Head gasket problem

"Pete Zahut" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Depends. Is coolant getting in to the oil? If so, then definitely not. If oil's getting into the coolant, then the cooling system's going to need a good clean out anyway, but also keep an eye on the oil level.

Loosen the radiator cap to the first notch and relieve the pressure so it doesn't force out as much water.

people often do use their cars like that for quite a while before getting them fixed, but it is not really advisable. For short runs with care it will probably be ok. YMMV

No coolant in oil, not sure about other way. Coolant level OK, cooling fans switch on OK, garage did sniff test and found no exhaust gases in coolant but did find thermostat had stuck closed. Couldn't get a replacement until tomorrow so they took it out altogether and said to give it a run and see what happened. I covered about 8 miles so thought it was going to be OK but then the guasge started creeping up again and then quickly hit the red section as I pulled into a car park.

Heard a bit of bubbling and some coolant (but not much) dropped so I left it an hour while I had some lunch, topped it up with water (probably half a pint) and got it home. Garage said it needs further investigation but sort of prepared me for the worst :o)

Good tip Rob, thanks.

Thanks Mrcheerful. I think I'll err on the side of caution as the car has only done 60k and I'm looking to keep it for a long, long time yet so perhaps it's wise not do anything that may incur long-term hassle.

Sounds to me like it is boiling off - Get them to do a pressure test on the radiator cap or the whole system (or just try a new rad cap ?)

Or maybe an airlock in the system - does the heater put out hot air ?

Couple of things to think about...

Graham

Yes it does.

Indeed. Thanks Graham.

Sorry to reply to my own post but as it's the last one I thought it appropriate to say here that the panic is now over. Decided to just take the car to the garage and sort something else for transport to work. However, when I got there the guy said that the lad had made a mistake and the courtesy car was indeed available straight away, for as long as I need it :-)

Thanks for all the replies though.

So when the job is done do we get a wrap up of the problem?

It actually gets curioser and curiouser. The bottom of the radiator was cold, top hot, so they took off the bottom hose and only a small trickle of water came out. They took the rad out, tried to flush it with a hosepipe and same thing - water in at top but only trickling out at bottom. So they've got a new rad on order.

The stranger bit though is that as the car is automatic, there's an oil cooler pipe in the bottom of the rad. When they disconnected the oil feed and return pipes, they were bone dry - no sign of any oil whatsoever. The oil cooler pipe in the rad isn't blocked (air can be blown through) and it hasn't been bypassed (which may have been done if it was leaking). I've had the car two years and it drives like a dream. Over the last 6 months I've noticed downshifts becoming _slightly_ jerkier and when going from neutral to drive there's a _slightly_ harsher jerk than there used to be, but these really are very small changes from normal. ATF fluid level is normal and no colour change. So what's that all about?

So a blocked radiator usually happens with a cross flow type with the tanks at the sides plus a stuck thermostat.

There should not be much oil in those tubes its pumped from the transmission and drains back.

Well if you've not got the transmission hot enough to need it then it's probably not pumped any oil through it recently.

Thermostat was indeed stuck, don't know if it's a crossflow rad but from what you say, it looks like it.

I understand what you're saying by 'not much' but these were bone dry. Also, being as the oil cooler pipe integral to the rad is at the lowest point, I'd have expected to see a small amount of oil in there where it had 'sumped' (for want of a better phrase).

Ah, good point Duncan. We never use the car for towing and it's not been worked hard at all so maybe you're right; it's just not got hot enough to be pumped through the cooler.