Inlet manifold gasket

Define 'lost' ?

The reservoir isn't a clear indication of your coolant levels, in fact it varies a lot. It fills/empties as is needed by the coolant system. (someone correct me if i'm wrong)

Check your radiator for the correct indication of coolant levels

 

Wouldn't stress unless the radiator level drops or you experience overheating issues.

 

that doesn't seem like a manifold gasket, mine was faa-aarked and it made it from narre warren to geelong pretty fine, a little moister out the exhaust on start, but that was it, if it was your head gasket it would be overheating every so often and steam would be pouring out every where, happened to my mates VP calais.

 

do an error check, see if theres anything else would be apart of the problem, then try a mechanic.

just remember its a fair bit of work to get a new gasket under the head.

 

get it pressure tested and also tested for combustion leakage.

 

Had a case here that was claimed to be a blown head because it was overheating, but it turned out to be the themostat was not working.

 

Def try to diagnose where this water is coming from. Have you checked all of the coolant pipes, isn't there a small one coming off the back of the engine for the heater?

A head gasket is a big job, not to be undertaken unless absolutely necessary.

 

check your oil, if its milky then theres a good chance the inlet manifold gasket has gone, thats what happened with my ecotec

 

When my inlet manifold gasket on my VSV6 was blown, it was using around a litre of coolant every day or two, it was pumping heaps of coolant straight out of the exhaust. It didnt overheat at all though when I drove it and it didnt run too badly once it had been running for a minute or two . It was like this for about about two weeks, then the engine oil started to get emulsified with coolant and it started to get the milky look about it, so I removed the inlet manifold and confirmed that the inlet manifold gasket was blown out near the water jacket in the head, and coolant was leaking straight out of the coolant passage, and straight into the inlet runner of the rear cylinder on the passenger side.. I bought a VRS kit (Valve Regrind gasket Set) , which also came with new head gaskets, so I removed the heads a while I was at it, just to check them out and to give the heads, the valves and piston tops a cleanup. The engine was supposed to be a new engine from redlands in brisbane, and after this happened, I had my doubts, even though the reciepts for the new engine came with the car. I confirmed the engine was at least recently rebored and honed etc once I had removed the heads. I noticed that all the inlet manifold bolts were only finger tight when I removed it, so this must have been the cause of the inlet manifold gasket blowing out so quickly I think. The engine had only done a few thousand K's at the time.