HEAD GASKET AGAIN ! !

niz406 · Post by **niz406** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:08 pm

Only this time its taken out the RAD too.... arrrggghhhhh

So I took my car to the local specialists again for diagnosis, as I was at work all day. They pressure tested the cooling system and found a leak in the RAD.... lets just say all the coolant was leaking out of the bottom.... so KNOWING that the leak was not visible I asked them how much it would cost to replace..... OMG... £270 odd + vat ! !

I was like WTF ! It takes less than an hour to replace the RAD and like 10 minutes for the coolant filling / bleeding...

But anyway to cut a long story short I got him to look into a miss-firing problem, as it turns out there is coolant in one of the cylinders and so it's been diagnosed as f00ked ! ! lol

I just don't know what to do now.... save some money / cut my losses and get another car...... break it for spares...... burn it...... smash it up.... what to do !?

trem1 · Post by **trem1** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:35 pm

drive it through a ford

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:54 pm

unlucky niz, i bet the head's cracked, even with a mickymouse headgasket kit it wont have gone that soon, unless youre running about 3 bar boost

i would pick up a second hand engine, and build a good one of the two

niz406 · Post by **niz406** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:47 pm

trem1 wrote:drive it through a ford

It doesn't need that, its got plenty of water in the cylinders lol

Yeah I was thinking of buying a modified head from either HiFlowHeads or Prima Racing ( because they are closer ) ! Then dropping a competition gasket in there... but if I'm going to do that then I might as well just get a prebuilt engine with all that on, then at least I don't have to worry building things, I can just drop it in....

Why does christmas have to be so soon, I could so save my pennies and get it in the new year.....

So what should I do, save and buy something fast and jappy or save and spend it on the pug making it fast and *jappy beating?

*Talking scooby and GT-s beating accelleration

Post by **Welly** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:05 am

mmm, let me see........

E36 328i coupe

E30 325i

S13 / 14 Nissan

R33 GTS (friend had one, fantastic)

Seriously though, it depends on the money, I know it's easy to throw the towel in but you should probably fix it, afterall it will probably only cost a few hundred pounds and if you get an uprated head/gasket it should be fine.

It's not all that difficult to get near to Scooby performance, they loose so much through the transmission, my lightweight 160 BHP Honda was not too far away from 240 BHP UK Scoobies

Do you think french petrol engines are a bit fragile? they are difficult to work on aren't they.

Is it the extra boostage that has caused the problem, maybe with hot spots in the head/insufficient cooling?

niz406 · Post by **niz406** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:25 am

Don't do BMW's they are proper chav and innit boys cars !

S13 / 14 sounds good !

R33 I would love !

But it would take me too long to save for either of those... well I could get one by the end of january, but what do I do in the interim, especially with the 406?

The thing is welts, I don't want to work on it anymore, sure for like £200 I can get a new head gasket, head bolts and water pump but then I have to go out in the cold, and work on the car again and I just don't want to spend anymore of my time under that car, repairing things! It's driven me to the point of hammer meet windscreen ! Although the car has brought me lots of fun and many hours of happy / comfortable driving !

I think its a case of a bad choice of head gasket to be honest, I brought myself an aftermarket one of the std thickness, when I should've gone for the thicker one... that and the pressure difference caused by the RAD blowing or vice versa has just left me with a big F U !

So what do I do now..... I'm so unhappy on this miserable day ! ! how many more things can go wrong ! !

Post by **Welly** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:45 am

I wonder if the head gasket failing has pressurised the coolant and blown your already weak rad?

You are bang on though about not wanting to work on it, as I have got older I have wanted less and less to work on a car. Even my recent oil change episode had me quoting 'never again' and I still feel it now.

Somehow, you seem to think 'I deserve better' I work hard, everyone else has a newish/better car, why can't I ?

Can't you bosh in some rad weld for a bit just to get you to work and back etc, or is it past that stage? it won't help the gasket but might help the rad? it's a tricky one though Niz, as the car will be worth next to nothing as a non-runner?

niz406 · Post by **niz406** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:42 am

I know, I know... exactly how you feel... I have a ball joint in a box thats been there for three months.. I just can't be arsed to do it....lol So what do I do next !

The gasket is gone way beyond that to be honest, the pressure test made things far worse !

I'm going to call round a few garages to see how cheap I can get the labour, I will supply the parts and they can just fit it, I'm not paying over inflated charges for parts so they can make a profit on them too !

Post by **Welly** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:58 pm

niz406 wrote:I know, I know... exactly how you feel... I have a ball joint in a box thats been there for three months.. I just can't be arsed to do it....lol So what do I do next !

The gasket is gone way beyond that to be honest, the pressure test made things far worse !

I'm going to call round a few garages to see how cheap I can get the labour, I will supply the parts and they can just fit it, I'm not paying over inflated charges for parts so they can make a profit on them too !

I can't blame you TBH.........

Oh, and merry f*cking christmas to you.

vladman · Post by **vladman** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:55 pm

sounds very frustrating, and an unenviable position to be in.

good luck with whatever you decide to do niz!

oh, and spare a thought for me who will be lying under my car changing my exhaust tonight, in the dark and cold...

Malachy · Post by **Malachy** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:30 pm

Welton wrote:
E30 325i

this is going to be my next car :p stuff in a m535i engine and dump twin turbos on it

giggle as you have 400bhp+ through the rear wheels of one of the finest track chasis's ever

gotta love e30's

just bought myself a tig welder (£1k for an ac/dc invertor so i can do aluminium aswell) for the company going to offer intercooler pipework + looking at making custom turbo manifold

with a new inlet and exhaust for my car first

also boshing up a full stainless exhaust system with side exits (just infront rear wheels) for my jensen healey that i am converting to ITB's + megasquirt

as for niz and head gasket i dont want to say i told ya so but i did say get an uprated one while you have it off :/ fix it then come see me in 3-4 months and buy a 16v head, ill offer you a 16v turbo manifold for £250-£300 in mild steel and about another £50-375 for stainless ;) im designing one now working out flow rates etc, also not sure if i should run screamer pipes or not or if its a bit chavvy

going to use a t3 on mine now. cheaper to get hold of as the market is flooded with them, will have a bit of lag, but the power will be intense

ps if anyone wants to buy an 200amp AC only arc welder i have one going for offers

Post by **Welly** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:59 pm

Malachy, your a man after me own heart, E30 325i's are one of my 'teenage kicks' car's.........

Funny, I was looking at these on the web this week, there was a real corker at a specialist dealer up north. It was a one owner, manual, full documented history, totally original etc, if I had the Dollar I would have had the thing

Look at this beauty aswell

My Boss had one, a G reg, when it was new and I used to drive it a lot when I was 19

fantastic cars I think. I shall DEFINATELY have one sooner or later.

Malachy · Post by **Malachy** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:16 pm

a couple of wallpapers i have of e30s (have about 300-400 car wallpapers lol)

and this gorgeous m3

Malachy · Post by **Malachy** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:17 pm

gah double posts

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:24 pm

i used to have e30 320i se convertible in diamond mettalic black, but the insurance was a killer, and then a micra crashed into it and wrote it off