pi**ed off.............head gasket......help.....!
Discussion
hello as some of u may well know im fairly new to tvr"s and was really enjoying car till now.......now started overheating and im wondering if head gasket or not...help.the other day i blatted away from a boxster behind me and during hard acceleration i heard a very small pop type noise from engine,didnt worry at time but i took her on the motorway and see gauge go upto 90/100 and still creeping so slowed down and was coming off at next junction anyway,last night i went round a mates(2/3 miles) and same thing,drove home this morning and stayed just under 90 this time(gonna go for a drive again and see what happens).normally my car sits at 70/80 unless hard blatting which is why im worrying.also on start up no smoke from exhaust for a minute and then white smoke till i drive off........any advice is very welcome,i have read other threads but dont have quite same symptoms....im not using excessive water at moment....what would u do,im scared to drive to far as dont want to get stranded miles away!!!
The 'pop' noise is almost certainly nothing to do with your head gasket. I've had more blown head gaskets on a variety of cars than I car to remember, and none of them ever made a noise! At a guess, the noise was probably a minor fueling or ignition glitch.
If you're not using excessive water, I wouldn't worry too much. Keep an eye on the water levels and the oil colour (a badly blown head gasket will turn your oil the colour of white coffee; a minor blow can lead to a bit of mayonaise on the oil filler cap).
Are you sure your fans are cutting in, and what temperature does the fan run at in traffic?
How long after startup was it when you went up to 100 deg. on the motorway? If it was only 5 minutes or so, it might just have been your thermostat - mine is slow to react, and the temperature hits 100 every time I reach high speed shortly after startup, but then drops back as the thermostat opens.
The startup smoke doesn't sound too scary, either. Obviously, when you first fire up, the exhaust will be flat cold. Only as it starts getting warm will any moisture in the system start steaming off, and will continue to do so until it has all 'boiled' off. Steam is a natural byproduct of the combustion process, so all cars do this to some extent - you probably just haven't noticed it until you started worrying about head gaskets!
A decent garage should be able to check for a head gasket leak by doing a compression test and a chemical test for exhaust gasses in the coolant for very little money if you want some extra peace of mind.
I'd be tempted to change the thermostat anyway - costs next to nothing and the existing thermostat might be playing up a bit.
That's the good news. The bad news is that I've had several head gasket problems where intermittent overheating with no other symptoms preceded the gasket finally blowing. Chemical test mentioned above should give you fair warning, though, and just keep an eye on the other stuff.
If you're not using excessive water, I wouldn't worry too much. Keep an eye on the water levels and the oil colour (a badly blown head gasket will turn your oil the colour of white coffee; a minor blow can lead to a bit of mayonaise on the oil filler cap).
Are you sure your fans are cutting in, and what temperature does the fan run at in traffic?
How long after startup was it when you went up to 100 deg. on the motorway? If it was only 5 minutes or so, it might just have been your thermostat - mine is slow to react, and the temperature hits 100 every time I reach high speed shortly after startup, but then drops back as the thermostat opens.
The startup smoke doesn't sound too scary, either. Obviously, when you first fire up, the exhaust will be flat cold. Only as it starts getting warm will any moisture in the system start steaming off, and will continue to do so until it has all 'boiled' off. Steam is a natural byproduct of the combustion process, so all cars do this to some extent - you probably just haven't noticed it until you started worrying about head gaskets!
A decent garage should be able to check for a head gasket leak by doing a compression test and a chemical test for exhaust gasses in the coolant for very little money if you want some extra peace of mind.
I'd be tempted to change the thermostat anyway - costs next to nothing and the existing thermostat might be playing up a bit.
That's the good news. The bad news is that I've had several head gasket problems where intermittent overheating with no other symptoms preceded the gasket finally blowing. Chemical test mentioned above should give you fair warning, though, and just keep an eye on the other stuff.
thanks for advice....scare over for now as i just went out and blatted it up and down loads and couldnt get it to go above 90 degrees,but last night sh*t meself as by the time i got round me mates it was 100(fan had come on!) and when i was on the motorway the other time (cool day,rain)at 3000 revs toodling at 70 it was still a creeping above 100.as for the smoke u r probably right...maybe i didnt look b4 ,and i have no cream in filler cap,and oil is nice and clean.lets hope it doesnt happen again,i was hoping to get a few more months outta the girl b4 a nasty garage visit,ta rob
tattoodrob said:
thanks for advice....scare over for now as i just went out and blatted it up and down loads and couldnt get it to go above 90 degrees,but last night sh*t meself as by the time i got round me mates it was 100(fan had come on!) and when i was on the motorway the other time (cool day,rain)at 3000 revs toodling at 70 it was still a creeping above 100.as for the smoke u r probably right...maybe i didnt look b4 ,and i have no cream in filler cap,and oil is nice and clean.lets hope it doesnt happen again,i was hoping to get a few more months outta the girl b4 a nasty garage visit,ta rob
Mine was very similar recently. Temp hovering around 90 degrees when previosuly had been 80 at cruising speed. Occasionally went up to 100 and had to stop, quickly. Occasionally behaved normally. No evidence in oil (cream in filler cap etc). WAS head gasket in my case.
How is yours now?
First step should be to check the coolant level, if it is low then all other bets are off. If it's OK then check for signs of water in the oil and vice versa. If that's OK then bleed the radiator and then check that the fans come on correctly.
Could this be why you have so much experience of HGF?
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Monday 18th April 13:11
Martin_S said:
mine is slow to react, and the temperature hits 100 every time I reach high speed shortly after startup, but then drops back as the thermostat opens.
Could this be why you have so much experience of HGF?
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Monday 18th April 13:11
GreenV8S said:
mine is slow to react, and the temperature hits 100 every time I reach high speed shortly after startup, but then drops back as the thermostat opens.
No, usually because I am thraping the bollox off small, highly tuned, high compression engines.
I'm always careful to get an engine up to temperature before using high revs, but the Griffith can quite happily loaf along at 70mph in 5th without stressing the engine, whilst still dumping a fair amount of heat into the block and the small amount of coolant which is being circulated before the stat opens. I live 5 minutes from a motorway junction, so quite often I have joined the motorway just as it is getting towards the temperature that the thermostat starts to react.
andy400 said:
thanks for advice....scare over for now as i just went out and blatted it up and down loads and couldnt get it to go above 90 degrees,but last night sh*t meself as by the time i got round me mates it was 100(fan had come on!) and when i was on the motorway the other time (cool day,rain)at 3000 revs toodling at 70 it was still a creeping above 100.as for the smoke u r probably right...maybe i didnt look b4 ,and i have no cream in filler cap,and oil is nice and clean.lets hope it doesnt happen again,i was hoping to get a few more months outta the girl b4 a nasty garage visit,ta rob
Mine was very similar recently. Temp hovering around 90 degrees when previosuly had been 80 at cruising speed. Occasionally went up to 100 and had to stop, quickly. Occasionally behaved normally. No evidence in oil (cream in filler cap etc). WAS head gasket in my case.
How is yours now?
NOW U GOT ME WORRYING AGAIN!!how much was your head gasket to fix?.....im hoping mine may be sticking thermostat....i think it was stuck shut a couple of times....as today i took her out down the road and very slow to go up in temp....maybe stuck open.i only do very short journeys in her most days so dont get chance to warm her up to thermo opening temp.with head gasket gone i thought it would overheat everytime,especially as really blatted it the other day in sunny weather and couldnt get it to go above 85/90.i think i will change thermostat anyway first and keep an eye.i have got recovery cover but i dont want to use unless i have to....but im planning a drive to germany in summer so i really have to sort the prob.cheers everyone ,rob
tattoodrob said:mine was the same thermostat was sticking and the head gasket went if it was the head gasket you would no about it they normarly go betwen the ports so it would missfire in a big way dont drive it till you get the thermostat done the temp should never go above 90 95 max my head gasket and fitting just cost me 800 if i had just got the thormostat in the first place i would have saved myself a lot of money
[quote=andy400]
NOW U GOT ME WORRYING AGAIN!!how much was your head gasket to fix?.....im hoping mine may be sticking thermostat....i think it was stuck shut a couple of times....as today i took her out down the road and very slow to go up in temp....maybe stuck open.i only do very short journeys in her most days so dont get chance to warm her up to thermo opening temp.with head gasket gone i thought it would overheat everytime,especially as really blatted it the other day in sunny weather and couldnt get it to go above 85/90.i think i will change thermostat anyway first and keep an eye.i have got recovery cover but i dont want to use unless i have to....but im planning a drive to germany in summer so i really have to sort the prob.cheers everyone ,rob
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