Head Gasket symptoms ?

[hazzagrant]

Hi

I think i may have possible early signs of Head Gasket failure.

i noticed a very slight loss of coolant over the last 1-2,000 miles after my water pump and cambelt, initially i thought the level will go down after but its kept creeping lower over time.

Also lifted my oil filler cap and there were some signs of mayo looking fluid on the cap? am i correct in thinking these are signs of HG?

car has done 50,000 miles & is a special editions if that makes any difference?

[VRSD30]

They can be signs of HG failure but it doesn't sound too bad just yet from how you describe, how much coolant loss we talking? The mayo on the cap could just be condensation that would burn off once the engine warmed up, quite normal especially if you haven't done a long drive with the engine up to temperature.

Keep and eye on it, is there a lot of pressure in the coolant system even when it's cold?

[Jonny5ive]

Get your radiator checked. I had similar symptoms with my fabia and was suspected HG. Turned out to be a split radiator.

[devonutopia]

Who did the cambelt change and could they have knackered something? Thinking about the water pump in particular.

The mayo is usually a sign of not doing regular long journies to warm the engine up right through. Do you see the temp needle on the dash creep above 90?

[MoggyTech]

Mayo normal if short runs done a lot. As for coolant loss, in order.

1:Expansion tank and cap

2:Bottom corners of radiator

3:Heater matrix or heater hose bulkhead connections

4:Head Gasket.

A couple of things you can check and have done. Sniffer test in expansion bottle for combustion gas, or chemical check (same effect).

Take car on motorway for a decent run. Take expansion tank cap off the next morning, and if there is a release of pressure, the head gasket is faulty.

[hazzagrant]

The loss isn't massive by any means just enough to drop below middle line and little top to make the level go to the top

Went for long run on motorway no mayo on oil filer cap But from comments this wouldn't mean HG anyway, will check pressure in system tomorrow morning, there isn't any white smoke coming out of the exhaust if this makes a difference,

Can't find anything around radiators or pipes to suggest leaks from there,

Cheers for help guys

[Owen Snell]

Not logged on for ages and on today to look for this very topic. Started losing coolant a week ago, 1.4 Classic at 130k miles. Coolant loss has speeded up and got mayo on the filler cap. Is there a history of HGF on the 1.4?

[RAPTURE]

It could also be the water pump has failed and is leaking. Did the garage give you the old one back and was it fitted with a oem water pump when the belt was done?.

Edited 8 March, 2013 by RAPTURE

[Avalon]

Not logged on for ages and on today to look for this very topic. Started losing coolant a week ago, 1.4 Classic at 130k miles. Coolant loss has speeded up and got mayo on the filler cap. Is there a history of HGF on the 1.4?

It depends, the origional HG on early 1.4 mpi's was replaced as part of a service bulletin, the revised HG also had revised torque settings issued later.

Lets start with the basics, when did you check the cap previously? Short journeys can cause mayo as the oil isn't up to temp for long enough to burn off the moisture/condensation and it may have been that way for a while with the cold weather we've had recently. Clean it off fully and check it again regularly. Have you checked the cooling system for leaks? It could easily be a pipe or the radiator.

[imran119]

Im having problems with my fabia vrs its building up pressure in the coolant bottle and escapes while driving flushed system out quite few times cant seem to take air lock out just recently bought the car heater matrix pipes where off and and couple of other pipes where put in the wrong place. Had brisk skoda stickers on so i knw the previous culprit comes on this site. So if you recently sold a car in Nottingham auction please get in contact its a YA55xxx plate im the 2nd owner so i did not purchase it from the auction i do have your adress but cant be bothered driving to nottingham.

[VWD]

mentioned elsewhere and also features regularly on "THE GARAGE " -SNIFFER TEST . Instant confirmation of HG problems if presurising .

[reecenet]

Hey I thought i'd post my little article that I wrote the other day, I came across your question on google and thought it could be of some help

After suffering from this expensive and time consuming issue and wanting to know how to avoid it I’ve decided to share some knowledge and hopefully you can avoid it yourself. Looking around on the net there wasn’t really the information I wanted so today I’m going to give the information I could of done with over the past few years and having gone through six cars in those short expensive four years, we are going to delve into the world of Head Gaskets !

Not being a mechanic but having a very high general knowledge of cars, always servicing them etc I felt this problem would never trouble me, however. It seemed I was destined to buy cars with this problem. Two vehicles already had the problem when I bought them and the others developed pretty quickly finally with my current car costing a pretty penny instead of just scrapping it I thought it was probably time to try something.

Searching around on the net I found all the usual odd tips for diagnosing the problem and even more odd ones solving it after even going through the major brands some I even had from America! One being a thermo reaction or similar another pour in one, after a while I found the Steel Seal Head Gasket Fix http://steelseal.co.uk/ luckily this one was a little more simple to use and actually worked! Seems a bit original in the way it works, it was the only one I found which works on a chemical reaction.

So what can you keep your eye out for? Here I’m going to give my top ten head gasket symptoms, I will try and keep them in an order but to be honest I don’t think mine could of become any worse before using the steel seal without blowing up! I will also be creating my Top Ten vehicles which bring higher stats of head gasket problems.

10. Coolant loss or leaking from the water pump, visually check

9. Bubbles of air coming up into the radiator, remember to remove the cap before starting to check

8. Overheating, keep an eye on your temperature gauge

7. Rough running, is it sluggish or “chuggy” or loss of power.

6. Coolant or oil from the head or on the spark plugs. Easy one to check just remove a spark plug when the engine is off and visually check to confirm oil on the threads or around the plug

5. White smoke or excessive liquid exiting the exhaust or loosing coolant through the overflow. To check this remove the cap and rev the engine, again if you see bubbles or any exits you will notice

4. Oil in the water and even visa versa, with the latter you will notice oil floating in the water in your cooling system

3. Sludge like substance in your oil. To check this, simply use your dipstick to inspect the consistency and colour of the oil.

2. Hoses coming or being forced off the system

1. Low compression within cylinders, checking this is simple but as always if in doubt of any mechanical work, use a responsible service.

[Avalon]

Sounds spamtastic

[wayneofhull]

hi could some one maybe help me i am no where near a mechanic 
i had a sevear coolant leak witch resulted in over heating i then replaced the rad and seem to still lose coolant and the expansion tank is getting a lot of pressure 
i have put some k seal in to expansion tank and tried to run it throw to try and fix issue but it spat it out of the expansion tank over flow pipe i am at a loss i als have the mayo looking substance but i cant seem to see contamination on the dip stick any advice would be muchly welcome its the 1.4 comfort  please help

[sepulchrave]

hi could some one maybe help me i am no where near a mechanic 

i had a sevear coolant leak witch resulted in over heating i then replaced the rad and seem to still lose coolant and the expansion tank is getting a lot of pressure 

i have put some k seal in to expansion tank and tried to run it throw to try and fix issue but it spat it out of the expansion tank over flow pipe i am at a loss i als have the mayo looking substance but i cant seem to see contamination on the dip stick any advice would be muchly welcome its the 1.4 comfort  please help

 

Yes, you have all the signs of head gasket failure, luckily the 1.4 MPI engine is easy and cheap to fix.

[wayneofhull]

how much roughly would you say so i dont get my pants ripped down ahha

[sepulchrave]

how much roughly would you say so i dont get my pants ripped down ahha

 

No idea, I don't pay other people to do things I can do myself.

[wayneofhull]

fair would yo reccoment any of the liquid fixs like mentioned above at all

[sepulchrave]

Nope, do it right or don't bother and get shot of it.

[TMB]

hi could some one maybe help me i am no where near a mechanic 

i had a sevear coolant leak witch resulted in over heating i then replaced the rad and seem to still lose coolant and the expansion tank is getting a lot of pressure 

i have put some k seal in to expansion tank and tried to run it throw to try and fix issue but it spat it out of the expansion tank over flow pipe i am at a loss i als have the mayo looking substance but i cant seem to see contamination on the dip stick any advice would be muchly welcome its the 1.4 comfort  please help

 

Is it the 8 valve engine or the 16 valve?

[Alexandru]

hi could some one maybe help me i am no where near a mechanic 

i had a sevear coolant leak witch resulted in over heating i then replaced the rad and seem to still lose coolant and the expansion tank is getting a lot of pressure 

i have put some k seal in to expansion tank and tried to run it throw to try and fix issue but it spat it out of the expansion tank over flow pipe i am at a loss i als have the mayo looking substance but i cant seem to see contamination on the dip stick any advice would be muchly welcome its the 1.4 comfort  please help

 

Have a look here. Don't you ever put that stop leak things into the expansion tank. Those will get where you don't need them and will do more damage than good. I've also ran one winter with a clogged heater matrix and I was freezing in my car. I had to flush it really good to make it work. It is a PITA to replace it, so just take good care. Just replace anything broken and keep that engine up and running in good condition. Believe me, I'v been there, done that. A clogged coolant radiator might have done severe damage to my head because the engine was overheating, the radiator flow wasn't as it should have been, along with the previous owner which was apparently using plain water and not coolant.

Edited 12 May, 2016 by Alexandru

[wayneofhull]

Is it the 8 valve engine or the 16 valve?

it the 8v

[wayneofhull]

thanks for the reply i am soo confused theres no contamination in the dip stick but a small amount of "mayo" but dose not seem to be getting worse engine seems to run fine just seems after a while the pressure builds up in expansion tank and spits it all out the over flow could it be a blocked pipe or a water pump or even more a air lock its the 1.4 8v and its also only done 63k and up until 2014 it had a service every 3k miles from new then i did spark plugs and air filter and was planning a full service his week had an mot last week and emmisions seem fine  would that make any diffrance

[TMB]

Still sounds like head gasket failure. Have a check to see if it has the upgraded head gasket on it. If it has you will see 'TEMAC' in red letters on the gasket where it sticks out of the cylinder head on the right-hand side.

 

[wayneofhull]

Still sounds like head gasket failure. Have a check to see if it has the upgraded head gasket on it. If it has you will see 'TEMAC' in red letters on the gasket where it sticks out of the cylinder head on the right-hand side.

 

give me 5 mins to take off the cover and i shall answer