
I just replaced mine on the A6 and had same problem on my old CQ, cost around £28 or so from Audi

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 7:24 pm

Funny you should mention that, i have had a sneaking feeling that it could be suspect. Will have a good look at it.
The quest continues. Rolling Eyes

Jules.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:07 am

I don't think flushing the system will really gain you anything.

At least the car is getting regular use.

I'd just clear the breathers - the symptoms will get worse with the onset of winter due to the extra moisture in the air

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:33 pm

I think this saga is coming to the end. On removing the header tank pipe i noticed that it had broken with a small piece from the end stuck in the pipe. I removed the debris and used a jubilee clip instead of the original, which cannot be adjusted. Since then a couple of drops which kindly stopped on a further tightening of the clip. Now, i had planned on flushing the system as in the two years i have owned the car it had not been done and i need to replace the coolant anyway. Getting down and dirty i saw what was left of the drainage plug ..... so it will be off with the bottom hose but can i get the remaining liquid out? Confused

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:15 pm

Doesnt look too bad to me.
On the header tank i changed that stupid gay metal clip thing for a cable tie to stop the seepage. If your not getting lots of oily gunk mixed in the water your ok, as mentioned it could be the oil cooler, they tend to leave spaghetti type strands floating about.

Your breathers look ok to me. They do need cleaned out maybe 3 times per year i find.

It might be worth your while getting some of that pink coolant, then you can see any seepages as it stains. Mine looses a bit of coolant every so often due to a knackered bolt on the temperature sender guage plastic thing, identified by that funky pink stuff. Very Happy

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:30 pm

Finally replaced the bleeder heater hose and renewed the coolant.
I suppose it was too much to expect but the damn thing is still losing coolant in the same way as before. The temperature remains normal even in traffic jams, and when bleeding the new hose a trickle of coolant emerged.
However one thing nobody has mentioned is the possibility of the actual header tank being defect. Is it actually two pieces? It looks very much so with the "lid" being the cause of the problem.
Any comments?

Jules.

Needs to get out more Joined: Dec 03, 2010 Posts: 180

obvious answer, look on ebay for a second hand one or new is not too expensive. dont think you can do much else or live with it.

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:54 am

I just a quick look at a spare reservoir I have here
The top half is pressed into the lower and I assume welded together in some fashion
But any liquid would have to travel up and onto the top surface to accumulate as in your pic, assuming the reservoir itself is defective.
I’d go with the radiator to reservoir hose, maybe this has a slight split or weep near the inlet
Maybe swap on another jubilee clip and wang that up tight,

Cheers
Andy

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:40 am

I'd be more inclined to suspect the cap which vents be design.

However, if it's spitting fluid, it's likely to be over pressuring which can be a head gasket

Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:58 pm

Replaced the coolant cap a couple of weeks ago.
However when checking the system today i saw something which was worrying, on removing the oil filler cap a very small trace of gunge was visible. So it looks like i´m back to my original theory but it would be nice to know for sure. Confused

Jules.

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:27 pm

Finally got the replacement header tank. Problem is getting the connector removed from the bottom, anybody know how it should be done? It wont budge in any direction and being plastic will not tolerate any abuse. Confused

Thanks, Jules.