Possible head gasket?

BrentMeister

Hi,

Really after some advice, but i'll try to keep this short.

Had my thermostat changed about a month ago with one I purchased off ebay (big mistake)! Turned out I didnt have a faulty thermostat, but was my water pump, so long with changing the waterpump they replaced my cam belt at the same time as it was due.

Week later driving along and lots of steam coming from under bonnet. Called out recovery who advised the thermostat had broken causing coolant to be sprayed everywhere. Towed to garage and they ordered me a theromstat and replaced it.

A week later noticed my coolant was very low, so bought some and topped it up. Few days later it has dropped a bit so took it back to the garage. They tested it all and said it was a loose jubliee clip.

Week later, noticed again my coolant was running low. Took it back and only just got it back today after 3 days of testing. This is what ive been told.

My car has a problem with the pressure. As soon as they fix one leak, another one somewhere else starts up. Theres also quite a thick pipe leading into the engine, they said that it is absolutely rock solid when it shouldn't be.

They believe it might be the start of the head gasket going. For the time being they have put some special formular in that is supposed to stop leaks, but ive been advised for the time being to keep checking on the coolant.

There advise is to look at trading it in somewhere before its too late.

Any help/tips advice greatly appreciated. My car is a 56 plate Grande Punto 1.9 Sport

Nobbie1967

Maybe the garage should have removed the 'rock solid' pipe and either cleared it or replaced it. Maybe there is a blockage here causing a build up of pressure. Very hard to tell what's going on without seeing the car though, but that does seem the obvious area to investigate.

I would have thought a cylinder pressure test would reveal any leakage into the cooling system.

BeenThroughItAll

Nobbie1967 wrote: »

Maybe the garage should have removed the 'rock solid' pipe and either cleared it or replaced it. Maybe there is a blockage here causing a build up of pressure. Very hard to tell what's going on without seeing the car though, but that does seem the obvious area to investigate.

I would have thought a cylinder pressure test would reveal any leakage into the cooling system.

They don't mean 'rock solid' as in blocked, they mean as in pressurised when the engine is running - common unscientific test for HGF.

BrentMeister

Found a couple of local places that specialise in head gasket skimming and pressure testing. I've emailed them to see what they say.

Marktheshark

If you can find a garage that does MOT tests, you can ask them to put the emission probe over the expansion tank filler with the engine ruining, obviously they will know to be careful.

If the HG has gone the hydrocarbons reading will shoot off scale and this just about confirms the HG has gone.

wrightk

BrentMeister wrote: »

Hi,

Really after some advice, but i'll try to keep this short.

Had my thermostat changed about a month ago with one I purchased off ebay (big mistake)! Turned out I didnt have a faulty thermostat, but was my water pump, so long with changing the waterpump they replaced my cam belt at the same time as it was due.

Week later driving along and lots of steam coming from under bonnet. Called out recovery who advised the thermostat had broken causing coolant to be sprayed everywhere. Towed to garage and they ordered me a theromstat and replaced it.

A week later noticed my coolant was very low, so bought some and topped it up. Few days later it has dropped a bit so took it back to the garage. They tested it all and said it was a loose jubliee clip.

Week later, noticed again my coolant was running low. Took it back and only just got it back today after 3 days of testing. This is what ive been told.

My car has a problem with the pressure. As soon as they fix one leak, another one somewhere else starts up. Theres also quite a thick pipe leading into the engine, they said that it is absolutely rock solid when it shouldn't be.

They believe it might be the start of the head gasket going. For the time being they have put some special formular in that is supposed to stop leaks, but ive been advised for the time being to keep checking on the coolant.

There advise is to look at trading it in somewhere before its too late.

Any help/tips advice greatly appreciated. My car is a 56 plate Grande Punto 1.9 Sport

I had this a few years back with an old kia sedona,we'd replace one pipe and another would blow or split. As far as im aware the car is still going strong and never suffered HGF,i had a pressure test done after the third time it happened and all was normal. I was advised at the time that it would be better to drain down the system and replace as much pipe as possible in one go rather than replacing sections as this causes an increase in the pressure of the older pipes. I didnt stick with the car long enough to find out whether or not this was BS or not

BrentMeister

wrightk wrote: »

I had this a few years back with an old kia sedona,we'd replace one pipe and another would blow or split. As far as im aware the car is still going strong and never suffered HGF,i had a pressure test done after the third time it happened and all was normal. I was advised at the time that it would be better to drain down the system and replace as much pipe as possible in one go rather than replacing sections as this causes an increase in the pressure of the older pipes. I didnt stick with the car long enough to find out whether or not this was BS or not

Thanks, that gives me a bit of hope!

Been out and checked the oil filler cap, no white substance on that nor on the dip stick.

Going to get it booked into the headgasket place and get them to do a pressure test as well.

Strider590

Couldn't it just be a faulty coolant cap? These things have a pressure release valve, which can jam with age. If they jam, pressure builds up and this can eventually cause HG failure.

arcon5

Marktheshark wrote: »

If you can find a garage that does MOT tests, you can ask them to put the emission probe over the expansion tank filler with the engine ruining, obviously they will know to be careful.

If the HG has gone the hydrocarbons reading will shoot off scale and this just about confirms the HG has gone.

Or go to any garage and have them use a block tester. And if a garage doesn't have something as basic as this then they are pretty useless

consumers_revenge

Having just had a Hgf on a clio I had no creamy oil anywhere or in the expansion tank. Mine was a small leak going straight across and down the cylinder with not even enough for white smoke from exhaust

bigjl

Some cars can pressurise the coolant system without mixing water in the oil.

I think this thread could prove as a good reason not to buy "bargain" parts from eBay. Unless you are buying from the eBay/online retail section of a known source of quality parts.