I had one head and both gaskets replaced back in March when my oil system dumped into the coolant. Now I suspect I'm getting blowthrough of gas from the engine into the coolant which I suspect may be the head gasket again.

 

i) Could it be anything else.

 

ii) If it the head gaskets what are my chances of getting it fixed free of charge by SE who did the original work. Grumble!!

 

I am getting fine bubbles in my coolant too and it slowly looses water over a week or so.

I've had it tested for the head gasket and it passed OK ???

Seems worse when I've been giving it some welly.

Can't find a water leak but the expansion tank sometimes drips after parking up.

There is a simple test used by most garages to determine if there are any exhaust gases present in the coolant..takes about 2 mins to do...try this to see whats going on...

Try what?

How do you do it?

 

Chris, go to a garage and ask them how much they'll charge to test your header tank for traces of carbon...should be no more than £10 as it takes minutes.

 

Basically, they'll stick a little gizmo with some fluid in it into your header tank or rad....if it turns a funny colour then there is carbon in your coolant system and thus possiblr headgasket failure....i say possible cos there may be traces still left in your coolant system if your h/gasket went only a few months ago.

you could purchase the kit from most motor factors & do it yourself

 

think its called Headcheck or Leakcheck

 

turns a blue liquid green/yellow if CO gasses pass through it

 

as carbonmonoxide is a gass, there shouldnt really be any left in the cooling system now.

 

hth.

 

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I feel the need, the need for speed!

 

Hi,

 

I had exactly the same symptoms on my SWB, fine bubbles and slow loss of coolant.

 

Bought the Head gasket kit and there wasn't enough gas to be conclusive!

 

I think the only way to go is to take it to a garage and ask them to test it on their exhaust gas analyser?

 

Good Luck

 

Mark

I hate to ask, but wat was the cause?

Also check out the 2 top by pass hoses that are behind the top connection to the engine from the radiator - one to each cylinder head. Mine sprung a leak from one of those short hoses and at first it looks like your water pump has gone. Anyway, changed the hoses, (take off the top connection to do this) cleaned up the flange to inlet manifold water connection, re blue gasket stuffed it again. Lo does it not start leaking 2 days later from the same flange joint. Fixed it again, a few days later leaking again, fixed it yet again with non Halfords blue gasket stuff and so far no more leak. Thing is the flange leak is very slow and you could drive hundreds of miles without losing more than a couple of pints.

 

You can only see the leak here by using a small mirror and a light. The bottom of the flange just looks wet. The water trickles down the front of the engine and the heat means that you rarely see anything drip to the ground. If it does it comes from the bottom of the sump.

 

Mine until now never needed a drop of water. I also noticed bubbles when I filled it back up again but I thought that that was cos it was foaming with low water level. It defo does not push water out the overflow or overheat.

Anybody with slow water loss should check this top water connection with a small mirror when the engine is hot and there is pressure - squeeze top hose to check - if hose stays soft then you arent pressurising or your loosing the pressure.

Just a rambling thought.

Willie

also, if you can find a garage thats got one, a cylinder leakage tester is a very useful diagnostic tool.

 

these pressurise the cylinder & gives you a percentage of air that leaks out.

 

you can then look/listen for the leaks, ie valves not seating - through the exhaust/intake manifolds, piston rings - heavy breathing through the oil filler cap/breathers and more importantly for you - bubbles through the cooling system if the head has blown between the water jacket & combustion chamber.

 

have to be careful as some leaks only show themselves at certain temps.

 

 

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I feel the need, the need for speed!

 

My car is doing exactly as Chris described. I had the AA come out and do a sniffer test to check for HG failure. Nowt wrong!

 

But I'm losing water slowly and have to put between a quarter and a full pint or so in depending on how far I've driven.

 

Pisses me off this as the car never used a drop of coolant until a few months ago.

 

Had the expansion tank off last night and discovered a small hole on the neck with a protruding lip! Does anyone know what the hell that is for?

 

Guy over the road is a mechanic and he told me to tape it up as it would be causing problems with the pressurization of the system!

 

Also he reckons there should be an o-ring seal where the top part of the filler neck joins the tank. Shite system if you ask me!!!

 

 

 

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"I think we should take Iraq and Iran and combine them into

one country and call it Irate. All the pissed off people live

in one place and get it over with."

Denis Leary

Problem fixed, The radiator cap has been leaking leading causing water loss and air ingress. No CO in water or pressure losss now. phew!

 

Apologies to SE for suspecting them although I'm still not pleased by the paint peeling from my rear tailgate which they resprayed when replacing the rotting rear spoiler. Can't really complain to them because as far as I can work out they didn't charge for the extra work of doing the tailgate as well as the spoiler.

Thats real good news m8!!!! This is why tests should be carried out b4 jumping to conclusions Glad you sorted it

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy