Astra Diesel Turbo 80,000 miles.

[Agile]

This car has had a slight leak of combustion products into rad water for a few weeks causing need for toping up water every 100 miles.

The problem got worse recently with rough running and poor starting and unburnt fuel from exhaust at under 1000 rpm. Bit embarasing in motorway jams with clouds of light colour smoke from back!

At higher engine speeds and on motorways it performs as normal !

I would expect the problem to be one or more of :-

Head gasket leaking cylinder to water.

Cylinder head distortion.

Possible piston rings failure.

Without fully dismantling and very careful inspection, can anyone comment on the likelyhood of each one of these possibilities?

What type of head gasket is used on these engines?

Its a Vauhall LP engine!

Tony

 

[joe-90]

From what I've heard it's most likely head distortion. Head needs removing and skimming. Last price I heard was about £850.

 

[Belle427]

sounds like the head gasket,best to get it done asap before it causes any more damage

 

[Agile]

Does anyone know what the head gasket is made of???

Older gaskets used to be some asbestos stuff sandwiched between two thinner sheets of copper.

Some of the latest ones seem to be virtually thin sheets of stainless steel.

Tony

 

[Nige F]

Scrap it ......it`s a bad un just like mine was I wouldn`t waste the money on a head refurb....It seems like these engines are a lottery job

 

[davydunt]

now here is a long shot...

when i was down at the local motor factors the other day, i saw a chap pay out £40 for a "bottle of fluid" made solely to put in your radiator to fix blow head gaskets at early stages

normally id laugh and say what a load of balls, but then though what if ???

£40 is alot for 500ml, and it would probably just be a short fix.

anybody else seen this stuff ?

 

[Nige F]

yeah it`s Sperm Whale semen and Snake oil

 

[davydunt]