head gaskets

[J50DUB 0]

Hi

1.8 16v

how can you tell if your h/g's gone??

car uses no water no mayo in oil filler cap or oil in water

idles a bit hit nd miss nothing major

 

it had its h/g done late in 04

 

is it common for them too go?? burns a bit of oil.

 

anyhelp appreciated

[vr6storm 0]

plumes of white thick smoke from exhaust(not condensation)..........missfires etc.........i wouldn't say its a common thing but then again the youngest 1.8 16v is gonna be 14yo

[J50DUB 0]

i overfiled the car with oil ........ yeh i know TW%T and plumes of smoke occured then but after a short while 5/10mins driving after it kicked out soo much smoke it just slowly stopped i then went and drained out any excess oil and it hasnt done it since

im already regretting buying this car !!! lol

[vr6storm 0]

if you overfilled it with oil the smoke would be a hazy blue

[J50DUB 0]

it was hazy blue. thanks

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

when my HG went i kept having water leaks, it blew the flange (what a word!!) on the right of the engine a couple of times and blew a hole in the radiator.

 

These were the olny signs on mine until the compression test was done. I didnt have any problems with 'mayo' on the filler cap etc...

 

If your worried then take the car to your friendly garage, get them to do a compression test to make sure all is ok.

 

Also, as most people know, i over filled my engine with oil, after draining and running for a bit she was all ok. Is your car de-catted? if not you may have damaged the cat by overfilling.

 

should add, this was a G60, but i assume syptoms/signs etc.. would be the same

 

What ever you do, regardless of how much you have to spend on the thing, DONT regret buying it!!

 

Andy.

[J50DUB 0]

thanks

so my cars got a cat................. crap

 

didnt realise it had one!

 

noooooo

[scarlett 0]

it shouldnt have a cat... what reg is it?

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

Welcome to corrado ownership!!!

 

Scarlett - did they not all have cats then?

[vr6storm 0]

*cough*1.8 16v's don't have cats *cough*

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

ooops, my bad!

[Supercharged 2]

I doubt overfilling will have done any damage then...

 

Get a leak down test done if you suspect the HG but it sounds like you're worrying about nothing

[RapidVII 0]

If I can just add,

 

If you overfill the unit with oil, it can cause major damage, depending on how much you over fill.

 

The reason being is that under no circumstances, any liquid forms cannot compress.

 

Try shaking a bottle of coca cola up with the cap on and see that the bottle goes rock hard. ( its a simple example )

 

The more you overfill, the more pressure it puts on the system, resulting in more damage to your engine. The oil under extreme pressure will find the weakest point of escape.

 

I agree totally with Dub_Nut_G60 - get a compression test done, and also a cylinder block detection test, sometimes blown head gaskets are hard to detect, even with these methods.

 

If you decide to do the compression test yourself, as a guide I used to take the readings, I would work on if there's any difference between the cylinders of 25psi. ( when the general compression is ok )

 

All I would do if your compression test works out ok, is give the car a good service including an engine flush, and just monitor the cars behavior really.

 

R7

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

How long were you running the engine for after you had over filled it?

 

Mine was ran probably for best part of an hour and pretty fast (trying to catch mike_g60 and iow_corrado_g60) on the way to stealth in April. to give some idea of just how much oil was in there the level was about 1/2 way up the dipstick. (see here - http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight= - for amusing anecdote!)

 

Mine ran fine after it had the F1 stylee oil change, again best advice i can give if your at all worried is to get her checked over to put your mind at rest. I think the medical term is 'corradoparranoiaohmygodwhatsgoingtogowrongnext syndrome' think most of us have it but after a while you learn to live with it!

[cromwell 0]

my head gasket went about 3 months ago and i spent 2 months fixing it. It happened while i was driving along and i didnt notice till i stopped when it was too late...the engine had cooked itself and i hadnt noticed because the water temp needle hadnt risen, and back then i rarely checked oil temp. Had to change Head Gasket, Coolant Flanges, Thermostat (ended up just removing this completely), Thermostat Housing, Radiator, 2 Pipes, Radiator Switch and have the head skimmed. I was unlucky too, no symptoms or anything that indicated it was going to happen before it happened. Oil was fine, no smoke from exhaust, and the engine seemed to run perfectly. Wasnt even loosing water quickly! Turned out it had split between the 1st and 2nd cylinder, which is quite common apparently. So yeah, be careful! haha.

[J50DUB 0]

ran the car for approximately 3 hours!

 

i understand that overfilling will put stresses on the engines thus finding weakest point to escape which could be the h/g im worried more than anyhting because the car 'seems' too be overheating and i have no fan

 

also i dont know if i mentioned this but the h.g was changed in nov/dec o4 so not really that long ago!

[J50DUB 0]

i think the rocker cover gasket may well have gone !

oil build up at the rear of the block and the gasket area on the rocker cover looks very oily!!

not sure though

 

thanks for your help guys

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

get the thing checked dude!!!

 

u seem very worried that something is wrong, id get it checked over to be on the safe side and to put your mind at rest!!!

 

like i said my motor was running very full of oil and was being driving very hard for almost an hour, and all is ok.

 

how do you mean it 'seems' to be over heating? what are your oil and water temps generally?

[J50DUB 0]

oil 94 degrees# can someone tell me if this will rise or fall if the h/g had gone?

 

water 100/110 dropping too 80-90 on main roads no traffic

 

thankyou i am taking it somewhere tommorowto be looke dat hope shes ok #!

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

neither of your temps seem hot!!

 

i think most Cs water temps tend to be around 100-110 in traffic. i think (big THINK!!) that the second stage of the fan cuts in at 110 degrees, might want to get your fan fixed!!

 

mine tend to run between 70 and 90 on open roads doing going above 30mph. not sure the HG going will affect it, didnt when mine went.

 

Im not convinced anything sounds wrong in a major way (its an old car, so you will almost always have some problems) but glad your getting it checked over. let us know how it goes.

[J50DUB 0]

neither of your temps seem hot!!

 

i think most Cs water temps tend to be around 100-110 in traffic. i think (big THINK!!) that the second stage of the fan cuts in at 110 degrees, might want to get your fan fixed!!

 

mine tend to run between 70 and 90 on open roads doing going above 30mph. not sure the HG going will affect it, didnt when mine went.

 

Im not convinced anything sounds wrong in a major way (its an old car, so you will almost always have some problems) but glad your getting it checked over. let us know how it goes.

 

yep well im totally new to corrado's i kno a little but not enough :lol: i had a mk2 8v this was an 1985 and i was plagued with problems! hopefully my rado wont be so bad :wink:

 

thanks everyone!

 

james

[Supercharged 2]

110c in traffic means the first stage of the rad fan thermoswitch is goosed...

 

Check the wiring then change the switch - it's located on the battery side of the rad between the top and bottom hoses and is swappable without loosing much coolant.