i posted a question on Yahoo before i posted on here, yes! silly i know!
some geezer just posted this, but i didn't listen because i know you guys know what your talking about!
Wayne
the heating issue is No relation to your head gasket
(unless Vauxhall has some strange scheme going on no one else does - not likely!).
Heat comes from hot coolant from your motor going through a heater core which is where your hot air comes from. No heat means your controls are buggered (the control cable is broken or heater valve is broke or something) or your heater core is clogged or the hoses from your motor to the heater core are pinched or something. NOT your head gasket.
Head gasket problems will give you -
(1) Sludgy Milky Oil.
(2) Bubbles in your radiator - open the cap, unexplained bubbles are a sign (and a good shop can use a sensor to see if it's exhaust gas).
(3) Steam or smoke out the tailpipe.
(4) Missing on one (or more) cylinder.
(5) Hard starting.
(6) oil or water leakage from the head/block separation line down the side (or front or back) of your motor. But NOT cold air from the heater.
Find another shop. And always ASK how they know what the problem is. A good mechanic will tell you. A bad one won't.
Further, ask to have (or at least see) the old parts - so you can see that there *was* a blown gasket (and not one he tore to look blown - you can tell!) and that it confirms the symptom.
BTW - General Motors products *do* have a history of bad head gasket (and head warpage) problems *if* the car was overheated.
So, you *might* have a bad head gasket, but it's NOT related to your heater. Get a second (or 3rd) opinion!! Good luck!
Source(s):
30+ years as a mechanic.
Wayne
The vacuum hose you refer to (I guess), is the control to the three way plastic valve behind the engine. By removing it, you have now allowed the valve to let water through to the matrix.
The V6's do tend to leak a small amount of water from the heads after large mileage which isn't necessarily serious but I'm betting they did a block test to lead them to their diagnosis.
This involves "sniffing" the coolant with a certain liquid that turns from blue to green/yellow when it picks up combustion gases in the water. This is pretty much clear cut and they would be 100% right to assume one or both head gaskets have failed, sorry!
If so, you'll be getting excess pressure by now in the coolant bottle (pressurised after only a minute when started from cold).
Are you losing much water, if any?
They can suffer with leaks from the coolant bridge sealing washers (under the inlet manifold/plenum chamber).
If you have a head gasket failure, it's time to work out whether or not the car is worth repairing because it is a huge job. In fact it is probably easier on the Omega to remove the motor and do it. If you're happy to top it up regularly, you might be better off using it until it gives up altogether.
WHAT A LOAD OF OLD BALLS!
i`m off out in me car now, happy driving! lol
Author
Topic: had just about enough now, a sad day for my car! (Read 20992 times)