Zackk
New Member
Hey guys, I did a search and tried to work out what the go was, but to no avail. So I thought I'd just post about my issue and see what you guys can tell me.
Basically, got home from my mates place and noticed that the temp guage was at about 3 quarters, opened the bonnet up straight away and saw (what looked like) steam coming out the the side of my engine block. Now, I'm 99% sure that the head gasket is blown - However, the common telltale signs of a blown head gasket aren't there.. Oil isn't milky, no water coming out of exhaust (that I have seen, at the very least). I checked my coolant and realised **** was empty... Filled it up with water at first (while it was still hot - not sure if it was relevant or not) and noticed that the hose clamp at the bottom of the radiator had snapped, and I was leaking from there, which made sense as it hadn't been long since I topped it up. It kept leaking, so I got myself some stop-leak and chucked it in (mind you, before I noticed that the clamp had snapped) and topped it up with some more coolant, and it hasn't overheated since. I haven't noticed any loss in power and the idle isn't overly rough (around 300xxx on the clock, can't expect it to be purring like a ferrari).
All that aside, I'm not entirely convinced that I've blown my head gasket. Can anyone shed some light on the situation?
Also, would anyone have any idea how far up the temp guage one would need to take the car for the head to warp? I really can't afford a reco or a new head, so I'm hoping I got lucky and it's still true.
I've also read that the inlet manifold gasket can cause similar issues, but I just don't think it has anything to do with my situation, as there was steam coming out of the side of my engine.
Thanks guys, any info is greatly appreciated.
Basically, got home from my mates place and noticed that the temp guage was at about 3 quarters, opened the bonnet up straight away and saw (what looked like) steam coming out the the side of my engine block. Now, I'm 99% sure that the head gasket is blown - However, the common telltale signs of a blown head gasket aren't there.. Oil isn't milky, no water coming out of exhaust (that I have seen, at the very least). I checked my coolant and realised **** was empty... Filled it up with water at first (while it was still hot - not sure if it was relevant or not) and noticed that the hose clamp at the bottom of the radiator had snapped, and I was leaking from there, which made sense as it hadn't been long since I topped it up. It kept leaking, so I got myself some stop-leak and chucked it in (mind you, before I noticed that the clamp had snapped) and topped it up with some more coolant, and it hasn't overheated since. I haven't noticed any loss in power and the idle isn't overly rough (around 300xxx on the clock, can't expect it to be purring like a ferrari).
All that aside, I'm not entirely convinced that I've blown my head gasket. Can anyone shed some light on the situation?
Also, would anyone have any idea how far up the temp guage one would need to take the car for the head to warp? I really can't afford a reco or a new head, so I'm hoping I got lucky and it's still true.
I've also read that the inlet manifold gasket can cause similar issues, but I just don't think it has anything to do with my situation, as there was steam coming out of the side of my engine.
Thanks guys, any info is greatly appreciated.