Head gasket blown?

[JuanPablo]

I have been having problems lately with my '98 v8 which I think point to the head gasket having blown, but just want confirmation or opinions as to what else I can check.

A few weeks ago whilst heading to work on the M6 doing about 70mph I noticed that the temp. gauge was off the scale so I pulled to the hard shoulder and once it was cool enough took the expansion cap off. Empty tank. Put about the litre-ish of water I had onboard in and continued to work cautiously.

Since then every couple of days I need to add a few more litres of coolant/water to the tank to top it back up. The temperature of the engine remains just below halfway pretty much regardless of where I am driving bar one condition and thats if I leave it in 4th and run between 3k - 4k rpms. At this point the temp will increase to about 65 - 75% of the way up the gauge.

The other thing is that it seems to be getting up to its normal temperature on the gauge very quickly now - within about a minute sometimes.

Luckily, I have a friendly mechanic and we have arranged to do the job next weekend. Which brings me to one other question. Am I safe to continue using it for work (35 mile round trip) for the next week so long as I keep an eye on it?

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any replies.

Chris.

[JuanPablo]

I forgot to mention that there is a hell of a lot of pressure in the expansion tank after I have run it around for about 20 minutes.

[Fireball]

I forgot to mention that there is a hell of a lot of pressure in the expansion tank after I have run it around for about 20 minutes.

See if your mechanic friend can test for combustion gasses in the coolant, this is a good indicator of head gasket failure. TBH it does sound head gasket related, and if so continuing to drive it is a risk, especially if the hoses are pressurising badly. Not one I would take.

Good luck with it mate, hope you've been lucky.

[littlelegs]

I have been having problems lately with my '98 v8 which I think point to the head gasket having blown, but just want confirmation or opinions as to what else I can check.

A few weeks ago whilst heading to work on the M6 doing about 70mph I noticed that the temp. gauge was off the scale so I pulled to the hard shoulder and once it was cool enough took the expansion cap off. Empty tank. Put about the litre-ish of water I had onboard in and continued to work cautiously.

Since then every couple of days I need to add a few more litres of coolant/water to the tank to top it back up. The temperature of the engine remains just below halfway pretty much regardless of where I am driving bar one condition and thats if I leave it in 4th and run between 3k - 4k rpms. At this point the temp will increase to about 65 - 75% of the way up the gauge.

The other thing is that it seems to be getting up to its normal temperature on the gauge very quickly now - within about a minute sometimes.

Luckily, I have a friendly mechanic and we have arranged to do the job next weekend. Which brings me to one other question. Am I safe to continue using it for work (35 mile round trip) for the next week so long as I keep an eye on it?

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any replies.

Chris.

There could be all sorts of reasons for this and everyone automaticly goes for the head gasket. If it were the head gasket blown it would start to overheat fairly quickly when the gasses stop the coolant circulation and you wouldn't be able to drive as you are unless it was fairly small. Keep it topped up every day and you should be ok.

Check for leaks first, the waterpump, hoses, pressure cap etc. are often responsible. Pressure in the system is normal from expansion at about 1 bar to increase the running temperature of the coolant and if it were excessive it would be released through the pressure cap safety valve.