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[portomega]

Right car is off having the HG done, has anyone here had theirs go? how was the car after you'd had it done? just worried the car wont be the same now as this seems a magor thing to go wrong and to be fixed, although the guy thats doing it seems to know what hes doing ( hopefully!)

[Abiton]

Fear not, except for the bill.

I did ours a few weeks ago.  It didn't need a skim, but I did do a teeny bit of decoking of piston crowns and in the combustion chambers.

Car's never run better during our 3 years or so of ownership. 

[portomega]

ive been quoted between £500 and £700 for the job but the guy thats doing it seems to know what hes talking about and is getting all the parts at trade prices and charges just £30ph for labour
Is there anything i need to look out for once it sorted? is it best to drive it gentley for a while, not that im a boy racer or anything lol just here in Wales theres alot of steep hills that you do need to put your foot down to get up 

[Abiton]

Obviously you'll want to keep an eye on the level of coolant in the expansion tank, to be sure it's no longer losing any, but other than that should be 'as normal' or at least as was normal before your problems started.  It doesn't half make one smile when it stops going down at all. 

I think ours started to leak quite some time ago, and gradually worsened to the point of serious coolant loss (0.5L/week) and then uneven running immediately after starting.  I eventually had to stop being 'in denial' when I looked through the spark-plug holes and found the crown of piston no.4 soaking wet with coolant.

If at all possible, get your garage to fit a genuine cam-cover gasket using the black sealant as per the guide(s) on here.  (And keep an eye on any possible leaks of oil).

Pete

[portomega]

cheers thanks for that, the guy doing it said he'd do the cam cover , timing belt & water pump, thermosat and clean my breathers so looks like it will be getting the full works and will skim the head too just to be 100% sure.
One thing he was puzzled by though was the smell of fuel from the header tank

[megaomega123]

cheers thanks for that, the guy doing it said he'd do the cam cover , timing belt & water pump, thermosat and clean my breathers so looks like it will be getting the full works and will skim the head too just to be 100% sure.
One thing he was puzzled by though was the smell of fuel from the header tank

That is quite normal with HG failure as the exhaust gases are allowed to escape into the coolant system 

[portomega]

agh right so its actually exhaust gases not petrol mixing with the coolant, thats causing the smell. i was wondering what all the bubbles were when i was checking the coolant the last few days lol

[megaomega123]

Sometimes people use an exhaust gas analyser in the header tank to detect possible HG failure.

[tunnie]

HG failure on 2003 plate? 

4 pot HG are generally good for 170k, biggest thing that kills them early is poor coolant. If its not got a 50/50 mix with anti-freeze or been run with just water it will kill them early.

Mine is 2000 plate and 121k miles still going fine (touch wood) I change my coolant every year.

[portomega]

well i did change my header tank about 3 weeks ago and we kinda lost all the coolant that was in it lol wasnt quick enough to cover the hole and it was boiling hot  and we just kinda filled the tank back up with half water , half coolant, im guessing that was a big mistake?

[tunnie]

well i did change my header tank about 3 weeks ago and we kinda lost all the coolant that was in it lol wasnt quick enough to cover the hole and it was boiling hot  and we just kinda filled the tank back up with half water , half coolant, im guessing that was a big mistake?

Water on its own is very corrosive, just look at the bottom of your kettle. Its very important to keep a good 50/50 mix with anti freeze.

What was the mixture before?

Whats your millage?

For it to fail so early, it must have been run on just water  :-/

[portomega]

Its done 85,000, not sure what the mixture was before as ive had the car 1.5 years and ive never changed the coolant and no idea when it was last changed. When we fitted the new tank we just filled that up 50/50 we didnt flush out the whole system

[tunnie]

Its done 85,000, not sure what the mixture was before as ive had the car 1.5 years and ive never changed the coolant and no idea when it was last changed. When we fitted the new tank we just filled that up 50/50 we didnt flush out the whole system

 

My guess the previous owner just used water 

Over the winter thats caused the water to freeze doing damage to the HG, i have never heard of one going so early.

Father tunnies dealer serviced 2.2 HG failed at 99k

Check the maint guide section for my how2 on coolant, change it every year, for the low cost (£17) its worth it.

[tunnie]

cheers thanks for that, the guy doing it said he'd do the cam cover , timing belt & water pump, thermosat and clean my breathers so looks like it will be getting the full works and will skim the head too just to be 100% sure.
One thing he was puzzled by though was the smell of fuel from the header tank

That is quite normal with HG failure as the exhaust gases are allowed to escape into the coolant system 

I am also concerned the 'mechanic' is worried about petrol smells in the header tank.

Are you sure he knows what he's doing 

[portomega]

i meant to say i was confused by it not him lol
is it right though at once the Hg goes once on an engine, its likely to fail again even after a repair? or should the car be fine aslong as i look after the coolant?