Dangerous Dave knows his sh*t there!

some nice tips there dave :)

just done my head gasket and i had water on the dipstick, but not on the cap, i was doing 35 miles everday in mine and was slowly loosing water.

if you find your water is going down, (check it when cold) use some holts rad seal, that will solve the problem for a while, if the leak is small.

my gasket leak was only slightly wider than a hair, but the exhaust gas was presurizing the cooling system,giving excess pressure when i took the cap off, and also making my cooling go bonkers.

vaux will charge bout £30 for a pressure test(different from a compression test), but if your with the aa, they will do a test on your coolant to see if there are traces of carbon monoxide from the exhaust gases in it!

good luck
make sure you dont use the heaters (have them on cold) for the first few journys after using the sealant.

also ce-lit is cheaper, and i think works well.

Cheers dave i shall get the oil sorted and get the test done and hope the gasket aint gone. cheers to all who replied also

right, a small amount of pressure in the header tank is fine really after a journey. The white gunk you noticed is probably just from condensation over winter. Not driving the car enough on long journeys causes moisture to build up in the sump, then mixxing with the oil and creating the white gunk on the dipstick and filler cap. Not really a problem, and maybe an oil change and flush, and take the car on a good hard drive for an hour or so to get the engine really hot, and evaporate any remaining moisture in the system. Too many drama queens on this site who tell you its head gasket, when all it is, is something simple. IF you get any other symptoms like erratic idling or eratic temperature, crap in header tank or generally feel like car is struggling under load, get a compression test done to confirm head gasket.

Dave

hi, corsa_lova posted this for me as i couldnt get to my computer :(. Have checked the coolant level and its in between the two arrows and doesnt appear to have moved at all. The sorta gunky crap appears to have gone and the oil level is between the bottom knotch and the top one.

When i took the cap off the coolant there was a release of pressure if that means anything bad?

The car does seem to be warming up quicker than usual1 sometimes its gone over half way, its gotten up to 100 but goes back down and i havent needed to turn the heaters on or anything to get the heat down it does itself.

Does you water bubble up like a boiling kettle? If so................its not looking good.

:( has ur water level dropped at all??? if not it might be ur car saying its time for an oil change in which case u need to go and get it changed pronto!

If ya oil is shite then the car will run shite.

Yep had the same on mine. Except mine was running on 3 :o:(

Also it wont be on the cap. Mine wasnt. Its not the cheapest of jobs to!

sounds like head gasket to me though

^^ what he said :thumbs:

get a pressure test done, then u will know the problem

have checked my oil and there is a gunky type of stuff in it. Not around the cap just on the dipstick. Car seems to have a funny smell when i've driven it and got out.
Is the head gasket gone or do i need an oil change?

PLEASE HELP.