Best place to get some not too expensive but good quality head gaskets?

OEM....?

 

Need some advice here....... this is what it looked like coming out of the top of the rad.......

........... looks like chocolate milkshake.........

Trying to think of anything else that could cause this....... clutching at straws here...... right going to dig out my compression tester........

and then going to strip the plenum, rad, fan, belts and pretty much everything.......

feeling slightly depressed now thinking how much fun this will be with the engine in the car as I have nowhere to do it out of the car........

Is it oil and water, or is it rust, if yours has been sitting a long time or not had anti freeze could be rust from inside the block...

 

Does it feel oily between your fingers...

Doesn't feel oily...... just flushed a bit of water through and is now gone....... it could be from the crap inside engine as water level dropped a lot......

also found blowing from N/S turbo to down pipe..... so could be smell from there...... going to get underneath and see where that is coming from...... got spare gaskets in shed....

Been ticking over on driveway for months and not overheated or shown anything till driving her......

going to sort out exhaust leak and then run her up and see what happens when she is up to temperature....

If your car has been sat for so long, I wouldn't give up on the engine quite just yet. Get your rad flushed out again and bleed. You probably have a lot of silt and shit in there. Try and identify which of the cylinders is down and check the connections on these. Injector connectors fur up easily and often as well as coil-pack connectors. If those aren't the problem, try another coil pack. Just try and go through a process of elimination. Have you cleaned ALL the connectors out?

Edited March 6, 201411 yr by Funkysi

Only just saw the photo. Looks like rust/silt, not oil. Take the rad out and flush it through completely. Your engine has just pushed all of the years of silt into that part of the cooling system - it does it with them all.

Hi Si, I fitted new connectors on both injectors and coil packs...... and cleaned all the connections with contact cleaner and fibreglass pen....

Going to sort out exhaust leak first then compression test her..... if all is okay......... then flush the cooling system and see what happens........

 

Cheers Si, going to give her a going over to see what happened...... she has been sounding lovely, no smoke and ticking over for months..... just couldn't drive her to check anything without tax and mot.....

Bloody typical this happens on way to MOT.... lol

It'll take a good few miles to get the car running right if it's been stood. You may have got a bit of bore-wash too. I don't think that's a gasket failure mate. TBH, just stick a hose pipe into the rad to flush that top silt out. The rest of the system will have enough anti-freeze, you can do another flush after you've made sure it's running right. The only trouble with doing coolant flushes is that sometimes, it can dislodge previously undisturbed corrosion that could lead to a leak.

The annoying thing is there was no exhaust leak till I drove it...... engine movement driving seems to have shown up a dodgy exhaust joint.... typical....

looks like the turbo down pipe to decat pipe..... 3 bolt flange...... hmmmm no gasket....... looks like it was my fault from when I dropped that bolt into the turbo and got side tracked and forgot the gasket...... DOH!

letting her cool down then flushing the radiator with hose and fitting gasket....... plus wife gone to bed ill and left me with my 22 month old...... so work on car is on hold till his mid day nap....... lol

At least I found out my brakes work...... nearly all the surface rust on the discs is gone now.........lol

she did feel like something was trying to stop her from rear end...... so going to check handbrake shoes and callipers on rear..... plus double check auto transmission fluid levels again now she has been driven.....

Thanks Terry and Si, was ready to cry........ or just tear her apart again...... lol

If it had blown the head gasket to turn your coolant into froth then it would have been smoking like a red arrow aswel.

If it had blown the head gasket to turn your coolant into froth then it would have been smoking like a red arrow aswel.

Roger squadron leader, no smoke detected.......... lol

Well compression test done and got these figures.....

1. 164

2. 160

3. 161

4. 160

5. 162

6. 160

 

Replaced gasket on exhaust and can still hear a blow from above...... might be manifold gasket on the bloody same turbo I dropped a bolt down..... would have been better off dropping the manifold and replacing gasket while I was doing it after all......... sods law......lol

Only other thing is the metal elbow gasket on the turbo...... but can't get to it or feel the blow due to the viscous fan...... blowing a gale under the car while she is running.....

Did find a vacuum leak whilst doing it..... vacuum pipe from balance bar to boost gauge + boost controller + recirc valve was hissing badly so temp disconnected recirc valve and she started running smoothly...

Every time I reconnect the N/S recirc valve she starts missing and running rough.... so disconnected both of them temporarily till after MOT....

 

It looks like Si and Terry were spot on..... flushed the rad and refilled with clean water and not getting the bubbling brown crap no more........ phew.....

Just a few teething problems by the look of it......

So going to get her to temperature later and try again for MOT tomorrow.....

Glad it wasn't anymore. I was quite confident you didn't have any major issues. I think your car just needs a damn good run! Shame you need an MOT before you can really do that!!

 

Your recirc valves haven't been plugged have they?

 

Very healthy compression results BTW.

The recirc valves are standard and were 2nd hand untested....... as soon as I connect the vacuum pipe, the N/S one is making her miss and run very lumpy.....

Recirc plugged?

With the pipe removed she runs smoothly......

Thanks again Si......

Yeah, I didn't know whether you'd had horrible dump valves in before - some people plug the pipes for the recircs after fitting DVs as a way of bypassing them.

Get that turbo hot enough and it might stop the exhaust leaking hahaha.

Yeah, I didn't know whether you'd had horrible dump valves in before - some people plug the pipes for the recircs after fitting DVs as a way of bypassing them.

Nooooo they were made for recirc valves and would not fit dump valves...... my Ford Orion 1600E Turbo had one....... but then I was 21 and used to cruise round Southend Seafront......lol

Now I don't want that dump sound....... getting old..... no lairey body kits.......AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH...... I have become my dad!!!!!!

I will never join a golf club though...........lol

Get that turbo hot enough and it might stop the exhaust leaking hahaha.

 

Now that is a good idea..... It did kick out when I pulled out of my road today.......I pulled away as if I was in my saab 9-5 aero front wheel drive auto...... won't be doing that again...... lol

I must admit I grinned and was happy for a moment.......lol

I need to get some practice with back end steeping out again........ Last time I had a go doing that was my friends Iroc Z28...... I miss the Chelmsford Police skid pan...... that was fun..... lol

Well it definitely is not the head gaskets....... passed MOT friday and then the water pump went into self destruct mode due to a slightly bent fan coupling by the look of it..... I think it may have been off centre enough to destroy the bearing in about 10 miles from new.....

It was a pattern water pump so not 100% sure..... but not taking any chances on this again as it is now definitely bent.... could be where it hit the pulley when wobbling around, but knackered now....

 

Well I have stripped her and got water pump off and found the impeller is bent where it has hit the casting on the block..... the bearing is destroyed in it and the shaft wobbles about everywhere.....

 

I am also glad I did this as I have found the tensioner for the cam belt wasn't released and I had left it compressed..... If I hadn't read Jeff's thread on this I wouldn't have even thought to check while I was there....

 

I am also replacing the front water bypass hoses with SFS ones while I am there and new belts for the power steering and water pump / alternator......

Plus repainting the water hard pipes, cam covers, bottom pulley, new bolts, new rubber grommets.... might as well while I wait for a pump......

Well replaced water pump with OEM one, SFS hoses and put everything back together........ apart from the ribbed belts........ as the ones I picked up yesterday were too short.......

Going to pick up new belts on the way to work today so I can get her finished on my day off tomorrow.......

I also found my old viscous coupling in a box in the garage and it seems okay after a clean up........

So tomorrow is finish, tax and go for a nice long drive........lol

Sounds like you are almost there Russ and enjoy your Z drive tomorrow. :thumbup1:

Thats great news, i wouldnt be suprised to see some blue or grey smoke where its been sat for a while and the exhaust has got full of dust and crap, get her warm and keep calm :D wonder to see it up and about though