Another question.

Can the head gasket be failing if there is no water/coolant in the oil at all?
And there is a leak of water/coolant from what appears the top of the block when the engine hasnt been run and is stationary?

My car never over heats on short journeys, and as long as I top up the water it doesnt overheat, (but sometimes it loses it fast so havent risked a long journey for two weeks) it looks like in theory it doesnt overheat until a long drive when the leak of coolant drops the level that low it boils what is left.

I cant find the source of the leak. Im trying to talk myself out of it being the head or gasket, runs fine, no oil in water/water in oil, never seems to get hot until coolant level drops due to heavy right foot.

The one time it overheated I stopped, squeezed the top hoses, easy to squeeze, felt very hot, did not check the bottom ones. Lots of pressure in the coolant tank, slowly un-did the lid a fraction and let steam trickle out for 10 mins until cool then topped up with cold water, ran normal temp for 2 hours, coolant dropped again and had to be topped up.

I will get a sniff test done and a pressure test, but my local landy specialist is fully booked up until the end of next week, until then Im on my own.

Gasket has gone get it replaced asap. Constant excess heating/cooling could damage the block. Change it before it does.

If the HG as failed between a water gallery and the edge of the head, there will be no water in the oil or vice versa.

Datatek said:

If the HG as failed between a water gallery and the edge of the head, there will be no water in the oil or vice versa.

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General rule is, gasket gone between oil feed and water gallery. Oil in water. Gasket gone between oil drain and water gallery, water in oil.

wammers said:

Gasket has gone get it replaced asap. Constant excess heating/cooling could damage the block. Change it before it does.

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Cheers for advice, In the back of my mind I knew it probably was a head gasket, luckily its been parked up for the last week so hopefully hasnt done any more damage, does anyone know if there is a technical term for a SNIFF test kit, and where I can buy one, tried halfrauds and local motorsave website but nothing comes up on website,(even though ive seen people mention you can buy them from there) so I assume its called something else a little more technical.

Cheers

Rangie.lad said:

Cheers for advice, In the back of my mind I knew it probably was a head gasket, luckily its been parked up for the last week so hopefully hasnt done any more damage, does anyone know if there is a technical term for a SNIFF test kit, and where I can buy one, tried halfrauds and local motorsave website but nothing comes up on website,(even though ive seen people mention you can buy them from there) so I assume its called something else a little more technical.

Cheers

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Hydrocarbon test but not always conclusive - follow the advise others have given you, sorry.