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[SteveAvfc.]

Hi would welcome some advise regarding what i think could be a head gasket gone. This past weekend borrowed a mates Fiesta van so as to transport my German Shepherd from Bristol to Chesterfield. My mate informed me that before i left i would need to top up the header tank as it looses water, And again upon return.
When i asked him has he not had it looked at he says that a few people have checked for hose leaks or a split in the header tank itself but drew a blank every time. He reckoned on its condition being there for at least a twelve month and said it never looses water when sat stationary only when on a run.
Now i followed his advise and poured about two litres of water in the tank before i left. Now the journey itself normally is about 2hrs 45 mins but because of huge amounts of traffic and road works this time it was verging on 5 hrs 15 mins stop start stop start GRRRR.
Anyhow about 30 miles from Chesterfield the van started to run slightly rough ie it seemed to miss on a couple of occasions and all though it never came to a halt it did give me cause for concern.
Now on my return a few days later did as i was told and topped up again this time nearer 2 & half litres as the tank was bone dry, the journey home was straight forward and i never got caught in traffic once and it never missed once me thinking because of a shorter journey time it coped ??. It did however need filling up again before driving again the next day. Ant advise please would be much appreciated.

Thanks Guys. Steve. 

[zirk]

What was the temp guage doing when it started playing up?

[SteveAvfc.]

Temp gauge strangely never moved above about half way,

[Terbs]

Not being up on these things, but personally if it was head gasket, I would have thought it would have run like a ruptured duck!!!!! 

[Taxi_Driver]

Its a Ford.....head gasket i'd say 

Good test for it is to take the cap of the expansion bottle and have a sniff....smells of anything except antifreeze, ie exhaust gas....then it will be head gasket.

Most garages have a tester to put in the header tank (hydrometer?) It measures if any exhaust gases are in there.

[hotel21]

Temp sensors only tend to operate correctly if they are in contact with water, in my experience. If head/sensor is dry then using the dash gauge as a 'gauge' is fraught with danger....