Re: Head Gasket - how to test?

What exactly IS a head gasket, what is it, where is it, and why does one skim one?

--Nick.

Nick ( snipped-for-privacy@spamcop.net) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It seals the joint between cylinder head and block, keeping the combustion chambers, oil and water separate from each other and the outside world. Hopefully.

It's a long thin flat "cardboard" gasket.

Between head and block - if you look at your engine, find the manifolds, and look down a little bit. You'll see where head stops and block begins.

You don't, not the gasket. You MAY need to skim the head, to make it flat again, if it's warped (bent) after being overheated, which may be the cause or a symptom of the gasket blowing.

IME head gaskets are a little more sophisticated than that - the sealing surfaces are metal on the ones I've seen.

cheers, clive

Clive George ( snipped-for-privacy@xxxx-x.fsnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You know that, I know that. That's why I put it in quote marks.

To somebody who's asking what a head gasket is and where it is, "cardboard" is as good a description as anything, of how it's going to look at a glance.

For someone who doesn't know what one is, like me, cardboard is a good word.

--Nick.

Yes ... i've seen a 1983 bmw engine with that fault. The owner was convinced he had a blown head gasket and asked me to do a full decoke and skim, as well as fix a few oil leaks. Once opened up, the bore with the leak had no "honing" visible. Also it was incredibly shiny ... piston as new!!!

He was really upset when i told him it wasn't his head gasket at fault!!

The cause of the problem ... ?????

Its a variable switch just like the dimmer switch that controls your house light - if you turn it all the way to one side it will prevent the fan from being turned on - turn it the other way and the fan could be on continuously. I've recently been told its a common component used on the continent.

The last mechanic has set the fan to come on about 95degrees and when the fan comes on it goes down to 91degrees.

I'm considering contacting the media with regards to the 2 garages.

What sort of car have you got, I've never seen a variable fan switch,

Wow lets just rain this in a minute

1. What car have you got??
2. What symptoms made you take it to the garages??

Duncan Wood ( snipped-for-privacy@dmx512.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Fairly common on aftermarket electric fans like Kenlowes.

True, but his expansion tank level would till start to drop

1. Lets just say its a very popular car
2. It only started after the MOT (1st visit),over heating (second) and second opinion (third)

As the Mot doesn't test your cooling fan either you're now trolling or just stupid. What's the car?

I damn well know the cooling fan is not part of the MOT that's why I'm so pissed off!

Before the MOT my car was fine then a week after my the engine over heats and its discovered the fan switch was OFF - WHY?!!!!!

Next time my car goes for a MOT I'm going to stand in the viewing area!

Sorry I'm not going to say what type of car as I'm in the process of contacting the manufacture and the media - I do not want to give the game away too much.

I don't understand why were even having a discussions in this topic??

Your saying your cars running fine, well get on with your life then and drive it!

You say you lost all your coolant and oil, well sorry but if that really did happen I doubt it would just fix itself

you don't even mention a MOT in your original post, please if your going to ask for help at least give others a real description of your problems.

Oliver

Oh you must be Mr nice guy or may be the mechanic who tampered with my car ;-)

Well without a clue what sort of vehicle you're talking about nobody's got a chance of answering that.