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[philhoward]

Picked up the engine today - Early (non-balance shaft) one, but 90k on it and from an Auto as well.  Hopefully £80 well spent (!)  Will spend the rest of the savings on water pump, belt and tensioner..

Chap I got it from seems to know his Omegas - and reckoned that 90% of head/gasket failures are due to a clogged heater matrix.  Now mine doesn't burn my fingers off so will give it a hosepiping first..

[Entwood]

AFAIK .. the experts here will tell you most HG failures are caused by an incorrect coolant/antifreeze mixture ... 50% water 50% vauxhall red is what is needed at all times .. and don't "top up" with just water ...

"Proper" antifreeze has anti-corrosion inhibitors in it .. in some ways these are more important then the anti-freezing properties ..

[philhoward]

I bought a job lot of antifreeze (Shell stuff, rebadged as Halfords, FWIW) a couple of years ago, so have plenty.  For the last week only, i've been using water - purely because at 3l a day i can't afford it!

Normally have a bottle of 50/50 for topups anyway..just wondered if there was any truth in the matrix idea - is it part of the coolant bypass circuit?

[Entwood]

..just wondered if there was any truth in the matrix idea - is it part of the coolant bypass circuit?

If the heater is OFF there is no flow through the matrix.. so I wouldn't have thought so ... but an expert will pass by and correct me shortly ...

I'm not sure if non-VX antifreeze has the "corrrect" properties ... their own stuff is so cheap with a TC that it's not worth messing about elsewhere .. IMHO  

[philhoward]

This stuff is the dogs dangly bits as far as generic antifreeze goes - anti-corrision, etc.  Shocked me when it was in Halfords bottles, but it was left-overs from some Shell sponsorship deal someone had for a race series.

Unless VX+TC anti-freeze comes in at less than £5/5 litres, then i'll keep using up my stock (which is starting to run low..)

[philhoward]

..just wondered if there was any truth in the matrix idea - is it part of the coolant bypass circuit?

If the heater is OFF there is no flow through the matrix.. so I wouldn't have thought so ... but an expert will pass by and correct me shortly ...

Strange question - why else would there be a HBV for aircon cars (I don't have one on mine - no aircon)?

[TheBoy]

..just wondered if there was any truth in the matrix idea - is it part of the coolant bypass circuit?

If the heater is OFF there is no flow through the matrix.. so I wouldn't have thought so ... but an expert will pass by and correct me shortly ...

Strange question - why else would there be a HBV for aircon cars (I don't have one on mine - no aircon)?

HBV there to prevent hot coolant going into heater matrix when you are trying to chill car...

[Marks DTM Calib]

Picked up the engine today - Early (non-balance shaft) one, but 90k on it and from an Auto as well.  Hopefully £80 well spent (!)  Will spend the rest of the savings on water pump, belt and tensioner..

Chap I got it from seems to know his Omegas - and reckoned that 90% of head/gasket failures are due to a clogged heater matrix.  Now mine doesn't burn my fingers off so will give it a hosepiping first..

What a load of crap.....the heater matrix is not considered part of the engine cooling system as on many of the cars, the flow though it can be stopped!

Its normally due to poor antifreeze changes resulting in the composite material failing and/or corrosion of the alloy head

[philhoward]

Don't shoot the messenger!  I know its plausible with other cars, just wondered if there was any truth in it, that's all..

Just grabbing a bacon butty given rain has stopped play..oh for a double garage/barn...