how to tell if head gasket is gone?

how to tell if head gasket is gone?

Author
Discussion

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
You PD are obviously a jinx!

Poor thing. I have never had an unreliable car!

So with that wealth of experience, how do you tell if a head gasket is gone?

Someone once said:
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That is the question.
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posed by the OP ... wink
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jbi

12,668 posts

203 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
Mates dad had a rover 45 which left them both stranded on the M25, 300 miles from home.

I told him I would find him a new car if he gave me a budget.

He gave me a £4000 to work with.

I suggested a honda accord would be a good buy as he wanted a mid-sized family saloon.

He told me he refused to buy any Japanese ar due to their whaling policy, irrespective of how good it was.

I then found out he went and bought another rover which has subsequently blown it's gasket.

I think what was surmised about rover drivers earlier in the thread is true...

PoleDriver

28,614 posts

193 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
So PD and jbi, how do YOU tell if head gasket is gone ? ... or, is that question far too stupid for the likes of you?

PoleDriver

28,614 posts

193 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
Read my earlier post!

jbi

12,668 posts

203 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
MGJohn said:
So PD and jbi, how do YOU tell if head gasket is gone ? ... or, is that question far too stupid for the likes of you?
Coolant system can be pressurised, check for coolant trying to blow out of expansion tank or radiator

Drain a sample of oil from sump and check for emulsion

Make sure coolant is not dropping too low, if the heater does not blow hot air this can often be a sign

Engine overheating as a result of coolant not circulating/falling too low

Low power/misfire

Steam from exhaust

your engine happens to look like this


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
PoleDriver said:
MGJohn said:
PoleDriver said:
I, for one, will never buy anything MG/Rover ever again! I've had a few and they've been really unreliable, I'll stick with my TVRs, they're much more reliable!
Even if you wanted to you couldn't buy a new one now. The asset stripped remnants latterly known as MG-Rover are no more.

The thread title asks "How to tell if head gasket is gone?"

You, buzzer and Singe-int Smooth have failed miserably in that respect.

Simply demonstrating a very closed mind on the subject.

No doubt your splendidly helpful contributions are admired by all.
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Not 'closed mind' FACT!

Rover 75CDTi (new) Fuel pump had to be replaced at 150 miles and 12,500 miles plus many electrical problems
MG ZT-T 260. Radiator exploded (spectacularly), Fuel pump died, Maf died, cooling fan failed, air-con failed finally had an intermittent misfire which cost £750 to diagnose and still nobody could ever fix!
Rover 200 BRM, HGF had it repaired with all the latest recommended parts and it held, at least until the gearbox munched itself.

Never had any of these serious and expensive problems in either of my TVRs, or any of the Fords, Vauxhalls, BMWs Audi,Jaguars Triumphs etc etc that I've owned or had as company cars!
Just ignore him. Everyone else does.

MGJohn

10,203 posts

182 months

Friday 27th April 2012
quotequote all
St John Smythe said:
Just ignore him. Everyone else does.
Another informative post.

A.J.M

7,893 posts

185 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
Erm, how about instead of throwing handbags at each other, why dont we address the fact the OP, has bought 1 duff car due to having no clue about cars in the slightest and is now wanting to buy another car.

Still likely to have no clue how to check if it is a shed or a decent car. How about giving pointers to pick out a nice car instead of arguing about rover's etc.

For what it's worth, my family have had 2 mk2 clio 1.2 8v's. Both have had gasket failure, both had different symptoms.
Mine was cylinder to cylinder, dropped to 3 and ran like a pig. Water pump failure as well was found.
Mum's blew at the new year, cylinder to water channel. Loads of smoke/steam from exhaust, smelt of anti freeze.

Both got heads skimmed.

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
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RWD cossie wil said:
Have a look at the front of the bonnet, if it says "Rover" , then I would suggest that the head gasket has gone.
biggrin

buzzer

3,533 posts

239 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
g3org3y said:
RWD cossie wil said:
Have a look at the front of the bonnet, if it says "Rover" , then I would suggest that the head gasket has gone.
biggrin
Exactly, we were addressing the issue for the OP....

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
Ozzie Osmond said:
Yes. And I know that heavy smokers sometimes live to a ripe old age. But you can't deny the risk.
There is some risk on the original engines using plastic dowels and unpinned elastomer gaskets, but there can't be many of those left. The risk of the uprated head gasket with steel dowels failing all by itself is negligible - it's most always caused by ignorant drivers who continue to use the car when it's losing coolant (from e.g. a hose, manifold gasket or water pump seal) and end up cooking the engine.

If the worst happens and you suffer a genuine HGF and you aren't so brain dead as to overheat the engine, then the fix is easy and relatively inexpensive. I'd far rather do a K series head gasket than have to replace a high pressure pump, turbo, injectors, DMF, DPF etc. on a modern diesel.

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
PoleDriver said:
That's a fair point, though since I've been posting on PH for a number of years I am now quite experienced in dealing with the stupid and the ignorant.

PoleDriver

28,614 posts

193 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
Mr2Mike said:
There is some risk on the original engines using plastic dowels and unpinned elastomer gaskets, but there can't be many of those left. The risk of the uprated head gasket with steel dowels failing all by itself is negligible - it's most always caused by ignorant drivers who continue to use the car when it's losing coolant (from e.g. a hose, manifold gasket or water pump seal) and end up cooking the engine.

If the worst happens and you suffer a genuine HGF and you aren't so brain dead as to overheat the engine, then the fix is easy and relatively inexpensive. I'd far rather do a K series head gasket than have to replace a high pressure pump, turbo, injectors, DMF, DPF etc. on a modern diesel.
When the head gasket goes (and, if original, it WILL) and the driver pays attention to the temperature gauge, as you say, straightforward fix. Rarely any need to skim heads, replace with newer uprated parts, including stat and pump, and you then have a pretty bombproof engine!

Don't tell MGJ I said that though!

Riff Raff

5,086 posts

194 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
PoleDriver said:
Mr2Mike said:
There is some risk on the original engines using plastic dowels and unpinned elastomer gaskets, but there can't be many of those left. The risk of the uprated head gasket with steel dowels failing all by itself is negligible - it's most always caused by ignorant drivers who continue to use the car when it's losing coolant (from e.g. a hose, manifold gasket or water pump seal) and end up cooking the engine.

If the worst happens and you suffer a genuine HGF and you aren't so brain dead as to overheat the engine, then the fix is easy and relatively inexpensive. I'd far rather do a K series head gasket than have to replace a high pressure pump, turbo, injectors, DMF, DPF etc. on a modern diesel.
When the head gasket goes (and, if original, it WILL) and the driver pays attention to the temperature gauge, as you say, straightforward fix. Rarely any need to skim heads, replace with newer uprated parts, including stat and pump, and you then have a pretty bombproof engine!

Don't tell MGJ I said that though!
I'm not sure I'd agree with that. IF the car is still on the original gasket, there isn't any reason to suppose it will fail anytime soon. However, there is a chance that a car that has had a head gasket replaced will have another failure, because lots of people who repair them don't look at the things that matter.

The main thing that you need to look at are the liner heights. If they aren't right, (which from memory is about 4 thou proud of the block), then you are asking for trouble just replacing the gasket.

You also need to check that the head isn't soft, that it is straight, and that there isn't any porosity near where the fire rings on the gasket will sit. There is a bit of an issue with porosity on these heads which nobody has mentioned yet.

If anyone wants to know all the ins and outs, a search on SELOC or Blatchat will give you all the info you need. Look up posts by Dave Andrews (aka DVA or Oilyhands) who is The Man to go to for anything K related.

Here's his site:

http://www.dvapower.co.uk/

I have no connection with Dave BTW other than as a very satisfied customer. He built a 185BHP K series for an Elise I once had, and a very nice motor it was too.

PoleDriver

28,614 posts

193 months

Saturday 28th April 2012
quotequote all
Riff Raff said:
I'm not sure I'd agree with that. IF the car is still on the original gasket, there isn't any reason to suppose it will fail anytime soon. However, there is a chance that a car that has had a head gasket replaced will have another failure, because lots of people who repair them don't look at the things that matter.

The main thing that you need to look at are the liner heights. If they aren't right, (which from memory is about 4 thou proud of the block), then you are asking for trouble just replacing the gasket.

You also need to check that the head isn't soft, that it is straight, and that there isn't any porosity near where the fire rings on the gasket will sit. There is a bit of an issue with porosity on these heads which nobody has mentioned yet.

If anyone wants to know all the ins and outs, a search on SELOC or Blatchat will give you all the info you need. Look up posts by Dave Andrews (aka DVA or Oilyhands) who is The Man to go to for anything K related.

Here's his site:

http://www.dvapower.co.uk/

I have no connection with Dave BTW other than as a very satisfied customer. He built a 185BHP K series for an Elise I once had, and a very nice motor it was too.
Good call on the liner slippage. Two of them were low on mine and were blamed for the gasket blowing!
Yet another reason why the 'K' series is rightfully renowned for blowing head gaskets!