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[THE MAD HATTER]

HI ALL I HAVE PRESSURE BUILDING IN THE HEADER TANK SO HEAD GASKET PROBS! DOSE SOME ONE KNOW OF ANYONE WHO WONT CHARGE AN ARM AND A LEG TO DO THE JOB AND LIVE IN THE BEDFORDSHIRE AERA AND INSTEAD OF USEING VAUXHALL PARTS WHICH COST AN ARM AND A LEG WOULD USEING PARTS FROM AUTO VAUX BE OK !AS OVER 3/4 SAVEING ON PRICE FROM VAUXHALL !!

[Kevin Wood]

It's very rare for the V6s to suffer a traditional head gasket failure. Normally the HGs leak coolant long before the fire rings ever let go.

You will have some pressurisation of the cooling system. That's how it's designed to work, but obviously if it's blowing the relief valve in the cap and boiling over you have a problem.

Can you be a bit more specific about the symptoms you are seeing? Preferably with caps lock off?

[THE MAD HATTER]

ok the car starts no probs seems too run ok it takes about 15-20 mins to get to the point where the fans kick in at about the 90% mark. the water in the header tank is at the top of the tank at this point but the water dosnt rise till about the 80-85% mark and once the fans kick in the level drops back to normal and no pressur. there is a little bit of white stuff on the oil cap and a water hose that connects too the matrix has blown off ! all the time the car runs there are no leaks from anywhere under the engine and there dosent seem to be any water loss or if there is i cant notice it . i was going to try that new product called steel seal. what do you think.?

[Kevin Wood]

A little mayo in the oil filler neck is normal and nothing to worry about. It's because a little moisture collects there due to condensation and doesn't get carried way by oil splash due to the tall filler neck.

The header tank becoming that full doesn't sound normal, assuming it starts off at the "full" level. It sounds to me like you might have an airlock. Has the coolant recently been changed? It might be worth running it for a few minutes cold with the header tank cap removed, while massaging the radiator hoses to try to burp air out of the system.

Additives are generally a bad idea unless it's an emergency repair due to a leaking radiator, etc. and, if it is the head gasket, they won't form a strong enough seal. I wouldn't, personally.

[cem_devecioglu]

ok the car starts no probs seems too run ok it takes about 15-20 mins to get to the point where the fans kick in at about the 90% mark. the water in the header tank is at the top of the tank at this point but the water dosnt rise till about the 80-85% mark and once the fans kick in the level drops back to normal and no pressur. there is a little bit of white stuff on the oil cap and a water hose that connects too the matrix has blown off ! all the time the car runs there are no leaks from anywhere under the engine and there dosent seem to be any water loss or if there is i cant notice it . i was going to try that new product called steel seal. what do you think.?

if there is no measurable amount of coolant loss, head gasket drops from the probability league..

and as Kevin said , stay away from those evil additives (this is my idea)  as there may be unpredictable consequences after.. instead try to find and solve the exact problem..

[Darth Loo-knee]

The Temperature Gauge should sit midway.... So mini facelift 95, Facelift 90. They will both rise about 2.5 then the fans should bring gauge down again.
Head Gaskets on 1998 ish 3.0's seem to have some problems, but as a rule not very problematic..... usually would leak water somewhere so if you do not have any at all I would be looking else where.
I would also advise not putting Radweld or other quick fix solutions in either, more trouble than they are worth.
Try and make sure there is no air locks in there first, start up from cold, with reservoir cap off, heaters on HI with ECO on (which means air con is off) keep squeezing the water pipe near the battery plus the pipe on the opposite side.
See what happens then report back your findings.
 

[THE MAD HATTER]

thanks for the input so far . forgot to say that its a 2000 y plate and its only got 59800 miles under its belt full police history to feb this year! and when when the header tank pressure rises a few water hoses get hard ! and just a though if the gasket was gone and makeing the water pressure rise would the water in the headder tank not stay full (to the cap) because the engine would keep the pressure there instead of falling when the fans kick in and drop ! as you would think that the pressure would be constant .

[HockeyDave55]

Second Darth Loo-knee, I had very similar symptoms and I panicked like a big girl, all it was, was a air lock.... Happy un-air locking! :-)

[THE MAD HATTER]

HI I DID THE PIPE SQUEEZ THING TO SEE IF IT HAD AN AIR LOCK BUT IT IS STILL THERE (PRESSURE IN THE HEADER TANK)A MATE OF MINE HAD A QUICK LOOK AND (RECONDS) HE CAN SMELL RADWELD OR SOMETHINK LIKE THAT FROM THE HEADER TANK I STILL HAVE NO OR IF ANY VERY MINAMAL WATER LOSS THAT I CAN NOTICE SO I WAS THINKING IF RADWELD OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAS BEEN PUT IN WOULD A BLOCKED OR PARTLEY BLOCKED RAD CAUSE THE SAME SYMPTONS ! CAR STILL DOSNT OVERHEAT AND PRESSURE DROPS WHEN FANS KICK IN !

[PhilRich]

This might be worth copying & saving 

[THE MAD HATTER]

thanks for that next test will b a gas test for the header tank ! will keep you all updated !

[THE MAD HATTER]

hi guys i have just had the heater bypass valve changed and cooling system flushed and it seems to have stoped the problems that i was haveing so a BIG THANKS to you all for your help !!!!!

[blackviper90210]

Glad to hear you got it sorted mate, nice one