Hi,

My girlfriends MY2000 Fabia 1.4 MPi Classic (8v?) came back from having a wheel bearing changed with a couple of items for consideration.

One item was black coolant in the expansion bottle which the garage suggested is a failing head gasket. Would this be correct? If so how much would a Skoda garage charge for changing the gasket?

Also, would having the head gasket changed solve the tappet noise?

Regards,

John

having black goo in the expansion tank would suggest a blown gasket or a cracked cylinder head, or even the possibility of one of the wet liners has cracked on moved.. another symptom is a milky goop in thier where the water has mixed with the oil and emulsified

to solve the tappet noise you need to adjust teh valve to tappet clearances, but seeing as they would have to remove the cylinder head, they would noramlly adjust these at the same time

Many thanks Teflon Tom for a quick response.

Any idea on cost?

Cheers,

John

you wont get much change from £1k i would have thought.

when the head comes off it's also a good time to have it reconitioned (valves re-seated etc).... but before you do anything you need to get the coolant system pressure tested, and a block test carried out

as i've said.... get the tests done first... it may not be a blown gasket at all

Tests aren't cheap either though, my vRS is having grief like this too so it will be investigated further, on mine the head gasket or worse is now looking annoyingly likely :(

Tests aren't cheap either though, my vRS is having grief like this too so it will be investigated further, on mine the head gasket or worse is now looking annoyingly likely :(

Ouch :( Have they pinpointed what is likely to have caused the problem yet as the PD130 is usually pretty bullet-proof!

Chris

Hi

Yes VERY VERY common for these to go on that car

Do you have the engine code?

They was put in to a 4th year of warranty.

Has she had it from new?

Sarah

Sorry yes just a blown head gasket

@ScoobyChris - trying to avoid hijacking this thread (sorry) but I had some IM exchanges and apparently there have been a few remapped ones with this problem, I reckon however the main reason was the faulty thermostat causing lack of head cooling (but enough apparently to keep the temp gauge at the right level ) causing this as a side-effect.

As Sarah's saying though the 1.4 petrol has not got a good rep for this headgasket. PS Sarah did Skoda change the design/quality of the 1.4 head gasket compared to the original one to avoid this problem from re-occurring?

Stop trying to work out what it is; GET IT INTO A GARAGE.

If it IS the head gasket the longer your drive it 'blown' the greater the chance of doing more damage than there may be already and then, YES, you will be in for a £1,000 bill.

One of my 1.4mpi Fabias (four/five in the company) overheated and blew the gasket and was driven on for a while. Result was a warped cylinder head that needed scimming but even so the total bill was only around £5 - £600. If you catch it early hopefully it could be half that.

Cooling systems on the 1.4mpi seem to be a weak spot; between five cars I've had (from memory) one radiator, one thermostat housing (my car last week), two water pumps, one head gasket and a couple of temperature senders! Your problem might be any one of theses or perhaps none.

A pressure test on the cooling system to check for a blown gasket, or any other leak, takes 5-10 mins only.

I'm not trying to be alarmist but do PLEASE get it sorted NOW before you live to regret it.

Hi

IIRC it was down to the head bolts not being torqued down correctly.

So it is just the gasket that goes.

At the dealers if the gaskets went we never checked the heads

Sarah

What kind of milage does this failure occur at?

HI

Its isn`t so much mileage , I have seen quite ALOT go down while still in warranty

LOADS in fact

Sorry

Sarah

Thanks Sarah , mine has 34K on the clock but is coming up to its 7th Birthday (feb) so its due anytime!...lol!

The 1.4 MPI has a reputation for this problem, one more reason to go for the 1.2 that |MHO having driven both for a day as courtesy cars, is better anyway

At least it's not as prevelant (sp) as on the K series engined Rovers!

My car's head gasket failure was on a Y reg but with less than 20,000 miles; cooling system problems brought it on, leak of coolent, car run, overheating ... need I say more.

Hi

Yes VERY VERY common for these to go on that car

Do you have the engine code?

They was put in to a 4th year of warranty.

Has she had it from new?

Sarah

Sorry yes just a blown head gasket

Sarah,

Do not have the engine code. She bought it last year from a local garage - before we met :-).

Car is W reg MY 2000 has 68k miles on it now. Am going to book it for a full 70k service for a treat at a main dealer.

My girlfriend is not a person who "listens" to a car. She did not notice a groan of a wheel bearing going! ;-) Also, a knocking Anti-roll bar. She now hears everything!

The other day there was a ticking noise, very loud, changing with revs - sounds like a paper bag in the fan! What would this be? It only happens occasionally, first at over 70 mph now at 45 mph!

Regards,

John

PS - sorry did not reply earlier but girlfriends house does not have internet!

The other day there was a ticking noise, very loud, changing with revs - sounds like a paper bag in the fan! What would this be? It only happens occasionally, first at over 70 mph now at 45 mph!

Regards,

John

PS - sorry did not reply earlier but girlfriends house does not have internet!

I guess you have checked for a paper bag in the fan by now! Unlikely of course as the radiator cooling fan is behind the rad and only operates in traffic.

What it perhaps is though, is a leaf in the heater fan/blower. What sound are made if you varyu the speed of the blower switch? A possible remedy will be to remove the pollen filter; under the glovebox in the passenger footwell on the right, slide the central catch along the body of the filter housing to one end and then pull the lid + filter down. You'll probably dump a load of leaf bits into the footwell! Use a hoover to clean as best possible and then put it all back. You can get the filter changed on service if it is dirty.

I guess you have checked for a paper bag in the fan by now! Unlikely of course as the radiator cooling fan is behind the rad and only operates in traffic.

What it perhaps is though, is a leaf in the heater fan/blower. What sound are made if you varyu the speed of the blower switch? A possible remedy will be to remove the pollen filter; under the glovebox in the passenger footwell on the right, slide the central catch along the body of the filter housing to one end and then pull the lid + filter down. You'll probably dump a load of leaf bits into the footwell! Use a hoover to clean as best possible and then put it all back. You can get the filter changed on service if it is dirty.

Bahnstormer,

Thanks for the reply. I have checked the area around the fan - nothing obvious. Someone suggested it could be the alternator belt, I checked it is not too tight nor too slack.

I shall ask my girlfriend to vary the blower speed when it does happen again - but has only happened two/three times so far. Thanks for suggesting cleaning the filter (and how), I shall do so at the weekend.

Cheers,

John