Technical 2001 brava 80sx severe misfire/HG gone?

[whiggy94]

Hi all, can anyone help me? My Y reg brava 1.2 broke down a week ago, it started fine early morning but within 5mins the engine light was flashing...car seemed ok and light went out within 20secs. I thought maybe a glitch so carried on, next minute it came back on and car lost all power and was shaking/missing severely, i could hardly drive it home but it managed it in 1st gear about 5mph....was only a mile from home anyway, it is now at the garage where i have taken it before but didnt have no choice as they are only 5mins away and fitted me in the next day. After a week of them not having a clue and me having to pester them, today they tell me its the headgasket gone between 2&3 cylinder as their is no compression, and that they cant skim the head anymore as its been dome 3 times already due to them taking 3 attempts in 2008 to do the HG when it did go at 53k. Car is now on 70k and has been well looked after during its life, the thing is i trust the advice on here as this garage hasnt a clue and i was told earlier in the week that they were 'grasping at straws' trying to find the fault which didnt exactly fill me with confidence. The car didnt overheat and never has even when the HG needed doing at 53k, and the heater was still hot plus under the oil cap is clean and i cant help think they have messed something up? The engine light did come on a few weeks ago and go out within a few mins so i thought nothing was up, however the car has seemed a bit flat and noisier come to think of it recently....since they did HG at 53k it has used a bit of oil but i just topped it up each month and put it down to old age, they are saying i need to get rid of the car or a new engine or head but its their fault anyway the head cant be skimmed again as it took 3 attempts the first time. I remember the guy at the garage told me in 2008 that it was an awful engine to work on and unreliable.....is this true as they are a bunch of idiots i've come to realise. I just cant help feeling/hoping its something else?? Thanks

 

[rallycinq]

Doesn't sound right to me. If the gasket goes between any two cylinders you do not get mayonaise or oil or water shortage, you get a lumpy idle. This is caused by the exploding gases leaking into the adjoining cylinder rather than pushing the piston down.

However at higher engine speeds the gas speeds are far higher and it smooths out the running of the car.

You now have the car at the garage so it will be difficult to do any analytical work yourself.

Have they taken the head off yet?

I would suggest that if the engine was not making any 'mechanical' noises it could be coil pack related.

However, if they have done a compression test and they are seeing fluctuations on two adjoining cylinders then it could be a valve issue rather than a head gasket.

Cheers

D

 

[whiggy94]

Hi thanks for the reply, i now have the car at home as i went to collect it today....it managed to drive home but sounded awful and had no power...i had a bit of a falling out with the garage and basically told them what i thought of them...! i checked the oil/water was ok before setting off and i also checked under the oil cap and it was clean, however on the way home their was lots of smoke/steam coming from exhaust and also when i got home the oil cap had white frothy stuff appearing after only 2miles. So i guess its the headgasket? car didnt overheat and the heater got warm. Before my strop at the garage he said its best to get another engine but i'm not working at the moment so will struggle with the cost. Do you think i can just have another gasket put on without skimming if its not overheated? as the skimming is out of the question on this head they've said, Thanks again. appreciate any help

 

[rallycinq]

Lift the cam cover first and have a look at whats in there, report back.

Cheers

D

 

[Joshy]

I had exactly the same problem, saturday my head gasket blew between the first and second cylinders, no mayonaise in the oil cap, but running on two cylinders, so much smoke out the exhaust you cant see I thought it was a new engine job, but two days of work an we got it running again, there was that much water in the engine that it was dripping out of joints in my exhaust :S I dont know how it got there, but its fixed now. Cost me £18 in total.