HG going ?

Hi there.

I have a 2001 Freelander 1.8 s which has had a head gasket repair 5 months ago.

It has been driving like a dream until now.
On start up i get a little white smoke from exhaust, a sweet smell but drives perfectly.
Once the engine is warmed up it starts to missfire and after a small drive the coolant level drops.

Yesterday i went for an hours drive and when i pulled up at my destination steam was billowing out from the expansion tank. Once it had cooled down and coolant was topped up it drove fine and this morning was all good again.

Is this a head gasket problem or something else?

I love the car and just want it fixed. Any help will be appreciated as i have read so many threads and still can't pinpoint what the problem is.

Thanks

Steve

It certainly could be. I think I would be included to take it back to where you had it fixed and see if they will honour a repair after diagnostics if indeed that is the problem and it wasn't caused by some other anomaly.

Take the oil cap off and look underneath for "mayonnaise". This gooey white stuff is created in the coolant system when oil and water mix. If the HG's gone then it'll be full of the stuff. If it's clean oil then probably not.

Having said that, there are many people on this forum know much more than I (so if they say the above is wrong - listen to them, and not to me !), but that's always been the test I've used.

Did the engine overheat before the HG was done?
If so then changing the HG without replacing the Head can only be considered a temporary fix.

I'm sure I read the liners can drop, in which case you can change the gasket every week and it will never be fixed.

Spacemonkey... said:

I'm sure I read the liners can drop, in which case you can change the gasket every week and it will never be fixed.

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Yes it appears to be a very gray area on the net regarding liner height......

smnbyt said:

Yes it appears to be a very gray area on the net regarding liner height......

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Liner hight is easy to measure. The hardness of an overheated cylinder head is much harder to check.

Nodge68 said:

Liner hight is easy to measure. The hardness of an overheated cylinder head is much harder to check.

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I meant as what is an acceptable hight/flush measurement

smnbyt said:

I meant as what is an acceptable hight/flush measurement

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I'd say 1 to 3 thou higher than the block is acceptable. However i'v read that the liners must be at least flush with the block.

Nodge68 said:

I'd say 1 to 3 thou higher than the block is acceptable. However i'v read that the liners must be at least flush with the block.

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Phew.....I'm so glad you said flush...........

smnbyt said:

Phew.....I'm so glad you said flush...........

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I've only read they should be at least flush. I've seen a few blocks that are flush and owners have reported that the engine is running as it should. Personally I like to see a protrusion of 1 to 3 thou!!
There are liner spacer rings available to raise a low liner but that makes a simple HG change into a partial strip down!!

1 -3 thou proud is better than flush

Nodge68 said:

I've only read they should be at least flush. I've seen a few blocks that are flush and owners have reported that the engine is running as it should. Personally I like to see a protrusion of 1 to 3 thou!!
There are liner spacer rings available to raise a low liner but that makes a simple HG change into a partial strip down!!

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Mine are flush, all of them equally, which did concern me a little to be fair. I'll worry about sorting that out next time.

smnbyt said:

Mine are flush, all of them equally, which did concern me a little to be fair. I'll worry about sorting that out next time.

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you may well get away with flush but all wet liners sit proud ,most use shims to set correct height as its head that applies the pressure to hold liner secure and sealed

jamesmartin said:

you may well get away with flush but all wet liners sit proud ,most use shims to set correct height as its head that applies the pressure to hold liner secure and sealed

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seems ok so far, as in not leaking coolant anyway...........

the inlet manifold gasket is probably allowing a small amount of coolant into the piston bore.