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My car has lost power, acts like it is misfiring, quite jolty when accelerating and there is mayo on the oil cap. I'm assuming my head gasket is gone? does anyone kno how much it would cost to fix at a garage?

thanks in advance

Jack

a good few hundred quid.

just ring a few places get some quotes

Signs of a head gasket. Any loss of coolant? water/oily leaks around the head area?

not being funny but it could be a spark plug.. as for mayo type substance that can be condensation in the oil. happns when people just tootle around in their cars and never give it any welly.

I'd say do it yourself, you'll be able to pick the gaskets up cheapish, as for the head, get it checked out if you suspect it is warped, sent it for skimming. This is all the things a garage will do but with additional labour charge. Oh and some have experiance

its deffo head gasket, theres oil in the coolant. i could do it myself, would need a torque wrench tho. Also i ain't sure about timing it back up afterwards, is it hard to do? do i need special tools?

Thanks again

Jack

Ahh. Is it a 8 or 16 Valve? You may need a locking pin for your cam to retain timing. Timing is easy, make sure all your timing marks line up as piston number One is at TDC (Top Dead Centre) turn the engine over by hand or using a braker bar and socket, and feel for resistance, obviously there will be resistance on power and compression strokes, but resistance that makes it difficult to turn the engine over. This ensures your piston is not catching any valves.

Do you have a Haynes manul? That would be useful.

A word of warning, never put all your trust in a Torque wernch. You'll find alot of things now days are tightend by Degreese.

A Torque Wrench works on resistance on the threads. If you put a bolt in a rusty hole, this may cause resistance. The TW is set to say 30Nm and the bolt may not actually be torqued up to 30Nm, it may have clicked off early due to the rust causing resistance.

Where as Degreese, well 90 Degreese is 90 degreese, weather there is resistance or not.

(I work as a HGV Mechanic. I find many new engine rebuilds are put together nowdays in degreese rather then using a Torque wrench, some are also combind, for example, 100Nm then followed by 90 Degreese and then another 90 Degreese.)

its an 8v version, is there anything i would be able to use instead of a locking pin to do the same job? i do have a Haynes manual and it says the bolts need to be done to 30nm and then 90 degrees. Thanks for helping mate, i did start a mechanics course and did 1 year, but the college was so crap i quit as it was a waste of time. Saving to go traveling now then when i get back i'm gonna try get myself a apprenticeship. Do you kno how long the job will take to do solo?

thanks

jack

Jackdcruz wrote:its an 8v version, is there anything i would be able to use instead of a locking pin to do the same job? i do have a Haynes manual and it says the bolts need to be done to 30nm and then 90 degrees. Thanks for helping mate, i did start a mechanics course and did 1 year, but the college was so crap i quit as it was a waste of time. Saving to go traveling now then when i get back i'm gonna try get myself a apprenticeship. Do you kno how long the job will take to do solo?

thanks

jack

Ha, i started whith cars and yes college was crap. I prefer bigger engines, lol. HGV's anyday. I'm not sure on time. I'd say an hour minimum. So yeah an hour plus. Sorry im not much more help then that.

Right i am deffo gonna have a shot at doing this on my own. Just to make sure i have everything, i am going to need: new gasket, torque wrench, cam shaft lock pin, tool kit, a scraper to clean the head. Anything else i have forgotten? Also while i am doing this is it worth doing anything else as well such as the belt? or would that mean having to time it all properly?

thanks

jack

While the head is off i would get it checked out, make sure its level and is in no need of skimming. Torque wernch, selection of spanners.

Time the engine prior to removing the head. Ensure the crankshaft dose not move.

I cant remember weather this engine is over head cam or a pushrod engine, over head valves.

For the price of a new belt you may aswel throw one on when you do the Head gasket.

ok i'll get a new belt as well, surely if the engine is timed right now, all i have to do is lock the camshaft and crank and if they dont move it should all go back on fine right?

Also what difference would it make if it was overhead or push rod? I do think its a overhead tho.

I don't really have time to send it to be checked for warping, i'll do the straight edge with a torch trick, the car isn't overheating atm so i'm not too worried about it warping.

thanks again

just make sure it is that. cus mine did the exact same thing. butttt. it wasnt the headgasket! have you changed your air filter? cus i changed mine and all i needed to do was take that breather filter off the oil pipe. run sum of that enginee flush throo it and new oil filter. good grade oil. sorted it!!

another good siggn is if you can smell funny smells throo the air vents. if you cant smell owt. it might just be the same problem as me! and also if blue smoke comes out your exhaust. and if tht dont smell too.

Jackdcruz wrote:ok i'll get a new belt as well, surely if the engine is timed right now, all i have to do is lock the camshaft and crank and if they dont move it should all go back on fine right?

Also what difference would it make if it was overhead or push rod? I do think its a overhead tho.

I don't really have time to send it to be checked for warping, i'll do the straight edge with a torch trick, the car isn't overheating atm so i'm not too worried about it warping.

thanks again

You wont need to lock the camshaft. Just ensure it is timed up correctly before starting, and check it again when you've completed the job.

Over head and pushrod work the same, but pushrod has a few more bits to it and the over head cam has a pully at the top, ha.

Sounds like your ready to roll.

Hardcore wrote:just make sure it is that. cus mine did the exact same thing. butttt. it wasnt the headgasket! have you changed your air filter? cus i changed mine and all i needed to do was take that breather filter off the oil pipe. run sum of that enginee flush throo it and new oil filter. good grade oil. sorted it!!

another good siggn is if you can smell funny smells throo the air vents. if you cant smell owt. it might just be the same problem as me! and also if blue smoke comes out your exhaust. and if tht dont smell too.

bur he said there are signs or

Lack of power
Coolant/oil around the head
Water in the oil

I stand by what you have said but in my view it leads to the headgasket. I'd check everything possible before ripping the head off.

i'm pretty sure it is that coz there is oil in the water, but tbh if i am doing it myself there is no harm in changing it anyway, will make the engine last longer. If it carries on then i'll change the air filter etc, tbh it could just be the coil pack or something, but i am 90% sure it will be the HG.

Why would i not need to lock it? Will it not move?

Jackdcruz wrote:i'm pretty sure it is that coz there is oil in the water, but tbh if i am doing it myself there is no harm in changing it anyway, will make the engine last longer. If it carries on then i'll change the air filter etc, tbh it could just be the coil pack or something, but i am 90% sure it will be the HG.

Why would i not need to lock it? Will it not move?

While you have your Airbox off, check the air filter, and also clean your Throttle body and also clean your Crankcase breather pipe (plugs intothe bottom of the air box)

At the end of the day your going to have to time the engine up before you start it so i dont think you'll have to lock it. Aslong as ll the timing marks line up and then you turn it over by hand it its turns over fine there will be no problem.