I am time poor at the moment so not done much with the lemon since I got it, as the independent garage advised that they thought the head gasket was on its way out whilst my son used the car( having to top up expansion bottle since January this year I checked the oil filler cap for the dreaded tell tale of water contamination, didn't really want to look in case it was bad and to my surprise it looked fine no mayonnaise whatsoever.

Water level in the expansion bottle looked to be about half an inch above the central mould join, when I undid the cap it was not pressurised, not sure how it ought to be from less than 2 mins running.

 

The off side rear seat back rest did seem loose against the outside edge, on closer inspection there was a loose bolt thingy, anyhow I managed to remove the whole seat back and low and behold it was the seat back pivot bolt lurking in the bottom of the pivot catch hook.

Anyhow once I managed to open the catch using long nose pliers I was able to retrieve the bolt and Allen key it back in to the seat job done. 

 

I lifted the acoustic engine cover off only to find some of the foam has come un stuck and looks in poor condition generally, I am sure this has happened to many motors in the forum ,any ideas how to put suitable new acoustic foam back on and what to use.

Any one any suggestions on the head gasket potentially failing as I am a bit confused, looked at the radiator and all looks ok.

Cheers. 

You don't get mayonnaise with head lift, you get a pressurised cooling system forcing coolant out of the safety valve on the bottle cap, the test is simple, you take the car out for a good blast until you see that the coolant level has dropped, you park the car overnight and open the cap in the morning once the engine is stone cold, if pressure is released from the cap as you open it then the gasket is blown and needs replacing along with upgraded head bolts.

 

End of.

 

Everything else you might say is a manifestation of denial and we don't do therapy here, you need a different forum for help with that.

Hi sepulchrave,  ok soon as I get it taxed and insured that's what will do just concerned it suddenly boils on me.

 

I have no motoring experience with the lemon so don't know how often my son had to add water .

Thanks for your advise.