Hi,

Would really appreciate your advice on the following.
I'm worried my head gasket may be about to go. I really don't need that.

Symptoms include:

Engine management light coming on while driving. And when this happens I sometimes lose power and its even stalled a couple of times.

Due to the above I checked levels and stuff. I looked under the oil cap and saw it wasn't clean. Scraped a bit out with a knife and its grey creamy stuff. Just a little, but enough to see.

I have just topped up the oil, the radiator was a little down, the steering oil was also a little down.

I'm not minded enough to know what to do now.

This is why I need your advice please.
She's old now, and I didn't think she was going to pass MOT in December but she did with no problems. Which I was glad of. Obviously. But this smells of something big to me and I need to know what I'm facing.

Advice and approximate costing would be good if you could. Thank you.
What do I do now? Help. :inabitofatizz:

You may have a breached head gasket, but the symptoms are too mild to be sure. Get a compression test done. It's not the be-all and end-all of tests, but it's a good indicator.

Head gasket, full job is somewhere between £270 and £390 depending on the labour charges. It is a good idea to walk in clued up, so check that the job will include the gasket, head skimming, new head bolts, new timing belt kit (not just belt), water pump, oil, oil filter, fresh coolant etc... Also a good idea to find out why the head gasket has gone. if you've been pinging off the redline on a cold engine, then that will be the cause. Otherwise, investigate further to the reason.

And don't get fobbed off with some home-brew head skim. In the Fiat engines, head gasket breach is usually down to some form of warping of the head, and needs to be faced on a milling machine to get it flat again. There may be people that claim they can re-face the head with just a wooden chisel and rubber mallet, but not on these engines.

Come on Mike, they use a sheet of thick glass and grinding paste. Nothing as rough as a chisel.

Seriously if the gasket has blown it will probably need to be skimmed.

There is a chemical test for CO in the coolant. If that comes up positive, the head gasket is going so stop driving and get if done ASAP.

But the engine management light rarely comes on for the head gasket. Probably another issue to be investigated.

As for replacing the car - if its old and horrible and you want a change then go ahead. But if its going ok and you are broke, the head gasket cost amounts to a couple of months payments on a new(er) car. On that basis, if the engine lasts longer than 1 or 2 months you'll have depreciation free motoring.

Thank you as always guys. Really appreciate your help.

One question from this dumbie though, when you say "pinging off the red line on a cold engine", what does that mean?

Anyway, I am feeling a little worried now. Thought about stuff and realised getting this car repaired at a cost would be better than buying another. I don't have the cash to get a decent car and I don't want a banger that comes with issues for a smaller amount. So ok, decided that. Then phoned one garage I have been to of late. He quoted me £500-£900 I could have fainted.

I am however taking it to my usual garage tomorrow to ask him what he thinks. So will see what he says.

Other people are being very pessimistic too, and its p*ssing me off. I have had so many people saying "ohhhh its an expensive job that" followed by what I can only describe as DOOM DOOM DOOM!

I know this car is coming to her end, but right now, I don't want that. I really need a car. GAH!

OK, sit back, and relax.

A small amount of mayo in the oil is most probably just condensation.

I guess that you haven't been checking the oil and water on a weekly basis.

The management light coming on and restricting power is also not neccessarily a symptom of head gasket.

When was the car last serviced?

Cheers

SPD

I tend to check when I can, which doesn't normally add up to every week no.

I haven't had the car serviced either for some time much to my shame. Although its been going in for repairs on a regular basis and getting checked over to a degree.

So, with that in mind, what things need to be checked for a service? Bear with me please, I'm not car minded to the extent perhaps I should be.

The guy I am seeing tomorrow is pretty reliable, and I will ask him to check things out.

Ps. Like your sig, particularly because friends named the car The Black pig

If the HG is in doubt get the coolant tested.

Then get it serviced with new oil, filter and coolant. Don't forget to be sure the coolant is properly bled to remove airlocks.

Thank you.

OK, latest is slightly more reassuring. Have been to see the bloke I know and that knows my car. And first thing he said was he doubts very much its the Headgasket. He said there are no real signs of it, no overheating, the deposit on the oil cap was small and is probably more from weather than anything horrendous.

However, obviously something is up so he is going to test it out on Monday and take it from there.

So will see what shows up then. Gah.
Cheers

My Cinq Sporting's at the garage right now awaiting new cylinder head gasket work - £350. AA came out yesterday coz car wouldn't start (turned out to be the cooling fan staying on, draining the battery). I pointed out the white smoke from the exhaust, he did a 'sniffer' test or some such, pronounced head gasket failure. Hopefully it's just a case of re-shimming head and fitting new gasket - if not, I'm wondering if this stuff you can buy in bottles that claims to "permanently seal" all manner of coolant leaks is up to the job. Nervous times...

redfairy said:

Thank you.

OK, latest is slightly more reassuring. Have been to see the bloke I know and that knows my car. And first thing he said was he doubts very much its the Headgasket. He said there are no real signs of it, no overheating, the deposit on the oil cap was small and is probably more from weather than anything horrendous.

However, obviously something is up so he is going to test it out on Monday and take it from there.

So will see what shows up then. Gah.
Cheers

Click to expand...

Why do you think that something is up? Sounds all perfectly normal to me.

Cheers

SPD

wolvescinq said:

My Cinq Sporting's at the garage right now awaiting new cylinder head gasket work - £350. AA came out yesterday coz car wouldn't start (turned out to be the cooling fan staying on, draining the battery). I pointed out the white smoke from the exhaust, he did a 'sniffer' test or some such, pronounced head gasket failure. Hopefully it's just a case of re-shimming head and fitting new gasket - if not, I'm wondering if this stuff you can buy in bottles that claims to "permanently seal" all manner of coolant leaks is up to the job. Nervous times...

Click to expand...

mmmm, I await to see you having your trousers taken down completely.

How was the coolant level?

Cheers

SPD

rallycinq said:

mmmm, I await to see you having your trousers taken down completely.

How was the coolant level?

Cheers

SPD

Click to expand...

Not sure what your first comment's getting at - could it be you're taking the ****? Cheers! Coolant level fine, actually. Fairly serious white smoke action from exhaust though, plus fuel smell from exp. tank.

wolvescinq said:

Not sure what your first comment's getting at - could it be you're taking the ****? Cheers! Coolant level fine, actually. Fairly serious white smoke action from exhaust though, plus fuel smell from exp. tank.

Click to expand...

I think this was a reference to just getting the head skimmed and the gasket replaced, or using a sealant. None of these are likely to be satisfactory, so you may get caught with your pants down.

Head gasket job should include timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, head bolts, skimming, gasket and repairs to whatever fault in the cooling system caused the head gasket failure (they don't typically just 'go'')

Clarification to the OP, "Pinging off the redline" is another term for thrashing or over-revving it. Until the engine is warm, revs should be kept low to avoid highly localised hot-spots in the head, which causes warping and then gasket failure. This is how my first head-gasket went south, because I didn't know about this.

wolvescinq said:

Not sure what your first comment's getting at - could it be you're taking the ****? Cheers! Coolant level fine, actually. Fairly serious white smoke action from exhaust though, plus fuel smell from exp. tank.

Click to expand...

If you have steam coming out of the exhaust the water must be coming from somewhere. If the coolant level has not dropped then the water is only condensation.

You can get white smoke from the exhaust from slightly excess fuel, possibly caused by a temp sensor that has failed.

You are now paying for a head gasket job that might be totally unneccessary, hence you are being s h a g g e d.

Make sure they leave the 'blown' gasket in the car.

I hope I am wrong

Cheers

SPD

rallycinq said:

If you have steam coming out of the exhaust the water must be coming from somewhere. If the coolant level has not dropped then the water is only condensation.

You can get white smoke from the exhaust from slightly excess fuel, possibly caused by a temp sensor that has failed.

You are now paying for a head gasket job that might be totally unneccessary, hence you are being s h a g g e d.

Make sure they leave the 'blown' gasket in the car.

I hope I am wrong

Cheers

SPD

Click to expand...

AA Patrol did a test on the car yesterday that confirmed, so he said, blown head gasket. Not being an expert you accept what these people say - backed up by my regular mechanic too. Interestingly, though, another AA Patrol mentioned temp. sensor some time ago.

wolvescinq said:

AA Patrol did a test on the car yesterday that confirmed, so he said, blown head gasket. Not being an expert you accept what these people say - backed up by my regular mechanic too. Interestingly, though, another AA Patrol mentioned temp. sensor some time ago.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately most AA patrolmen are failed mechanics who can't hold a job down in a workshop.

Cheers

SPD