Dreaded mayo found on dipstick?
Discussion
Have found on inspection that I have the dreaded mayo on my dipstick,it came to light after I had also realised my coolant had vanished.Put the two together and I'm pretty sure the head gasket has gone,am I correct?
If this is the case,which I'm sure it is what costs are involved,are they likely to be heavy?Before I go on the engine is a 'K' series,I have'nt thrashed it as I only take it out for short trips at the weekend(maybe this is where I'm going wrong).Anyway would like to know,and any advice would be helpful,thanks.
If this is the case,which I'm sure it is what costs are involved,are they likely to be heavy?Before I go on the engine is a 'K' series,I have'nt thrashed it as I only take it out for short trips at the weekend(maybe this is where I'm going wrong).Anyway would like to know,and any advice would be helpful,thanks.
To be honest, once the initial hit of a reasonable sized bill (about the same as a standard service on my old TVR) had settled in and I got the car back I'm actually a quite chuffed, the engine feels much fitter with noticeably more zing than it ever had before and, well just more enjoyable really - so on the whole, its been a good experience for me, and thanks to the Topgear crew in Wolverhampton for doing a cracking job.
a nice plus pointMadProf said:
Tell me about it,mine's only done 25k!
There in might lie your problem, I wasn't too happy to say the least when mine had it and the manager said to me that it doesn't help to have so few miles on the car either, although like cam belts, HGF can happen at any time. Having it sit in a garage from one week to the next without moving isn't good.It could be worse, I knew someone with a Freelander and before it had clocked up 90k it was already on its 3rd head gasket.
Grinnders said:
You got probs?
Is it deffo hgf? I only say this as I got a bit of mayo in the oil filler neck of the porker and it was actually down to oil vapourisation after the cold weather....
anyway fingers crossed for you
Some water loss, not noticed any temperature probs but the water level was noticeably lower than normal.Is it deffo hgf? I only say this as I got a bit of mayo in the oil filler neck of the porker and it was actually down to oil vapourisation after the cold weather....
anyway fingers crossed for you
There is a pretty foolproof way of avoiding HGF on the k-series. It does however involve a subtle reposition of the engine.....
into one these:
/VOE
I lost faith in mine after ongoing issues. Others have been fine. Jokes aside, if you are getting it done, make sure the garage knows what they are doing and does 3 important things as well:
1) Check the liner heights when the head is off
2) Hardness test the head
3) Fit a PRT (pressure relief thermostat)
into one these:
/VOE
I lost faith in mine after ongoing issues. Others have been fine. Jokes aside, if you are getting it done, make sure the garage knows what they are doing and does 3 important things as well:
1) Check the liner heights when the head is off
2) Hardness test the head
3) Fit a PRT (pressure relief thermostat)
Edited by shangani on Thursday 11th March 23:01
Hope I'm not tempting fate, but I've not had a failure yet. I have though seen a number of threads like this where it seems to be generally suggested that replacement should cost £500 - £700, but also that the job should include checking and adjusting liner heights, hardness testing the head, peening firing rings etc. So how much should it cost to do the job properly then? I wouldn't have thought you would get that lot done for £700? And which garages do all that stuff as a matter of course, or even know what they are doing if you ask them to do it? Can we trust even Lotus dealers and indie specialists to do it right, or is the only way to get a proper job done to go to one of the handful of K series engine specialists like DVA?
Sorry for the ramble, but if it is right that all the issues should be addressed when the head is off, my guess would be that the vast majority aren't (even when taken to Lotus specialists), and are likely to randomly fail again?
Sorry for the ramble, but if it is right that all the issues should be addressed when the head is off, my guess would be that the vast majority aren't (even when taken to Lotus specialists), and are likely to randomly fail again?
Grinnders said:
Philygumbo said:
SNAP
I am so pissed off.
You got probs?I am so pissed off.
Is it deffo hgf? I only say this as I got a bit of mayo in the oil filler neck of the porker and it was actually down to oil vapourisation after the cold weather....
anyway fingers crossed for you
For a start the temps were ok,between 89c to 93c and when I got back the level of the coolant was ok.
However just to be sure the car's booked in for an inspection in a few weeks time.
doggydave said:
There seems to be a lot of cars suffering from HGF at the moment. Every time I come on to PH or SELOC someone has suffered this problem.
HGF certainly seems to happen more in the colder months. Possibly the temperature differential between hot water from the engine and cold water rushing in from the radiator side when the thermostat opens? shangani said:
doggydave said:
There seems to be a lot of cars suffering from HGF at the moment. Every time I come on to PH or SELOC someone has suffered this problem.
HGF certainly seems to happen more in the colder months. Possibly the temperature differential between hot water from the engine and cold water rushing in from the radiator side when the thermostat opens? Remember that the engine was designed for a FWD car with the rad 6" away. So with the long run of pipe work to the rad at the front the head can get shocked with a big slug of cold water when the thermostat opens. It doesn't help that the thermostat is on the return to the engine.
Originally the head had plastic dowels and these soften allowing the head to slide on the block.
Steel dowels can prevent this.
Another must as far as I am concerned is a remote stat or PRT. This along with removing the inside of the original thermostat allows the water to blend and warm up more consistantly preventing the thermal shock.
I run a Laminova type oil cooler too which keeps the relationship of oil in the block and water in the head much closer.
MGF alpication of the PRT shown here. http://www.mgfcar.de/thermostat/
Does not affect the temperatures all of the time. The head gasket can breach between the oil way to cooling and infect this to look like mayonaise.The only issue that might also happen as when the engine cools, the water may well ingress the oil side too of the block. This may be early signs of HGF. If the water ingresses, the coolant system is quite minimal on the Lotus and then when it starts to disappear, you will get signs of temperature fluctuations. Major fluctuations are caused by the combustion gases entering the coolant system.
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