Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tafcol]

morning everyone have a new problem, can anyone help my omega (face lift) v6 appears to have a headgasket problem. Its pressurising the header tank and i have a huge loss of coolant (in fact its using more coolant than petrol) its also has a lot of white smoke out of the exhaust, and the temp guage goes in to the red. my question is do i need to skim the heads when changing the head gaskets i am also going to change the water pump and the heater bypass valve, which seems to be a problem area for the omega. Also if anyone has any helpfull hints with head gasket changes please feel free to send them my way, many thanks tafcol  

[Kevin Wood]

Whether to skim depends entirely on the condition of the heads when they come off.

If the failure has been caught early it's not necessary on the whole. If it's not skimmed it does need to be very carefully cleaned before refitting, however.

It's rare for a V6 to need a head gasket, especially a relatively new one. Make sure it's not the oil cooler.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

Get it pressure tested, or tested for fumes in coolant.

If the temp has gone in the red, there is a possibility its warped the head.  If its been failing for a while, it may have damaged mating surface.

[Matchless]

Is this car new to you?...do you know its history?
HG failure is rare on the V6 so unless you know its history I would be looking for signs of a previous oil cooler failure and a blocked radiator as a result.

[tafcol]

hi kev thanks for your advice if i tell you the whole story can you give me some advice . when i bought the car it was off ebay and i got caught abit but had no choice but to accept the car when driving it back from birmingham the coolant low came on and realised that there wasn't any hot air coming out of the heater. It appeared to be over pressureising the coolant system so i changed the expantion tank and cap to no avail, i also noticed that the vacuum system was put together wrong and that the main valve in the servo line had the connection for the climate system broken and was bodged to the engine vacuum side. i had the cambelt replaced and the engine looked at by a local mobile mechanic and he pressure tested the cylinders and said that there was no lose of pressure. after 2 days it started to get worse and i took it back to the bloke and he tested it at a higher pressure and said it was loosing pressure and that it in turn was blocking up the engine breathers which was why it was running rough and that he had put a headgasket sealant in it (k seal) and that should sort it out. i have taken the car on only one long trip (120 miles round trip) since then and have plumes of white smoke out the exhaust and on tick over the engine oil light flickers on and off. i have also got the milky cream deposits in the oil filler neck but have been told that thats normal for the V6 ? could all these problems be down to the heater bypass valve and the configeration of the vacuum syatem. although the lose of coolant worries me after the first 60 mile part of the said trip i had to put a litre of coolant back in the system. any ideas all , many thanks tafcol

[TheBoy]

Mayo on filler cap not unusual for v6, esp for short journeys. Some oils seem more prone for some reason as well.

I cold weather, the v6 does produce a lot of condensation from exhaust.

However, you certainly have other issues by sound of it - coolant may well be a leak somewhere, but oil light....   ....are you losing oil?

Any sign of mayo on dipstick (immediately after a run, as it will seperate over time)?

Oil in water?

[tafcol]

hi mate no oil on dip stick after running and not loosing any oil? also found that the coolant system still is holding pressure the following morning.

[tafcol]

hi what i ment to say is that there is no mayo on dipstick

[markey mark]

hi what i ment to say is that there is no mayo on dipstick

then i very much doubt its your head gasket matey !! have you got oily mayo coming out your header tank ? is it using any oil ? could possibly just airlocked bud !!  

[vauxnut1]

From personal experience head gaskets blow in a few ways normally .... 1 across water to oil way hence leaving mayo on dipstick and oil filler cap, 2 water across to piston bores which which pressurises water system and will push water out anywhere possible even down exhaust causing steam coming from it, 3 piston bore to bore which you will loose compression and lack power.
Also I have changed my gaskets but never got heads skimmed and they are fine.
hope this helps