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Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Viral_Jim on 04 July 2021, 14:10:26

Title: Problem with the Desmond - head gasket?
Post by: Viral_Jim on 04 July 2021, 14:10:26

Afternoon all,

My parents are having an issue with their '03 auto Desmond estate and advice from the collective wisdom of the forum would be greatly appreciated.

A few weeks ago the car dumped all its coolant out through a big crack in the radiator end cap (not totally sure if this was a cause or a symptom of the underlying problem). After it was towed home, dad pulled the plugs and found cylinder 4 looked wet. There was no water in the oil, or vice versa.

The peculiar thing is, all cylinders hold good pressure when tested; they were tested both warm and cold and left for c20mins without pressure drop on any cylinder.

The car's now had a new rad and been pressure tested, so all should be well right... except on its last test run, it threw a load of its coolant out through the cap on the header tank.

The car performed normally for the first 10-15mins of driving with the thermostat opening as it should and the temp gauge reflecting this. But after c15mins the car threw its coolant out, without overheating ???

It sounds to me like a head gasket issue, but it's odd to me that it's intermittent and the cylinders all hold pressure. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated before an exploratory head removal gets underway.

Title: Re: Problem with the Desmond - head gasket?
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 04 July 2021, 16:34:00

Might not have been bled properly...

Same procedure as the V6.
Cap off.
Climate panel to HI both sides, fan on one bar.
Top up and allow to idle until fans kick in.
Top up. Cap on. And allow to idle until fans kick in.
Recheck level.

Also are the fans working? Could be that one of two ther. thermoswitches has failed.

I found it prudent to change them whilst the radiator was being changed.  Stuck thermostat also a possibility. And an easy job on the desmond.

When was cambelt last changed (with water pump)?

Title: Re: Problem with the Desmond - head gasket?
Post by: Viral_Jim on 07 July 2021, 16:29:23

Thanks for the reply DG, water pump and cam belt were done about 8 months (2,000 miles ago) so ought to be good (fingers crossed), fans and thermostat appear to be working normally. I will suggest the bleed procedure and see if that helps.  :y