Hi all,my ka spat a load of coolant out the top of the expansion bottle the other day when i was sat in traffic for a while,temp light came on so i let it sit overnight at side of road and came back to it the next day.The coolant is now black as opposed to red before,obviously this doesnt sound too good

It does however drive perfectly and has plenty of go still and starts fine,is this definetly the head gasket gone or is there something else like an oil cooler that has failed? its a 2006 KA 1.3 petrol if it helps,thanks for any help

 

I don't recall these having a oil cooler. So unless this car is in exceptional solid condition it's as good as scrap or chance a 2nd hand engine and a good clean of the cooling system.

 

My last ka made it 60 miles down the m6 with no water and a blown gasket they will start after cooling down only until the over heat again I do 45k a year so just throw them away when thier done