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[Craig_R]

Been told my head gasket has gone or has been on its way out for a bit.

Been losing collant but no leak and i now have massive amounts of white smoke out of the back

No water in the oil or oil in the water

But Collant System is getting Pressurised

Chatted to a guy at a Garage and he asked did it Misfire in the Morning when first started and then clear pretty fast which was a Yes
He said water from the coolant system is getting in to one of the pots and gets burnt off after acouple of revs.

So Looks Like a Replacement Doh  They Quoted £500 including a skim and labor and parts
but waiting to hear from another Guy who might be around the £300 mark.

But also Been Told I can get a new Engine for £1000 then Plus Labor to fit and I would need to get it converted back for gas.

Bugger

Craig

[Markjay]

Put your hand over the exhaust then smell the droplets collected on your palm - do they smell of anti-freeze? If they do then it's your HG...

I don't think £1,000 will buy you a new engine fitted and converted to gas - sounds more like second-hand or re-conditioned.

I see no reason to replace the block if the engine is good, HG replacement is not complicated work just time consuming.

Have you considered DIY? Should be doable with a 4-pot (it's a bit more involving on the V6)

[JamesV6CDX]

bugger

[JamesV6CDX]

It's a 4 pot?

Peice of cake to change the head.

As long as it start afterwards

[Markjay]

Loosing coolant and no leak could be many things on the Omega, it does not conclusively point to HG failure.

White smoke could be water condensation which is normal - as said check if it actually smells of anti-freeze.

Cooling system over pressurised is potentially a problem - but again to be conclusive you need to test it better - try getting an MOT testing station to lower a gas analyzer into the expansion bottle (but not into the coolant) - if it picks-up exhaust gasses then it defo HG.

HG will go if the engine seriously overheated or if the coolant hasn't been changed regularly (causing head corrosion), but otherwise these engines are not particularly prone to HG failure.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I assume the 'professionals' did the standard test and used the gas analyser to check for the presence of hydrocarbons in the header tank?

Remember that

a) The coolant system should be pressurised....

b) The exhaust does have a lot of vapour in it, more noticeable this time of year to....

[Markie]

either way its a cheap job in terms of parts 0 the bulk of the cost is labour - if you have the tools and time do it yourself and save more than half of the cost  

[GaryB]

I can confirm that a HG replacement on a 2.0l is a fairly easy DIY job - I did mine on my previous motor over the christmas hols 2 yrs ago, and it was still fine when I traded it in in Aug this year!  Gasket set  from the dealers was not too bad, and you get to do the timing belt as well.

[Markie]

so go on - you know you want to give it a bash  

[Craig_R]

I would have a bash at replacing the Gasket but i park on a hill with two wheels on the curb and dont have the tools.

And I need it fixing before Xmas As i need it to drive back to teesside from Watford.

As for the AntiFrezze Smell no joy there as it does not have any in I was going to put it in this weekend as it emptyied it self on thursday and it just got water in it and has done for acouple of weeks as it kept vanishing the idea was to do the Coolant this weekend but there is no point as it will just vanish after abit.

The White Smoke yep you do get more this time of year but you should see the amount lol like a smoke machine when revving.

It was what the guy said about it misfiring first thing in the morning that made so much sence, but i will get a compression test and see if i can pop to a MOT place and check for hydrocarbons in the header tank, but i did notice smoke coming out of the header hank which could be Exhaust Gases.

How much do you lot think it should be to replace the head Gasket and not by a Vx Dealer as i dont have a million pounds for them to do it.

Ohhh and she has been sounding Ropey lately and the idle has been rough as old boots.

Oh Well its the time of year to be Jolly Bugger jst when i did not need to be forking out cash on my Car

Craig

[Marks DTM Calib]

About 75 quid for the bits, 25 quid for a skim (onlt do it if it needs it) and about 3-4 hours labour.....plus 80 for a cambelt kit and 30 for a water pump.

[Craig_R]

well the cambelt was changed 6000 miles ago and the water pump about 2000miles ago.

So i was quoted £500 for the head gasket change and a skim which works out at £100 for bits

Thats £400 on labour Bugger me thats £100 an hour if it takes 4 hours OUCH I should of been a mechanic Who Gets a £100 an Hour

Even when I was Freelancing in the Film Industry i got £50 an hour and i thought that was loads

See If my girlfriends Borthers mate will Quote me any Cheaper.

If it ends up being the head Gasket and the Coolent is Going into the pots and out with the Exhaust Gases will i knack the engine if i drive it even if i keep the Coolent topped up all the time ?

Craig

[Markjay]

well the cambelt was changed 6000 miles ago and the water pump about 2000miles ago.

So i was quoted £500 for the head gasket change and a skim which works out at £100 for bits

Thats £400 on labour Bugger me thats £100 an hour if it takes 4 hours OUCH I should of been a mechanic Who Gets a £100 an Hour

Even when I was Freelancing in the Film Industry i got £50 an hour and i thought that was loads

See If my girlfriends Borthers mate will Quote me any Cheaper.

If it ends up being the head Gasket and the Coolent is Going into the pots and out with the Exhaust Gases will i knack the engine if i drive it even if i keep the Coolent topped up all the time ?

Craig

No quite, if the labour costs include the head skim, then this is done on an expensive machine so labour time for this particular job will be more expensive than spanner work...

As for head skim, it depends how the gasket failed... if the head surface around the waterways has corroded and water by-pass the gasket, then the head will need to be skimmed.
On the other hand, if the gasket itself failed, then if the problem hasn't been left for too long the head may be intact and will not need skimming.

However.... the alloy on the Vx/Opel heads is quite good and not easily corroded (I had an Alfa once - you don't want to know), and it is very likely that only the gasket failed and the head is intact and can be re-used without skimming.

If the head is lightly pitted due corrosion to corrosion then a basic head skim will do the trick.
If the problem occurred over a long time, the head might have deep pits, which in theory could be filled with alloy and then skimmed but in reality it will be cheaper to get a reconditioned head and move the valves or a second0hand head complete with valves.

The problem I have wit head gaskets replacements is that when I used to take the head off engines I would look at the black sooty valves and I could never resist the urge to take them out and get them cleaned and grinded… so simple jobs tended to grow.

[Markie]

dont skim unless the head is warped ( unlevel) if its level leave it - skimming heads will be about £30 per head

Its not quite £100 per hour although some garages aint that far away

Also in that cost are head gasket kit £50 odd
various bolts perhaps £20
sealant, coolant and posibly 10 litres of oil - well i would change oil twice and well as flush the engine considorably, so retail the parts along with cambelt would be nearer £200. Also worth considoring water pump at that stage - another £20 or so.

 

[Markjay]

dont skim unless the head is warped ( unlevel) if its level leave it - skimming heads will be about £30 per head....

As Markjec says, what the machanics call 'warped' head isn't actually a warped head - just the lower mating surface becoming eneven.