The pressure......

[tony750cc]

Pretty much my final attempt with the car.
Raised car up and got to both block drain plugs. Undid the nearside and water poured out freely and was clean, the drivers side undid but only a few drips came out. managed to insert a piece of steel and unclogged that, initially a bit of dirty fluid ran out but eventually had clean water free-flowing through both. Replaced and filled system with the front end raised. Took probably 7 or 8 litres of water so im happy it was taking loads of fluid into the system. Ran it at idle for a good ten minutes with heaters on and blowing warm air. Stopped and topped up water took maybe another half a litre. Drove car about 4 miles with nice hot air coming in through heaters, gauge showing around 70 and stable. Drove up a steep 2 mile hill and down other side rose to half way. By this stage i was beginning to think i may have made some progress. Carried on about 3 miles then stopped and gave it ten minutes. Checked the top hose which was hard but didnt seem really solid. At this point i didnt check the fluid level. Set off again and within about a mile the heaters stopped blowing hot and the gauge went up towards the 3/4 mark. Car stopped and it was hot but not boiling, (the oil thats been leaking from the rocker was sizzling but the rocker covers were still touchable). Top hose was now really hard. Let pressure out of system and topped up with maybe a litre of water into header tank. Carried on journey this time about 5 miles up a dual carriageway keeping to around 50mph gauge showing half way. Came off this road onto an A road with a hill. Again heaters stopped and gauge starts going up. Stopped again and topped up then returned home a short distance away
After the final short drive (prob a mile) system really pressurised. On checking header tank its full of "froth" doesnt really look to bubble but is frothy. There appears to be a small amount of an oily film in the tank but not excessive.
Im pretty much certain this is the good sign that the head gasket failed and pressurising the system (unless anyone has any other thoughts??).
Im not tempted to try to do this myself and given my faith in the car i guess it doesn't leave many options.
My temptation is to try to break it to recover as much as possible and hopefully some parts of the car can live on. It has a tidy hardtop and a lot of decent parts which i think may have a reasonable value. But seems a shame to do this to a potentially nice car
The other option would be to try to sell or swop as is but as i would have to point out the overheat/pressuring to any potential purchaser i think id probably be lucky to get a couple of grand for it which would mean id take a huge hit on it.
Would be interested in any thoughts to sell or break???
Tony

[StagnJag]

My answer to that would be to save your pennies and get it fixed.

Head gaskets going are not an unknown problem in the Stag, but they can be repaired. Certainly not worth breaking the car over. Once it is repaired and you are back on the road you will feel much better about it.

(I had HGF a couple of years ago so I have been there!)

Rgds

Dave

[Firept]

Tony.
Before you do any thing else have yo tried some K seal in it yet? If not do that first its not a permanent cure .
It sounds like its head gasket but its not the end of the world they are replaceable.
You can get some dye (not sure what it is called but someone on here will know)that you can fill the cooling system with which will change colour on the presence of combustion gases.
If the car is in generally good condition then why not sort the engine out, on the other hand if it a complete rust bucket then the sum of parts may be worth more than the whole.

Paul.

[milothedog]

Tony.
Before you do any thing else have yo tried some K seal in it yet? If not do that first its not a permanent cure .
It sounds like its head gasket but its not the end of the world they are replaceable.
You can get some dye (not sure what it is called but someone on here will know)that you can fill the cooling system with which will change colour on the presence of combustion gases.
If the car is in generally good condition then why not sort the engine out, on the other hand if it a complete rust bucket then the sum of parts may be worth more than the whole.

Paul.

You mean a Block tester, about £40 this is the one I have had for years now. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/block-test...ht_2206wt_1048

It will confirm it one way or another.

Ian

[V Mad]

It sounds like a head gasket. If the car is otherwise in good condition why not get it fixed? But if you do decide to sell it you should get more than 2k for it.

[Andy Rundell]

You mean a Block tester, about £40 this is the I have for years now. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/block-test...ht_2206wt_1048

It will confirm it one way or another.

Ian

As Ian has said, use a testing kit and you will have your answer inside 10mins, much better than trying to guess
........ Andy

[tony750cc]

Ive looked at a product called Steel seal which does get reasonable reviews, however i think id be so paranoid about it id never drive it. None of these product will ever give a permanent fix and its more money to throw at it (steel seal is 30 quid a bottle and it needs two)
Im not sure if the block testers are worth me spending another 40 quid on, its surely got to be the gaskets or the heads?? dont see what else could be drinking water and putting so much pressure into the system, it isnt losing fluid that i can see. The pressure was sufficient to spit the stat seal out on a fast run!!

[SaphireSpud]

Tony, we have a lot of expertise in your local branch of the SOC. Have you spoken to anyone locally? One of our members is a partner in a local garage with most of us use for regular servicing and for getting us out of some spectacular problems!
Contact me, or Debbie for advice. It doesn't sound as tho' it's terminal!
Regards, John

[keeny]

Tony most of the cost in replacing the head gaskets is labour costs,if all of your head studs will removed without shearing off in the head it will save you a load of money

Try locking two head nuts together on the head studs, run the engine up to temperature then try to slacken off the head stud with two spaners holding on both nuts.If it is possible to undo all of the head studs without them shearing off it will save alot of money in labour costs to replace your head gaskets

Keep your chin up as there is lots of usefull help,support and advice on here and im sure all forum members will do there best to help you sort your car ,dont lose heart

keeny

[Gresley]

I had HGF about three years ago and I would certainly say get it fixed, this is a common problem on Stags and I really don't think it is worth breaking the car over. Once they are done you will have faith in your Stag and really enjoy it! As has already been said, there are lots of knowledgable folk on here with tons of advice and help.

Brian.

[mahogany bob]

Tony
As sapphire spud has already said the S Wales area has a very experienced garage in the area (The Owner is possibly a founder member of the club) They have the facilities to confirm if the head gasket is gone or not and the expertise to reduce your labour charges if the Head studs prove to be difficult, there are very few garages with experience of these engines now and we are lucky to have one around us. If it is the head gaskets it would be a shame to Scrap / sell the car off at a loss as it is a relatively easy fix nowadays

Good Luck
Bob

[WealdenManinKent]

Dear Tony
If it is HGF then it is worth resolving. Sounds like your local group have the expertise to help you to happy stagdom.
Once sorted you know your have peace of mind.
But also from what you said I would consider a power flush on the cooling system to get all the muck out, i was amazed how much came out when I did mine.
Roger

[Andy Rundell]

Im not sure if the block testers are worth me spending another 40 quid on, its surely got to be the gaskets or the heads??

That depends on how much you value your time, confirming the actual probem allows you to concentrate on fixing the real problem rather than worrying about if's but's and maybe's.

You may be able to get a friendly garage to do a 'sniff test' from the rad (which is effectively the same as the block tester kit), but that will still consume your time.

Whichever path you take, I'm sure the problem is fixable

.......... Andy

[AlanD]

Hi Tony,

just thought i would share this with you and the guys, when i bought mine i had water leak, then oil leak, then more water and oil leaks, every time i cured one i ended up with another, then one of the heads started leaking on the outside edge i was so mad after what i had spent, i thought as you have, break it sell the parts and get what i can, i would have lost a lot of money, you never get anywhere near, i was totally gutted as you are now, all i can say is, sit back think about it or just leave it for a while, i bought a rebuilt engine from a stag specialist and had it fitted, and now i have the safety of it being all good, she's quick, no overheating issues, good on fuel, starts everytime on the button and people love the looks and admire her everywhere i go. i love the sound, and the driving, fitted a cd player and don't use it
i know its a lot of money but you could end up throwing a lot at it now and still be in the same position.

i know it's a hard choice but i'm glad i bit the bullet and spent the money, it broke my bank, but i dont even watch the water temp guage now, the guys here will support you, they did me, and i have asked some really dumb questions believe me, i have made them laugh and cry i bet, but it all helped.

Hope this helps in some way

Alan

[StagnJag]

If you get to know your local guys, they may well have a block tester they could lend you. It's one of those things, it can be used, probably a dozen times before you run out of fluid and no one is going to test their own engine that often so the chances are someone will have one knocking about somewhere.

Rgds

Dave