Blown head gasket or cracked head

[ucwepn]

Hi all, yeah the cars ben running rough when idling the last couple of days, I checked the water levels in the radiator and it was fine. reservoir was empty tho, I started the engine with out the radiator cap on and there were tiny little bubbles coming to the surface, maybe 1 or 2mm in diameter. I have a feeling its the head cracked because I snapped the top off one of my bleeder bolts a while ago.

What do you guys reckon? I have a spare head in the Garage, am gonna send it off to get crack tested and mildly ported on the exhaust side.

[rb26dett]

Sounds like a good Idea.

[Trevor 062]

is your oil milky looking

[ucwepn]

will look into that tomorrow. The tiny air bubbles rising to the surface of the radiator is an indication of a leak in the cooling system? What damage will I do to the car if I drive it for another week on very short journeys not letting it get too hot?

[Jules86]

Can they be fixed before it becomes bad...There is a proper device thats will screw into the radiator cap hole like a radiator cap, that does the job of bleeding.

[Jules86]

will look into that tomorrow. The tiny air bubbles rising to the surface of the radiator is an indication of a leak in the cooling system? What damage will I do to the car if I drive it for another week on very short journeys not letting it get too hot?

Once the head cracks they're still pretty drivable, i drove for months with a cracked head and my mate another 5 months on me. We both needed new radiators.

If you gonnna drive it, drive it like a grandma; probably advise not to unless it's the only way, and if it is the head, either get a confident mechanic to do it, unless u are confident yourself...cuz you here about ppl doing it themselves but cracking a year later neway...mine is running pretty good on coolant, probably used up a 2 full reseviour total over 8 months, and that's with two snapped bleeder bolts. And driving pretty hard.

[rb26dett]

Im looking into getting a burptank made up for mine.

[mag]

Im looking into getting a burptank made up for mine.

Not to many people will know what ur talking about!!

[ucwepn]

Yes please explain the "burp tank" to us n00bs LOL sounds like a really good idea if it does what I think it does.

[My Car Pwns]

well i've cracked/blown my head 3 times in the last yr..

Signs:
- Oil Cap looks all milky
- Drinks Heapz of Water
- Exhaust blows steam
- Rough Idling
- Little Shakes at speeds <5 km/h

[My Car Pwns]

BTW, It will take a couple of days for the oil cap to look milkish..

[craigvl038]

i drove mine for months with cracked heads. just make sure you carry some bottles of water with you and depending on how much water its using like mine was empty in 2-3 days so just keep checkin the water every so often.

[My Car Pwns]

my heads gone again it drinks on average half a litre a day of water..
(but thats with me delivering pizzas every nite)
Cant wait till the VN is ready

[rb26dett]

Are you installing the head yourself?

[frenzal_tom]

mothers '99 vectra has done the head aswell mechanics dont have any clues they are so stupid

[ucwepn]

No I wont be doing the head myself, I already wrecked one of the threads on my current head by overscrewing in the manifold stud so I'm gonna palm it off to the mechanic. its just gotta last until tax refund time LOL Might take it to rajab or bresciani at least they know about vl's and all the problems and fixes for them, will prolly cost more but be done right hopefully.

[Pub247]

Basically vl heads crack mainly in one spot which is right along the cam tunnel. mainly from the back of the head to the front. If you leave it to long they're a prick to drill out and weld. (Take me 2 hours to do 1 bad head) They corrode a bit and sometimes into the exhaust ports. Threads aren't a big deal to fix just put a new coil in bit hard when its on the motor though. Rajab should know a bit one of the brothers died in a 9sec vl they built. I you want to fix your old head i could prolly get done for nothing if its cracked or corroded if the boss lets me. Getting it reconditioned will cost though but with a discount.

[ucwepn]

Sweet man, good info there mate. I am looking for the thanks button LOL but its gone. I have a spare head from a low K's calais that I am gonna use but need to get crack tested and machined. Where abouts do ya work? I might come to you guys if its not too far out of the way.

[Pub247]

I work at hm gem engines south dandenong. Is the head still together or has it been stripped if you want me to pessure test it it'll need to be stripped as well for the machining if you want some more details pm me. I can get prolly get everything done up to machining for nothing but i might have to charge for that as i'll have to ask the boss to mill the head.