Weepy Head Gasket

[OllieB]

My head gasket is weeping oil near the water pump ever so slightly, I think it was caused by the previous water pump seizing while doing excessive and illegal speeds on the motorway The car was really slow before the pump went and I reckon it was putting huge load on the belt, and therefore the engine, causing the gasket failure. What I want to know is how quickly is this likely to get worse, or can I pretend all is ok cos H/G is quite a big job. Will driving the car hard quicken its demise? Sorry for long post.....

[johnono]

fella, its all up to u..

peace of mind would suggest " get it sorted before the motor goes tits up"

bank book may suggest " sod that, i aint made of money!"

if u have another car to use then D.I.Y

its a biggish job though.. timing belts , pumps , tensioners, new bolts, gaskets, sealants, and the tools to do it. and all the pipe work, bleeding the coolant, prolly an oil change as uԚ´re there,

not a 5 minute job on a saturday afternoon before the footy

but, thereԚ´s always the garage to sort it

[OllieB]

My mate is a mechanic, get him to do everything on my car, with my supervision of course

Problem is appropriate bribes, can I do it in my garage at home over time, or should it be on a ramp? I own a transit connect so I don't need to drive my sport. I haven't the patience or temperament to do mechanic stuff myself, managed an oil and filter the other day though!

[johnono]

do it as project the mate

get the mechanic over on the weekend for some brewskis and get the low down

[OllieB]

If I just go into 'ignore' mode, whats the worst case scenario out of interest.....?

[johnono]

compression loss = no power

ring seal faliure = burns oil and dies

blending of water from the jacket into the cylinder = mayonaise (over heating coolant, steam and cracked head)

oil loss = dry engine so bearing wears out (dead engine)

all pretty worst case there fella...

on the up side, all the m20Ԛ´s ive heard of leaking oil are on the injector side towards the front arount the oil filter, some others have a soggy gasket too,

if u feel its worth the work then do it, or take a chance ;)

[elliot]

may be worth trtying this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMETECH-ENGINE-RE ... dZViewItem

[Fushion_Julz]

Are you sure it is the head gasket itself, not the timing case gasket?

Head gasket problems are usually accompanied by loss of compression and/or water-oil mixing (white emulsion in the cam cover or oily residue in the water) and/or mis-firing

Non of these and I'd say your head gasket is OK and the problem is the timing case gasket

[OllieB]

very slight misfire, but only when you stab the throttle very quickly when the car has just been started after a long time (eg overnight)

[OllieB]

Forgot to mention, oil is only apparent near the water pump. Car is not losing any oil, eg no drips on garage floor when parked overnight.

[Simon13]

if u cane it when it's suspect u will see it off pretty quick i'd say, but i drove my 318is with a dogey head gasket for months...............but not hard

put it this way i wouldn't be doing any clutch kicking