Technical 1.2 16V 86 bhp

[kota]

Hi there.

My first post here so please bear with me. Due to personal financial problems I had to get a Lancia Y 1.2 16v old banger from 98. It only has 50k miles on the clock which I know for a fact it's true since I've got the full service history plus all the mot's the car has been through.

The problem is I suspect I've got a blown head gasket since I've got abnormal pressure on my cooling circuit and the heater only blows cold air.

It has had a new distribution kit, water pump and new radiator 10k miles ago and I've just changed the thermostat, the temp/fan valve, flushed and bleed the system with new antifreeze but the car still overheats in traffic and the water comes out from the expansion bottle cap.

I've done the blue test liquid which turned yellow straight away but I'm not sure the guy did it properly. I think he tested the water and not just the air coming out of the expansion tank.

My question is there another chance the pressure building on the cooling circuit could be coming from somewhere else ?? I've got no water/oil mixing whatsoever and there's no vapour at all coming from the exhaust pipe when the car is warm.

Also and in the worst case scenario the head gasket is actually blown, do you guys have any experience or recommend Steel Seal to fix it ??

Thanks a million. Cheers.

Pedro

Edit: forget to mention that the car has also had the heatcore replaced recently.

 

[blu73]

do a compression test, wet & dry.
does the radiator fan function properly, coming on and off when stationary in traffic?

 

[kota]

do a compression test, wet & dry.
does the radiator fan function properly, coming on and off when stationary in traffic?

OK, I'll try that and see how it goes. As to if the fan still kicks in it's getting worse. Sometimes it does but sometimes it doesn't even after bleeding the system and for no apparent reason unless plenty of gases rapidly developed in the cooling system but that's only my guess ....

Cheers

 

[blu73]

fan should come on at a set temperature regardless of whether the cooling system is bled properly. Check the fan switch is operating as it should - sounds like this is the issue to me. But still do a compression test, overheating leads to HG failure.