Head Gasket Failure - Why?

dani_r

Guest
Hello all!

Well, after a once over on my MK2 Toledo whilst doing the cambelt, took the oil filler cap off and saw huge amounts of mayo :(

So now on top of the cost of the parts for the cambelt, i now need a head gasket doing!

THEN! to top it off, i broke off the elbow the goes into the heater exchange (i think) so need one of them too.

Any ideas why the head might have gone? It's never over-heated, the heater blows out hot and cold perfectly. The only thing I can think of is that it's happened before I bought the car and the guy has patched it up somehow (?). When i took the engine cover off, it had some dodgy botch work done to a breather pipe, so figured it's had more 'work' done elsewhere.

I have a new cambelt, waterpump (from Sere) and hydraulic tensioner to go on. I know i'll need a head gasket and skim, but can anyone confirm what else I will need? (head bolts, oil seals etc)

Many Thanks
 
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dani_r

Guest
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seatcupramad23

kc4even23
Sep 7, 2009
3,239
2
birmingham
it most likely that your oil cooler has failed , same thing happen to me , took the head off skimmed it and replaced the head gasket (which looked in good nick anyway) but replaced all the same with new betl and tensiors and after 2 days same thing happen oil seaping into the coolant bottle when car is warm, turned out the head gasket wasn't at faukt it was the oil cooler ,
 

dani_r

Guest
it most likely that your oil cooler has failed , same thing happen to me , took the head off skimmed it and replaced the head gasket (which looked in good nick anyway) but replaced all the same with new betl and tensiors and after 2 days same thing happen oil seaping into the coolant bottle when car is warm, turned out the head gasket wasn't at faukt it was the oil cooler ,

Thanks for your reply :) any way to tell of the oil cooler has failed? How did you know yours had?
 

Mark300zx

Active Member
Apr 24, 2008
1,455
8
Surrey/SW London
You can get a head gasket test kit, or you can take it to a friendly mot testers and they can sniff for exhaust fumes?

There are a variety of reasons for the HG to go, it may just be bad luck, looking after your car well and let it cool down before shutting off are the only preventative measures.
 

dani_r

Guest
You can get a head gasket test kit, or you can take it to a friendly mot testers and they can sniff for exhaust fumes?

There are a variety of reasons for the HG to go, it may just be bad luck, looking after your car well and let it cool down before shutting off are the only preventative measures.

I think this had gone before I bought the car and the guy cleaned it up before I took a look! The intake and everything is off the car at the moment as we were half way through doing the Cambelt when we noticed the mayo under the cap. It's just sat there waiting for parts.

With the amount of mayo, and the coolant loss, I'd say it's pretty conclusive?

Just so I know, an oil cooler failure wouldn't cause a head failure, surely?
 
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