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Car head gasket
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
So my car is losing oil and engine coolant (not excessively, but noticeably and have to top up every now and then), and there's yellowish gunk at the top of the oil canister so water in the oil, which leaves me to deduce that the head gasket may have gone :nervous:
I have a feeling this may be expensive to fix? :shocking: Anyone know how much it's likely to cost if it needs replacing?
It's going in for its MOT on Sat so I guess I'll find out then, wouldn't mind being prepared though
Its there anything else that could be causing these symptoms? And how will I know if it's the head gasket, I don't want them to be ripping me off.
Bah
I have a feeling this may be expensive to fix? :shocking: Anyone know how much it's likely to cost if it needs replacing?
It's going in for its MOT on Sat so I guess I'll find out then, wouldn't mind being prepared though
Its there anything else that could be causing these symptoms? And how will I know if it's the head gasket, I don't want them to be ripping me off.
Bah
0
Comments
How much oil and coolant is it using, and over what period of time? And what car is it?
Most garages will check by chemically examining the coolant for combustion contamination. Another test would be a compression test, where all cylinders should give a broadly similar reading(within 10% typically).
I haven't checked the hiss, drive to work is about 3 miles so will check tomorrow. Just unscrew the cap a little bit?
The coolant is a funny one, it'll lose it fast until the level drops under the join of the tank (leading me to believe the seal was a bit faulty), but it'll lose it very slowly after that. Have to top it up every month or so, but I only drive it about 3 miles a day and about 30 miles on weekends
Was naughty and didn't check the oil as often as I should have until it went right down, probs lost half the oil in about 3 months
The stuff in the oil tank looks like thick melted chocolate. There isn't any on the dipstick but the oil is only a few days old
I'm worried!!
Good luck at the garage!
All in all not too bad! Phew
I used to have a KA, many moons ago, and the revving thing happened. It needed popping to the garage for an ECU reset/reprogramming. Apparently it was a reasonably common fault and didn't require any mechanical fixes.
Oh right! That's handy to know! Was it a lot to fix?
I was wondering if the gas pedal was sticking a bit, was gonna try a bit of wd40 (oh wonderous stuff)
The internet is fab for knowledge, but you do end up self diagnosing problems, similar to when you have a cold - type in your symptoms in google and diagnose yourself with several kinds of cancer! I'll take it back to le garage to have a wee look
Btw was your revving problem intermittent or constant? Mine will do it for a day, or even just an hour, and then be fine for a few weeks
I think the excess revving is a common fault on fords - one of 2 options:
1) Idle Control Valve (also known as a 'stepper motor'), which regulates the amount of air into the engine - sticking open lets too much air in, revving engine - sticking shut doesn't let enough in, causing engine to possibly stall.
2) Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) - does what it says on the tin - reads the position of the throttle - if faulty, will show incorrectly, meaning over/under revving.
To find out if problem 1, this can be cleaned easily using WD40 - anyone who is handy can do this for you. If number 2, just replace the TPS.
Up to you which you try first - i'd try the TPS :chin: