Head Gasket Blown

[lucylockett]

Hi just wondering if someone could give me advice please. I bought a Mg ZR in July and three weeks later I noticed that it was losing water anyway I rang the garage and after a bit of a discussion he said that he would take it in find out what was wrong with it and repair it. Two days later I picked the car up from the garage and was told that he had fitted a new radiator and he thought the fault had been sorted. He said if I had anymore problems to get back in touch, now about 9 weeks later its losing water again telephoned the guy and he said its not his problem he will not pay for the repairs.I have had the car 4 months in total and the fault is exactly the same as before. A friend of mine as said it looks like the head gasket as blown and will probably cost around £500 to repair. I have sent a letter recorded delivery to the garage requesting that he repair the car and giving him 7 days to respond. Is this the correct thing to do and what would be my next step? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Conniff]

The 'K' series engine as fitted to your car is well known for head gasket problems and the seller will also be aware of this.

 

If you want proof of the problem, take it somewhere else for a compression check and get the readings in writing.

 

You can then take it back to the seller and demand that he puts it right. If he says it isn't head gasket then it is up to him to prove that fact.

 

If he shouldn't respond to your 7 day letter, or still refuses to do anything, then send him another letter headed 'Letter Before Action' and mention the soga and that the faults are inherent and during the first 6 months it is up to him to prove the fault was not there when he sold it.

 

Get that compression check done so you can attack this problem with knowledge.

[noomill060]

An easy way to check for a blown head gasket is to unscrew the oil filler cap and look for a mayonaise coloured gunge coating on the inside of it.

 

This will be oil emulsified with water which has leaked into the engine from a blown head gasket.

 

If there is no "mayo" inside the oil filler cap, your problem lies elsewhere, so keep the water topped up until you get it checked.

 

Best not to drive it at all if you are losing water- you could/will overheat and destroy the engine completely.

 

(Been there, done that)

Edited November 29, 2009 by noomill060

[JimmySpangle]

If you do this on any Vauxhall Omega v6, you will find 'mayo' inside the filler cap. That is why so many Vauxhall Omegas are mis-diagnosed with head gasket failure. Something that very rarely happens on that engine.

[noomill060]

...but lucylockett has an MG with a K series engine, not a Vauxhall Omega V6.

[Conniff]

Most short journey cars will show mayo under the oil filler so it's not a good indication especially of a blown head gasket.

[JimmySpangle]

My point exactly. Mayo on the filler cap is no idication at all that there is a head gasket problem. A simple compression test is and so is a radiator pressure test.

 

But hell, whay would I know about it?

[noomill060]

My point was that if there ISNT mayo on the oil filler, the problem lies elsewhere.

 

Of course mayo could be caused by something else - Ive had mayo caused by leaking water pump O rings (Triumph Dolly Sprint- what a gloriously duff engine they were!)

 

But in all blown head gasket problems Ive had, emulsified oil in the engine has been the result for some reason...maybe coolant water blew passed the blown gasket into the cylinders...

[danielr]

I had a head gasket blow whilst coming home from work, white smoke everywhere from the exhaust...

 

didn't have breakdown cover so had to 'limb' as far as I could home in fits and starts, driving a way then waiting for the engine to cool...

 

long story short, I made it home, head gasket had definitely gone. but there was no "mayo" on the filler cap, nor around the dip stick or anywhere...

 

to say no mayo means that the head gasket is fine is a bit misleading.

mayo on the filler cap is a symptom that may be present.

[Sparkie1723]

A compression test is NOT a 100% guarantee that a cylinder head gasket has blown low compression on any one or two cylinders could be down to valve not seating properly..pressure is being lost via the valves ..............it is a good guide but not completely true, ........one of the ways that a suspected head gasket has blown along with a compression test is to start the engine ( it is not a pressurised system) with the radiator filler cap off an let the engine reach its working temperature when the thermostat opens, .....................if you see lots of bubbles in the water, then more than likely the gasket has gone.

 

With a pressuried system you will see these bubbles in the plastic filler bottle.hope this helps

 

sparkie

[noomill060]

Oil in the radiator water is a good sign as well.

 

Its a process of elimination. lucylockett just said that the car was losing water and her mate said its the head gasket. Thats all we have to go on.

 

Water could be leaking from anywhere for all we know.

 

Her garage replaced the rad and now 9 weeks later, its losing water again. If its the head gasket, the garage will sort it. No doubt they will expect to be paid for their trouble.

[danielr]

as far as I know the best test for a head gasket being gone is analysing the water in the radiator for carbon monoxide content that is expelled from the cylinders into the water under pressure...

 

 

How quickly is the car loosing water? I mean are you saying that you have to fill the car up every day stop multiple times on a single journey?

 

I had a car like that that I had to top up with water regularly the reason (in my case) was that the car would over heat and lose water (I assume through the pressure cap on the radiator) the reason the car was getting so hot? the water pump was broken... -and that led to the head gasket going.

[traffer]

Very often HGF happens because of a water leak elsewhere. The most common leak on the K series is the inlet mainifold gasket. Often there is no evidence of a leak because the water leaks into a cylinder. It is a quick and easy fix. I am sure that many people have paid to have a head gasket changed just becuase the systme is losing water. Give a dog a bad name!