Signs of a head gasket failure disappear

Hi all,

My 1997 Astra 1.7 TDS (80,000 miles) started loosing a lot of of engine coolant without any visible signs of a leak. First it lost all of it in one month and then it lost it all again the next week. During that week a lot of white smoke come from the exhaust, usually when pulling away in 1st and 2nd gear. The coolant was topped up again but none was lost and no more smoke appeared for the following week.

A mechanic had a look at it and suggested it was probably a head gasket problem due to the things i'd described and there being a lot of back pressure in the system. He felt the pipes, took the coolant cap off and watched the coolant level changing....but could not find white stuff in the oil. Nothing was further was done out of interest of seeing what developed over the following weeks. But nothing happened. No more coolant loss, no more smoke...all seems quite normal.

Is this the early stages of head gasket failure? Would the symptoms be intermittent or constant? Could it be caused by anything else?

Any ideas or advice would be appreciated,

Cheers,

Mick

(rest snipped) I have had a couple of cars that loose coolant for no obvious reason. My current Accord has always gradually lost coolant, I just keep it topped up ( which you should always do anyway) . I would have thought that it is leaking only when it gets to a certain temperature and pressure. It might well just stay like this for ever, or it might get worse, hence why your mechanic said to leave it. It depends how much you like the car, but you could just put something like barrs leaks in it, this might do the trick . Had an old Prelude once that developed a serious leak and barrs leaks sorted it .. I doubt a leak is going to cure itself though, probably just has not got pressurised enougth yet. I think once they start to leak a bit then it does not get pressurised and the loss of coolant slows down ? has it overheated at all ? you risk warping the head if it does..

Simon