Major IS concern Advice please

[Dan318-is]

My IS has a small coolant leak, coming from around the heater jacket (the metal plate between throttle body and Inlet Manifold), but only looses small amounts of coolant. If i keep the heating on at a reasonable temperature for the journey the car does not over heat, neither does the coolant and the car is fine, but i still loose small amounts of fluid.

iv also been told when using up the revs in 2nd and 3rd (obviosuly it was warm) there is white steam coming from my exhaust, small amounts though that are not constant

i also have oil in spark plug number 2 again. I have had a compression test and all cylinders are fine. There is no mayo under the oil cap or around that area as far as i can see

please tell me this isnt a cracked head!!

[OllieB]

Not necessarily a cracked head, steam from the exhaust does tend to indicate a head gasket failure though. Checked under the oil cap for mayo yet?

[Dan318-is]

had compression test mate all cylinders fine that was a week ago??

[E30BeemerLad]

doesn't sound good mate

I am sure there is a test kit you can get that you put onto the expansion tank with the engine running, if there is a headgasket/ head problem then the test will reveal possible carbon monoxide in the coolant, caused by the combustion process and pressuring the coolant system.

Best to check for any mayo/gunk first thing in the morning before starting the car as once started, it can shift any gue from under the cap
just some suggestions though, so may not be serious. Hope not

[Dan318-is]

cheers fella for that

ok assuming i check tomorrow or late tonight once the car has been to rest an there is no gunk what could it be considering the head gasket was deemed fine less than a week ago?

how much will a garage charge me to fit a new head if i can get a hold of one anyone know?

[japcarkiller]

probably charge you alot m8.
have you tried to fix the leak?
i would sort the coolant leak then see what happens.
keep an eye on the temp guage. when my head g went it would rise to about 3/4 then drop back to 1/2 way.
try letting her tick over with the cap of the coolant res. off see if it bubbles over. may need to rev a little.
i used the heater trick to keep the temp down but better to get it sorted b4 and damage is done.

[Dan318-is]

yeah iv tried to fix leak but i cant see where it is coming from? its fookin weird man

il try the coolant and check for mayo tomorrow but im hoping its just a coolant leak

[Simon13]

your throttle body doesn't need thant coolant pipe as it never gets cold enough here!

have u changed your rocker/cam cover gasket yet?

[Dan318-is]

yer checked all the gaskets under the rocker cam for the spark plugs too

cam cover gasket is not damaged in the slightest

iv thought about taking the heaker jacket off but i jsut dont know where to put all the pipes that come off it

[Simon13]

no change it, it might look fine but it's not thats why there is oil in it. a few quid if that from gsf, dealer

[Dan318-is]

change the spark plug lillipop ones also??

if theres no mayo under my oil cap 2moro, does n e one no how to modify this heater jacket thing? i can remove it easily enough but dont no where to put the pipes

[Simon13]

they come in the gasket set mate

[Dan318-is]

i mite try that for the oil then man

il let y'all know about mayo/coolant 2moro

wish me luck

[japcarkiller]

good luck

[Kedge]

Howd it look then mate??

[Geeman]

The coolant pipes can be connected together so that they by-pass the 'jacket' which can then be removed.

You'll have to figure out how to do this as I swapped a whole load of pipes and bypassed some of the air pipes into the intake bellows elbow as well.

It's a cleaner looking setup, but you'll need to do a bit of DIY pipe cutting / splicing to do it... I ended up buying new pipes and connectors from the dealers and making up new 'custom' pipework to do the job.

Giles.

[tomstickland]

If compression is good then I'd not worry about the headgasket.
Oil on spark plug can leak from the lollipop gaskets.
Just a thought, but could your coolant like be putting water into the airflow.

I once made a mistake when putting a head onto my Vaux 2.0 engine and crossed over an oil breather and the water heating jacket pipes so that water pissed into the inlet system. It very clearly came out of the exhaust as steam. I was very lucky that I didn't hydraulic the engine.

[Dan318-is]

that would make more sense as there is white smoke from my car at high revs apparently

no mayo under oil cap this morning so that can only be a good sign i guess

i htink i may just remove the heater jacket and see what i can come up with, iv got loads of rubber pipes i can nab of my old golf,

il give it a go sunday

[jonbuoy]

Not sure about the IS engine but do you have the rubber water pipes under the inlet manifold?
Also you could be just kicking out condensation from the exhaust as high revs will push the water out that's sitting there.

[Dan318-is]

yer them, i seem to have checked them but it still loses coolant form somewere in that area

mite have to remove inlet manifold agian this weekend and get rid of that poxy heater plate

[Dan318-is]

ok just had a good look, ran it up to temp an the leak is deffo coming from that area, an you can see the coolant leaking so i guess that rules out wayer goin in to the inlet

deffo no mayo under oil cap, iv yet to check for bublbing water il do that 2moro when its warm

does anyone have n e photos of this heater jeacket mod hting im ewll concerned about how to do it?

[Guest]

i junked the water jacket too, once you take the inlet manifold off, it all comes clear - i basically made a small pipe that totally bypassed it all, then i redid all the breather hoses - its a lot cleaner setup - its easier to see than explain

[Dan318-is]

thats deffo my next move then

if it still leaks/overheats after that i give up!