Overheating - head gasket?

[jimi]

My R-Reg 1.4 overheated some months back and I had to get a tow. Turned out there was a problem with the fan, plus the thermostat had packed up.

The car worked fine for a few months but has recently started overheating again. It's drinking the water from the cooling system completely within 3-4 days, and I've had to make sure I've taken bottles of water with me wherever I go in case it flairs up. I've also noticed I can't get any hot air through my heater (so demisting the windscreen has been quite an effort).

I've spoken to a mechanic today and he reckons from what I've told him the head gasket has gone - but there is no water in the oil, which I'm told is the giveaway. He was 100% convinced that was what the problem was. I don't think he has trying to spin me a tale here as he seemed pretty genuine - he told me that if that was the problem I should probably consider whether it's worth having it done, given the cost of the work and the value of the car.

Can anyone shed any light? Could it still be the head gasket even if there was no water in the oil?

Thanks in advance

 

[fitzgerald]

yeah mate its your headgasket, the reason the water isnt in the oil is because there are three different parts to a headgasket, oil ways, water ways and the bores. What will have happened is the water ways will have blown into the bores causing overheating and water use. It happened to my skoda about a month ago, does it misfire at all?

 

[jimi]

Yes, it does misfire from time to time.

Looks like she's off to the big scrapyard in the sky (Good excuse for a new car though )

 

[fitzgerald]

definatly headgasket then

are you not mechanically minded at all?

i did my skoda one for less than 15 quid

they aren't always as expensive as people make out.

 

[jimi]

Not enough to have a bash at this myself!

To be honest it is really starting to show its age - there's 2 or 3 other problems that need looking at, probably sooner rather than later. I need a car for work so I need something that's reliable, and this one has been up until the last 6 months or so when I started really racking up the miles.

 

[Cupra Kid]

IF you've got a missfire with it i'm pretty certain its the head gasket also might just cheaper to get a new engine and have someone plumb it in.

Or get some scrappage for it.

 

[Dolly_Gti]

if its in the westmidlands ill buy it as im going to need a cheap run about, ill give you more than scrap

shameless i know

 

[Fl@pper]

sounds like it's leaking water somewhere, when 1.4's get cooked they usually blow a gasket and at worse warp the head so the problems you are having after a cooking doesn't bode well sadly

personally i would get the head ripped off first - for minimal cash you can tell the gasket state and check the head and see if it's a viable repair at least as 1.4 heads are getting rare

all depends on what the rest of the car is like in reality - and Dolly beat me to it

 

[sickpupppy]

Am I right in thinking that water in the bores would give White smoke? I have a similar prob with my baby but I think more likely the pump rather than the gasket as not using water and although I have a very slight and extremely intermittant missfire I though that more likely to be dirty plugs.
Can the pump be changed easily? I heard they are cam belt driven.

 

[Fl@pper]

water in the bores yes will dissipate as steam (white smoke)

 

[sickpupppy]

I thought so lol. Well looks like my h gasket is ok then. Not sure if it is the pump or not now as it was fine till I put the thermostat back in. People mention a hole in the stat housing. Is this just something from use or an engineered groove made bigger by the pin on the rear of the thermostat.
Could this be my problem rather than the pump?
Still no heat in the cabin though.

 

[Cupra Kid]

no heat in the cabin shows that the waters not getting there or that theres a circulation problem

 

[m0rk]

Not leaking out of a 11yr old radiator then?

If it drains reliably within the same time period, regardless of mileage / time driving then it's probably just weeping out.

 

[sickpupppy]

Can the thermostat or the hole in the stat housing lead to a circulation problem? Or is it more likely to be the pump???
Planning to take the new thermostat out after dinner as heating problems only started after I replaced it.

 

[m0rk]

it could be that the new thermostat doesn't work correctly.

whip it out, and see how you go - the car will take longer to warm up, and will use a lot more fuel as the water temp will be cool on the motorway

 

[sickpupppy]

Just removed thermostat again. Took time to check the housing and found a hole where the pin goes. Looks like it has blown through with pressure over time. Luckily the new stat seems ok for it's ordeal so I shall replace the stat housing asap. Still no heater though!!!! Pipes all hot and all feel like water inside not air. Strange. But car not cooking anymore which can only be good.
Thanks again for kick starting my brain guys.

 

[sickpupppy]

Took car out last night for a quick spin. Whilst keeping an eye on the temp gauge. After a serious attempt at warp factor 1.5 the engine held temprature and didn't try to boil once. Yet I still cannot get any heat. Does the thermostat not being there meant the heater pipes are closed? They get hot but still no heat.
Planning to flush radiator and matrix this week and to replace the silly plastic housing that the thermostat sits in
once I have done this I shall refill with water to test the system. If I can rule out the pump then I will drain system again and fill with lovely red dub coolant. (expensive stuff lol)

anything else I should be doing before I call it a day? Really cannot afford huge garage bill at the minute.

Ps how many posts before I can upload pics of my lil green baby?

 

[Fl@pper]

if the pipes to and from the heater are hot then you have flow through it even partially but no heat to the vents could be a couple of things

heater matrix blocked and simply flushing water straight in/out and not through the body

heater dial although moving is it actually pulling the cable correctly

heater flap not moving open/close correctly from cable as it's stuck/broke etc

simplest way to test heater flap is to turn hot then cold every 5 sec to see if you gate ANY change in temperature even if a small change

 

[sickpupppy]

I've just ordered the thermostat housing from the main stealer in Carlisle. £10.51 +vat. Not as bad as I thought. Got new metal finned water pump too just in case but only paid £31.71 at part factors. Parts should arrive on wed morning so gonna get to work flushing on thurs morn. I'll let you guys know how I get on.

 

[sickpupppy]

Hi picked up my new thermostat housing today. Thought I would let you guys know about it as I have noticed some changes.
The cup which locates the pin on the rear of the stat ( part that blows apart when old n hot ) has been seriously beefed up. Inside of the joint there is at least a half inch of strong looking plastic built up behing the locating cup, looks like it should have been this way from the start. It sure would have saved me some grief.
I got it from the main stealer as I mentioned earlier however it must be ordered in.
Well worth the pennie guys.
Dan