Driving on borrowed time? Head Gasket...

fiji_dave

Evening all,

after a bit of advice about head gaskets and what happens when they fail.

We have a 94 Peugeot 306 D-Turbo, it's done 180k miles. It's been losing coolant fairly quickly, even on short journeys. It's spent the best part of 2 days in a garage having the problem fully diagnosed and the upshot is that the head gasket has blown. The coolant system pressurises as soon as the engine it turned on and water is pushed out of the system. There's no water in the oil, no frothy mayonnaise on the dipstick and no fumes from the exhaust.

Quotes from two garages so far have run into the hundreds (and hundreds) and quite frankly it's not worth spending the money on the car. My question is...

just how long do we have before a catastrophic failure? At the moment, topping up the water on a daily basis and only using the car for essential journeys, but I presume we are driving on borrowed time? Is there anything we can do to prolong the life of the car (it only needs to last a few weeks until we can sort a replacement then it'll be sold as spares or repair)

I've seen something called K-seal which is added to the coolant and supposedly will fix the problem. Anyone used it?


any advice gratefully accepted.
Cheers
Dave

Quinny_2

A common fault on early 306's I'm afraid,although if it's done 180k,and it's the original head gasket,then it's done well.

But could it not be as simple as a leaking hose? Have you looked under the car when it's running? I find it strange that there is no Mayo,or water in the oil,all classic symptoms.

Unfortunately,if the head gasket has gone,then head skimming will almost certainly have to be done,as well as the re-build,and I recall a friend of mine had a 306 about the same vintage as yours,and the head gasket going on his,and it cost him about £500,and that was about 8 years ago.

You maybe delaying the inevitable,if indeed this is the case,and if I'm honest,I wouldn't like to keep topping it up,as you don't know how long it would last,before something else goes wrong,and your stranded,and unable to get home.

Nothing can 'repair' a blown head gasket,as they are sandwiched between the head,and the block,so no miracle cure is going to fix it there.

What I would be tempted to do,if it is shot,is go down the part ex route asap,and rid yourself of it,and put the money you were going to spend on it,towards another car.

Ken.

fiji_dave

Hi Ken,

actually this is the 2nd head gasket. The first went at about 115k. Reconditioned head fitted, and some other stuff and well over a grand out of pocket! This one's done 65k since then. I've heard they sometimes last about 60-70k so wasn't overly surprised.

The problem we have is that both the tax and MOT are up in a weeks time. The cambelt needed fixing before we can put it in for the MOT as I understand most garages won't touch a diesel for MOT if the cambelt is at the end of lifespan.
Getting that done is just about affordable on the car, but not the head gasket (we had quotes of about 350quid for cambelt, tensioners, pulleys and water pump fitted) We can't see the point of getting the cambelt replaced if there is a possibility of the headgasket failing as we drive it home from the garage! So we'd pretty much resigned it to the scrapheap.

The car isn't used for journeys of more than 15 miles at the moment and we've got enough AA cover to get it back home in the case it does die completely.

Would any garage take it on in part-ex? 180k, 1weeks tax and mot? Cambelt due and head gasket failed? Maybe if I left some loose change in the glove box it would make the car more valuable!

it's a shame to see it go....well, it is and it isn't. Lovely car to drive but it's been the bills have been endless.

fiji_dave

Quinny wrote:

But could it not be as simple as a leaking hose? Have you looked under the car when it's running? I find it strange that there is no Mayo,or water in the oil,all classic symptoms.

Ken.

It was leaking from the water pump, but the fact that the cooling system pressurised as soon as it was started up from cold seemed to be the giveaway.
Couldn't see any other leaks.

Quinny_2

If there's still a week's t&t left on it,act straight away to get a p/x,and get rid.All the garage will do,is put it through the ring.(Auction.)

Ken.

tomstickland

They are known to go. Since this is the second one I'd wager that the other one wasn't skimmed properly or the block is distorted.
A friend of mine swapped the gaskets over but it took him and a mate a day and a half and they said it was a real !!!!!! due to every bolt being different and hard to get to. Unlike the old Vauxhalls, where you can do it in 2 hours.

How long will it last? Well that depends on the rate of loss. A total bodge, but you could go round to a motor factors and have a look a their bodge bottles. Things like rad seal and head gasket repair fluid. Just pour it into the coolant and hope for the best. It might last a while yet, noone can tell.

taxiphil

Like tom says, Radweld has to be worth a go for a few quid. I used it years ago on a Ford Granada - it worked like a dream and permanently stopped the leak. An L/M plate with 180k on the clock really isn't worth spending any more money on.

fiji_dave

..and here's where I show my total lack of ignorance on all thing mechanical....

Will radweld do the job? I've tried to find some of the block/ gasket sealer stuff but to no avail. I've seen the k-seal stuff on the internet but haven't found it in any of the shops. I read something about it being designed to work on larger holes that normal radiator sealant?

If radweld will do the same I'll give it a go.


Thanks for the advice.

tomstickland

Most motor factors have a shelf of Wynnes bodge fluids. Wynnes arethe masters of this sort of thing. Call round one.

highguyuk

Your quote for a cambelt change seems v.excessive. I have owned two Peugeot 306's, and I have had the cambelt and all the other bits and pieces done at the local garage from around £120.

May I point you in the direction of https://www.pug306.net. An excellent forum for all Peugeot 306 owners. I'd suggest posting these questions on there, as they are all owners/experts on Peugeot 306's and should be able to answer any questions.

fiji_dave

highguyuk - thanks for the tip...I'll pop over there and ask a few questions.

I've always been lead to believe the turbo diesels were more expensive than nonturbo diesels for cambelt changes?