dog321fish Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Hi All Any suggestions, my car is overheating and loosing coolant through the overflow on top of the rad, also the heater sometimes works and sometimes does not. I have back flushed the rad, replaced thermostat and rad cap but no improvement. can not see any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. Did fit another radiator but when I filled it up it had a leak! I jacked the front end of the car up in the air so the rad cap was higher than the heater matrix when I filled it up. What can I try next? Cheers Dave Edited October 10, 2012 by dog321fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Sounds like a busted head gasket. If water is beeing pressed out of the radiator your compression could end up in the cooling system due to a failing head gasket. If i was you i would get a compression test made on the car this could give you an answer regarding a faulty head gasket anyways.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog321fish Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 thanks monzta looks like that may be the end of the road for another Manta! Cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyc Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Do a compression test first to see if it is the head gasket. If it is its not the end of the world, days work will have it running again Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Agreed with what Andy has said, if it is the head gasket, it's not the end of the world! They are that easy to do I recon I could do one in my sleep. Send me a message if you want some help with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The General Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 yeah i had a 1.8s once with same problem, i couldnt see any visable coolent leak so i ignored it for a while and then had a spectacular head gasket explosion on the M6 !!! it does sound like a head gasket. I Agree with senator, do a compression test . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog321fish Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) With a cheap compression tester off ebay i am getting 35psi on each cylinder, What should I be getting on a good engine? With a hawk compression tester I was getting 150psi on the 2 cylinders I could use it on. Cheers Dave Edited October 16, 2012 by dog321fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony g Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 If the top rad hose gets noticeably fatter and quite hard (ooh er) it likely the head gasket has gone. Those compression numbers with the new tester are nothing like accurate. IMO compression test dont give a true picture of whats going on. A leakdown test "may" show bubbles in the coolant if the gasket is gone quite bad but not always. Another trick, if the hose feel pumped up after a short run and is getting hot, whip the spark plugs out quickly and look for steam coming from the plug holes or even tiny amounts of coolant on the plugs. If either of those are there its gasket time. When I had an 1800s years ago I did 3 head gaskets on it until I sent the head to Bill Blydenstein (RIP) and he reworked the chambers etc. He said the 1.8 had detonation problems that caused the gaskets to fail, and he was right. Never had a gasket problem after that. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog321fish Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Thanks Andy, Sutty, The general & Tony It is looking like a replacement head gasket is required. Cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Yep, if theres no visable leaks and theres nowt in the oil then water can only go one way, out the exhaust! Will you be having a go at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog321fish Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) Sutty thanks for your offer of assistance but I am taking it into a local garage next week, they recommend pressure testing and skimming the head, replacing water pump, thermostat, cam belt and dizzy belt at the same time. The thing that really puts me off having a go myself is working outside in the rain and cold also seized bolts shearing off when I try to undo them, not had much success with extractors in the past. Plus I should get a guarantee for the work done by the garage. Cheers Dave Edited October 19, 2012 by dog321fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutty2006 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Sometimes it's the best way Dave. Belts and pumps are standard replacement when doing the head. Ask them if they are doing the stem seals too as they can be a pain in the butt if not done while the heads off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynamytedan Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 for a quick fix you could try , break out the stat centre and refit , refil the system and put a K-seal in . if it works you can get another stat later on (audi 80 opening at 88 degrees works best). changing the head gasket you might find significant corrosion to the head and block around the water jacket that may interfere with the new gasket sealing , stopping it from being reassembled without a block skim also ,engine out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog321fish Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) The Manta lives again. Got her back from the garage today and she is running better than she has for a long time. The wallet is lighter though! Edited November 2, 2012 by dog321fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyc Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Good to hear and another 1.8 lives to fight another day, glad you had it fixed Cheers Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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