slicktimmy

please help me

my car (1992 green top, running about 300-310 brake) has always been good in all the time ive owned it, but only yesterday was on the motorway, i decided to give it a bit of right foot, i reached about 130ish then when i looked in the mirror i could see loads of what looked like to be smoke i quickly pulled over to check what the problem was, and found that it wasnt smoke, but steam from the water/header tank

the temperature guage was reading in the red, so it was deffo overheating, and i think it lost quite a bit of water the problem in the end was the seal on the lid for the header tank, it looked to have cracked or split and was leting out steam/water from the top

i was quickly helped out by a pal who went out of his way to come and rescue me! he gave me his header cap from his own car and bought along some water, i dont know what i would have done without him!!!
(thanks mate you know who you are!)

my question is, i filled up with water again to about half way in the tank, and drove to my own house which was about 90 miles away from where i broke down, i gave it a little welly again after the 90 mile trip, and it misfired at around 4000revs on full throttle, when i got home, all that water was gone and now its below the low mark should it have used quite a bit because it lost a lot from the system and its just taking what it needs or does my car have a more serious problem than just the tank cap

the oil was just over the low mark before i set off from my mates house, and its now below the low mark, does it sound like its used a lot of oil and water? or is this normal after it losing so much from the leak? the water that is in the tank at the moment looks a little dirty and has some crap (dirt) floating around in it, is this normal

what problems could this leak have caused to the cars overall performance? is there anything else i should check, or change

im going to buy a brand new header tank and brand new cap, will also change the oil, and replace the water etc etc is there anything i need to know before doing any of this? im not too technical in the under bonnet areas

i apologise for writing an essay, im just upset that my car is not running right and am looking for as much help as possible, thank you for taking the time to read this

tim

Csm

Bye bye headgasket probably matey

slicktimmy

sorry, but what do you mean

tabetha

Cossie's have an appetite for head gaskets is what he means!!
Overheating one does NOT do it much good, so you may be having to replace it, very likely, almost defintite.
tabetha

slicktimmy

oh no this is not good

how much is this going to cost can someone give me an estimate for parts and labour, i live in st albans, is there somewhere local that caters for cosworths

Tony Rs

iTrader: (9)

hello mate scc performance should be able to help you out give them a bell think they are called the st albans car clinic.

Csm

ur better upgrading with the usual group A gasket at a cost £60 - £400 for a super duper multi layer gasket


Thats just the start

Probably best part of a Grand easy time the labour costs and head tests are done

melzieann

deffo sounds like head gasket

slicktimmy

thank you Tony

slicktimmy

it doesnt need a superduper one its not really big power or anything, just your average mods to make reasonable bhp surely for a head gasket to be fitted it wont be that much!!!

banhambuilt

your lucky you didn`t seize the thing up,giving it a good run and you knew the oil was on or near the low mark

J9BBY

Do it yourself. It'll cost you about a tenth of that including head skim.

slicktimmy

i would if i could, but im not very good with taking engines apart i dont want to mess things up and would rather leave it to someone who knows what they are doing thanks for the advice everyone, if anyone is local and fancies sorting a job for me, my ears are open and my pm box has space

SillyFezzaMk1

iTrader: (1)

Fuck me I wouldnt want to have to visit your tuner! 1k for a head test...Buy a new fucker for 1/2 that....U gotta be kidding right?

Dan

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

had exactly the same, turned out it was the head gasket, also the water got that hot, it distorted the header tank

slicktimmy

how did you find out mate? i mean before you decided to do the head gasket, did something seriously go wrong ive never done it before on the car and i dont think it was done before i bought it so it must need one soon but i dont really know how to tell

what other bits are needed when doing the head gasket? can someone do a break down of parts cost and list everything i will need so i am prepared when it eventually has to be done

tabetha

Take a seat, or 16 as this is the number of seats that are usually shagged on a cossie head that has more than about 60K on it.
Then you are looking at guide wear, repairs where some bodger has been before and stripped threads, skim etc new valves reface, any corroded head areas to be welded, broken studs.
The head can EASILY run to £500, this is forgetting about the likely worn turbo for another time.
As an example mine needed 16guides, 8 exhaust valves, I had machined GM ones(cheaper), all 16 seats cut, reface, two broken studs extracted, plus a few other bits.
Cossies are VERY hard hard on thier heads.
For your power a group a would be best around £50/55 YB0611 part number, these are a fibrous design so will cope with small imperfections well, if block has any corrosion on top surface.
Then you need new bolts or better still ARP stud and nut kit £130 ish, as well as gaskets, seals, the standard seals are not too good so I use VITON ones £9 each but only need two(cams).
The trouble is when you have engine apart you start thinking should I replace this and that and it adds up.
A very good place to get bits is MATT LEWIS 01922 692424.
A tip is leave the head gasket to shrink for an hour and then retighten/retorque with ARP, as it WILL loosen.
If you need any help just ask, they are as engines go very basic and easy to work on, some are wary of the timing belt but this is more to do with the name I think as they have got to be the easiest one in the world to do.
tabetha

slicktimmy

i dont think the problem is gonna be as serious as some people say or at least i hope it isnt!!!

will soon find out once ive booked it in to the local garage thanks for your help peeps

Csm

Head test ??? , im talking about job fully done not just a test !!!!!!!!

I get involved myself with a few mates as im lucky that way but im stating the worst kinda prices as Tabetha states there are usually a lot more extra issues to consider aswell which all adds to the costs !!!

And surely you wanna buy the best gasket you can then forget about it rather than cheap shite that could be fucked again in a matter of no time once the heavy right foot comes out to play

TurboShed

When my cambelt went, needed 16 new valves & guides, had a WRC gasket put on and the head ported & polished, had ARP spec studs, head skim. Cost £1350. Oh, and a new cambelt LoL!

So just a blown gasket is no big deal.

Welcome to Cossie ownership.