Head Gasket gone ?????

[nathanl]

Here are the symptoms:

Milky coloured radiator water ( a few lots of radweld have been put in )

When starting 1st thing in the morning runs on 3 for about 10 seconds

Smokes a bit (not bright white) when being caned

No gunk on oil filler cap though, what do you lot reckon ? as far as I am aware there are no other sympotoms that I have noticed.
It is a GTE with 136k

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[Ben (lurk75)]

try flushing all the water out and put some clean in and run this for a while.

or

go to a garage and get them to do a compression test for you.

In all honesty if its done 136k just could be the engine getting tired.

[neiloakley]

when the engine is warm, and just idling, put your hand by the exhaust to see if any water comes ouy (as steam of course). If it does it means the head gasket has gone between the cylinder and a water channel. If you get funny creamy white water it prob means that it has gone between a water and an oil channel. As blokey said, flush the rad, A LOT, use a proper rad flusher liquid thingy to make sure you get all the crap out. Then refill with clean antifreeze and no radweld. Check after 100 miles. If you get the milky stuff again dont use radweld cos it aint meant for sealing the head gasket. mean for sealing small holes in pipes, joins etc. If you do get creamy stuff back do a compresion test to find out if it really has gone. If it has, pick up a gasket set (not just head gasket) for about ?15. That way you will have a load of spare gaskets for other things. You should also use new head bolts but i re-used mine twice. Also, if the head comes off, it may need to be skimmed if it has warped thru age. If it is an ally head, it will most prob need skimming. That will cost between ?30 and ?50. But apart from that, you can do everything yourself

[nathanl]

So what is it in an engine that gets tired and makes it knacker up then ? as in replaceable parts, or is it cheaper to get a new engine ?

[Ben (lurk75)]

theoretically if the engine has been well serviced and had always had parts replaced when needed it should go on forever, but it does get to a point when its not economical to replace bits.
You can pick up a decent GTE/GSI engine for around ?1-150 so when you have diagnosed whats wrong with the engine weigh up how much will cost etc. But dont forget when you buy a replacement enginein 6 months time the same could happen to that one as whats wrong with yours,whereas if you fix yours you know its not likely to go wrong for quite a while.

Things that go on them are just routine atuff like seals, shims, gaskets, bearings, belts etc etc

[nathanl]

Thanx a lot for the help, I will look into it. :D

[Rich Dale]

I knew about it when my head-gasket went......it blew between cylinders 1 and 2!

It sounded like a tank and I thought a big end bearing or something had gone with the noise it made!
I was amazed when I stripped the engine and all that was wrong was the head-gasket!

It's not a hard job to do and not expensive either......do it ASAP if you continue to suspect it......you don't want it to suddenly give up whilst you're miles from home.....it might go like mine did and have to limp home at 5 to 10mph :o

[rob.slader]

If your going to attenmpt you head gasket by youself, you will need the correct parts and tools for the job. Because if you do it wrong you'll only have to take the head off and do it again. It's a fairly easy job to do anyway. You will need a cylinder head gasket set, this will include all gaskets required to replace when the head is removed. (Head gasket, inlet and exhaust gaskets etc). Best to get genuine Vauxhall parts for this, it's about a fiver more expensive than factor parts, not much more really for genuine parts. The main thing you need to do correctly is to un-do the head bolts in the correct order and when putting it back together (Using new head bolts!) Make sure they are done up in the correct order and using a torque wrench, torqued up to the correct amount of newtons. You should have all the info you need in a haynes manual I expect including how to torque the head bolts. If you think this is too much for you, get someone in the know to do it. Basically, make sure it's done right the first time else it will cost having to do it again. Good luck! :lol:

[carltoncrazy]

yes dont over tighten,snap that bolt in the engine then ya stffed,
it takes us ages to drill the thing out without damaging the thread.
if ya do snap it and damage the thread,then get some who knows what there doing to re thread it,it takes ages to do properly and you need the right threading.
but to be honest just pay the 50 or so quid for ya local back garage to do it,
better to let some one who knows what there doing do it
and if the f** it then take em to court., :lol: heheheheheheh
soz bad sense of humor

[ade]

yeah ?50 for a "local back garage" to do it for ya. If yer referring to changing the head gasket I paid ?300 for mine to be done and the twat didnt even do it. He poured something into the engine to seal it - it went about 3 months later - took it back and the garage had gone under - he'd dun a runner owing thousands and ripped off loads of motorists. The only guy left there was the body shop technicial (decent guy) he was owed a fortune :evil: :evil: :evil:

bast ard!

[nathanl]

Cheers for the help chaps :D I have got a mate that is a bit handy with a spanner so I will have a word with him.