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Boo hoo :-(

Well, it doesn't look like I'll be getting that Van Aaken tuning jobby as soon as I'd hoped Noticed the coolant gradually turning a darker blue. There are also small spots of tacky black residue around the water line. I guess these are oily diesel combustion deposits which have entered the cooling system via a dicky head gasket.

I did of course check the oil and coolant before buying it, but was only really looking for severe contamination such as mayonaisse, and hence overlooked this minor contamination. I changed the coolant as a matter of course given the mileage, just assumed the colour of the old stuff was meant to be dark. Now the new stuff has gone the same colour in just 3000 miles.

Clearly there is no leak between the oil and coolant, as the contamination would be far worse. I don't know of a trustworthy independant local to me (I'm sure there are some, I just don't know who they are), and the main dealer that I know I can trust (yes, a rarity I know) will probably be too expensive, so I guess it'll have to make do for now.

Is it likely to get worse, or am I safe to continue driving it? It's only consuming about half a pint of coolant per 1000 miles. I drove my old mk2 cav for 2 years with a similar head gasket failure, and it was consuming much more coolant than this.

I'm going to enter a state of depression now as I was nearly ready to buy the VanAaken and now look what's happened ;..(

PS: anyone know how much I might reasonably expect to pay for head gasket replacement (and skimming?) on an Astra 2.0DTI

-- The Dervboy (depressed)

Reply-to address is valid as required by my news server, but is a spam box and is never read. My real e-mail address is thedervboy{at}btopenglobe{dot}com (substituting "globe" with "world").

Reply to
DervBoy
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In article , snipped-for-privacy@talk21.com spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

When I bought my Saab, all the levels were a bit low (not under min, but lower than middle level). So I topped them up, and did an oil change.

It leaks a little oil (about 3/4 of a litre during the 3000 miles between changes), but the water hasn't moved., in the 6-8k I've done since I bought it.

Reply to
MeatballTurbo

The head gasket would be expensive at £20. Maybe the same again for skimming. To do the job properly you should also replace the cylinder head bolts. Add to this half a day's labour (if it's someone who's done a few head gaskets before) and it's sorted. A dodgy garage will tell you the head is split and push the price up (even if it was split, you can get Astra heads at the scrap yard).

As to continuing driving with a dodgy head gasket, it's unlikely to damage anything other than the gasket that is already split. There is an increased risk of overheating and it might even reach the stage when the water level goes up and down with the pistons.

Reply to
David

You shouldn't need skimming if you do the gasket now - unless the car has overheated? Really, it shouldn't be all that much to have it done if it's just a case of replacing the head gasket.

I ignored the same symptoms in my gf's ZX, and it expired horribly a couple of thousand miles later. No temp gauge, so no warning of imminent death, but still...

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

Yeah give the warranty a go. Gaskets are cheap for vauxhalls nowadays, multilayered steel jobbies. astra turbo ( petrol ) one is £14.

This is the first failure I've heard of on a DTI engine ( if thats what it is ).

Reply to
Mark Craft

Not much. Less than £50 for the complete set of parts, and a few hours labour from a competent garage. Should be less than £200 in total :)

Reply to
Nom

That's why I don't want to do it myself. I'll have a nice word with the vauxhall dealer about the possibility of warranty. I'll get them to test first to make sure it really is head gasket and not something else.

Failing that I'll ask around for a recommended independant.

Thanks guys

The Dervboy

Reply to
DervBoy

There is a small chance that it could be the oil-water heat exchanger leaking (I think that they have one fitted to these engines)....

Anthony Remove eight from email to reply

Reply to
Anthony Britt

It can't be that because there is no contamination of the oil. Vauxhall dealer is going to look at it in a weeks time. In the meantime, I've fitted an 82C thermostat in place of the original 92C, to reduce the risk of excess heat causing further damage until then.

-- The Dervboy

Reply-to address is valid as required by my news server, but is a spam box and is never read. My real e-mail address is thedervboy{at}btopenglobe{dot}com (substituting "globe" with "world").

Reply to
DervBoy

Changing the 'stat won't make a scrap of difference - when it opens, it opens.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

There won't necessarily be any contamination of the oil with water. When the V6 Omega's have their heat exchanger go (which was a very regular occurence), the coolant went a very strange colour, but the oil didn't seem to be affected. I guess as the oil was under greater pressure than the coolant, it would force it way out, but the water couldnt find its way in.

Anthony Remove eight from email to reply.

Reply to
Anthony Britt

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