What else other than head gasket?

Goudy

If it's pushing coolant out of the expansion tank because the coolant it under too much pressure, it's likely the head gasket is going and pressurising the coolant.

Not sure what test your mechanic did, but a sniff test will show up any combustion gases in the coolant.

ratrace

Op, its the head gasket mate common on the petrol vauxhalls been a problem on them for years id start saviing or cut your losses and sell the car on but make sure you tell the buyer what the problem is and reflect this in the sale price

zee34

ratrace said:

Op, its the head gasket mate common on the petrol vauxhalls been a problem on them for years id start saviing or cut your losses and sell the car on but make sure you tell the buyer what the problem is and reflect this in the sale price

The car is only 6 years old and only 40K mile on it so its worth repairing it so I will save up for it, yeah my mechanic said vauxhalls have a problem with their head gaskets, spent so long to research what car to get and I never come across this. If I had known...but I guess you just never know you just get unlucky. 

Ganga

zee34 said:

Ganga said:

Is the fan working ,if it is electric they normally fire up when the engine is hot and the car is not travelling ,that is at traffic lights etc . also when you stop the engine the fan can still start up to cool the radiator.

I dont actually remember the last time I heard the fan at the front of the car. Considering its winter and the car does not overheat maybe its not supposed to(??). But im pretty sure the mechanic would have picked it up. Just wondering if anyone had any similar issues that no normal.symptoms for head gasket but it still was. I dont really want to spend close to a grand if i dont have to, if they dismantle the engine and no problem there 

Next time you take it for a run when you get back lift the bonnet and let the engine tick over and see if the fan kicks in.

Mr.Generous

Try K-Seal or Bars Liquid alluminium - they really do fix leaks and will probably hold for 12 months. A second application might do another year until you trade the car.

I know the VW group have had loads of leaking plastic expansion tanks, - could your VX have a similar issue? Swapping the tank much cheaper than head gasket - which it doesn't sound like to me!

diystarter7

OP

Please be 100% sure before splashing out 800 odd quid.

Thanks

ratrace

zee34 said:

ratrace said:

Op, its the head gasket mate common on the petrol vauxhalls been a problem on them for years id start saviing or cut your losses and sell the car on but make sure you tell the buyer what the problem is and reflect this in the sale price

The car is only 6 years old and only 40K mile on it so its worth repairing it so I will save up for it, yeah my mechanic said vauxhalls have a problem with their head gaskets, spent so long to research what car to get and I never come across this. If I had known...but I guess you just never know you just get unlucky. 

Yeah its a pain mate ive done 2 on a astra and 1 on a corsa all petrols the gaskets on them dont last, i do like the cars and you do get a lot for your money but they do have some major flaws such as the m32 gearbox thats been a problem on astras for years aswell done 2 of them they fail because the box has been underfilled from factory resulting in wear which in turn reduces the longevity of the box

hope you get it sorted all the best with it 

Grey_Critic

Just to add my bit. The OP says you can observe a drip/leak under the reservoir whn hot. The cooling system runs under pressure so head gasket *might* be OK.

There is a leak when hot not when cold so *Some Component* is leaking. I had a leak on my central heating boiler. Traced to a valve that only leaked when at operating temperature.

caprikid1

Given the cost of the expansion tank Cap I would definitely be changing that,