Eeek, Head gasket probably gone

**Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:16 pm

Okay, car overheated yesterday (seriously steam everywhere) and wouldn't start again. Garage says likely to be Head gasket about £500-£600 to fix.

Question: Is this a common/recurring problem with 323's or should I replace it and have happy driving for a lot more miles (clock on 110k)?

**Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:02 pm

Not heard of anyone else having this problem. Mine's on 118K miles and I know others have done more.

If the rest of the car is fine, and you still enjoy/rely on it, then I'd have the work done.

Mark

**Joined:** Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:37 pm **Posts:** 677

i suppose its how u drive, if you've been giving it some serious thrashin then its no suprise, if you havent then its a suprise :roll:

**Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2005 8:15 pm

Have a loo at the oil, if its a funny colour, then its the head gasket, but, it could just be a split hose, i'd be very wary of garges givin it the 'it's your head gasket mate' try and get a second and even third opinion if poss, if you've got AA relay or similar get em out, thats wot ur payin em for

**Joined:** Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:38 am **Posts:** 2226

yeh check your water level to see if it has disappeared (though if u got steam everywhere then it could be expected). check for oil floating on the coolant, if its there then.

Be very careful, if you have lost ur head gasget and you try starting it you could lunch a con-rod then u really in trouble.

You should notice if ur gasget starts to go, as it will start to get very lumpy and missfire and you will obviously start to loose oil/water and your car will blow steam out the back.

Arty

**Posted:** Mon Mar 21, 2005 10:23 pm

also, whip off the oil filler cap and see if there any 'gunk', for want of a better word, on it. its a sure sign of oil n water mixin

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 9:56 am

lol i though my head gasket had gone.

Then i found the missing oil cap.

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:01 am

I had clouds of steam coming out of the engine 2 weeks ago - it was the main radiator hose - it had burst just underneath the distributor. I bought a new hose and fitted it in 5 minutes - also topped up the coolant. Problem solved !

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 4:32 pm

Phew, there may be hope for my pocket yet. Coolant was green and boiling but no gunky oil. Just hope the heat of the engine hasn't done any serious damage internally. :cry:

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:06 pm

Yeah - usually it's burst hoses that look so spectacular. Burst head gaskets tend to be more subtle and make themselves known by a steady deteriation in performance ending up with a totally seized motor ...

Hope you're just looking at a burst hose :wink:

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:21 pm

[quote="Smotter"]Yeah - usually it's burst hoses that look so spectacular. Burst head gaskets tend to be more subtle and make themselves known by a steady deteriation in performance ending up with a totally seized motor ...

Hope you're just looking at a burst hose :wink:

[/quote]

Wouldn't really expect a head hasket to go on a Mazda...

Rover on the other hand...FARKIN HELL..My neighbour is addicted to em...He's had 8 rovers so far out of which 5 had head gasket failure.. :shock:

**Posted:** Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:48 pm

Regarding burst hoses - you might like to peruse this thread linking burst hoses to distributor oil leaks ...

[url]http://www.club323f.com/club323f/forum/viewtopic.php4?t=2432[/url]

Eeek, Head gasket probably gone

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