if the the headgasket has gone would my engine temp go through the roof that wot a garage has told me the have tested it and they said some thing about yellow gas does this make sence to anyone they have quote approx £700 to 1000 is this a fair price i have a superb elegance 2.0td thanksi think he said he done a sniff test ?

Edited 22 July, 201015 yr by sike1963

if the the headgasket has gone would my engine temp go through the roof that wot a garage has told me the have tested it and they said some thing about yellow gas does this make sence to anyone they have quote approx £700 to 1000 is this a fair price i have a superb elegance 2.0td thanksi think he said he done a sniff test ?

If your temp goes up then in most cases thats the reason the headgasket pops. If you look under your oil filler cap and see a kind of mayo gunk then its gone because the water and oil has mixed. The sniff test is a definate way to test ur headgasket it in the early stages, it works on a kind of PH solution and tests the carbon monoxide in you engine, they have a kind of sucker that sucks some of your coolant water from your car and mixes with the solution and if it turns yellow then the gasket is gone.On the price im not to sure im not experinced with superbs engine. Hope this helps.

A block test os the best one, a sniff test will detect Hydro Carbons, but these can exist in the coolant anyway.

Some general checks you can do yourself,

See if when the car is hot if there is water coming from the exhaust, this will be more than just a few condesation drips btw.

Look in the water bottle for excessive bubbling, again when hot, and don't confuse it with water simply going back into the tank.

As already said, white cream under the oil cap.

White smoke from the exhaust.

Lumpy idle, although it doesn't always do this.

Check the rad for leaks, this is a well known B5.5 fault.

Possible impeller failure in the water pump, so again check water is flowing back to the coolant tank.