Head Gasket Blown? - 10th Aug 2006 6:35pm
Hi guys,
I was on my way to New Brighton today, and as I got there I noticed the car sort of chugging, and when I pulled up it was as though it needed more revs to prevent it from stalling at idle.
However, when more revs are put into the engine, it seems to vibrate and has a loss of power.
I started the engine again and although it had a bit of hesitation in firing up, it eventually did, although it was still chugging at idle.
Now I thought it might be a wet spak plug or somtehing, so I left the engine to dry off and cool down for about 10 minutes.
When I started it again I got nothing at all, except a frantic whizzing noice, as though the starter was rotating, but not kicking the engine.
So I called the RAC and they turned up about 20 minutes later. The guy had a listen and immediatly said it sounds like a fault with the starter.
So he put it in to 4th gear and push it back a bit. When the key was turned it seems to have a bit more clout on the starter but the same thing happened and the engine would not start.
So we lifted the bonnet and he had a look. He listened to what it did when the key was turned and he said it sounded like the teeth were not aligned, so the engine was not being kicked into action by the starter (he explained it in a bit more detail but I didnt take much in).
Anyway, he tried tapping it with a hammer lightly, but with not joy. So eventually we tried a push start, and it was still not firing up. So in the end he gave me a pull start with the van and this kicked it into action.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. He followed me most of the way home, which was good to know, incase the engine stalled etc... When I first started driving the car it was fine. However as I went further, it started chugging again, and hesitating on going forward.
As I drove on furtherm I could see white smoke coming out of the exhaust. It wasnt loads and loads, but it was enough for me to notice.
As I was driving, sometimes during the revs I could hear a hissing sound, I didnt notice what revs but i think around the 1500rpm stage. Also, I noticed that I had to keep nthe car in a much lower gear then I would normally (when I am not going fast), I was having to keep it in 3rd at 30 - 40mph because when I went into 4th it really wasnt happy.
So with the loss of power, the white smoke and chugging, I expect the head gasket has gone.
Does anyone have any other idea's as to why this might be? I cant "really" see it being a loss of air somewhere and whilst it could be petrol related, the light was on this morning, and I put a 5ers worth in at the Shell on the A41, so I would expect it would have shown up a problem with the fuel before now.
On my way to New Brighton, I went over the Bidston Flyover, where I hit in the late 5000's before I changed into 4th. The redline is at 6000 and the maximum bhp is at 5750.
Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
I was on my way to New Brighton today, and as I got there I noticed the car sort of chugging, and when I pulled up it was as though it needed more revs to prevent it from stalling at idle.
However, when more revs are put into the engine, it seems to vibrate and has a loss of power.
I started the engine again and although it had a bit of hesitation in firing up, it eventually did, although it was still chugging at idle.
Now I thought it might be a wet spak plug or somtehing, so I left the engine to dry off and cool down for about 10 minutes.
When I started it again I got nothing at all, except a frantic whizzing noice, as though the starter was rotating, but not kicking the engine.
So I called the RAC and they turned up about 20 minutes later. The guy had a listen and immediatly said it sounds like a fault with the starter.
So he put it in to 4th gear and push it back a bit. When the key was turned it seems to have a bit more clout on the starter but the same thing happened and the engine would not start.
So we lifted the bonnet and he had a look. He listened to what it did when the key was turned and he said it sounded like the teeth were not aligned, so the engine was not being kicked into action by the starter (he explained it in a bit more detail but I didnt take much in).
Anyway, he tried tapping it with a hammer lightly, but with not joy. So eventually we tried a push start, and it was still not firing up. So in the end he gave me a pull start with the van and this kicked it into action.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. He followed me most of the way home, which was good to know, incase the engine stalled etc... When I first started driving the car it was fine. However as I went further, it started chugging again, and hesitating on going forward.
As I drove on furtherm I could see white smoke coming out of the exhaust. It wasnt loads and loads, but it was enough for me to notice.
As I was driving, sometimes during the revs I could hear a hissing sound, I didnt notice what revs but i think around the 1500rpm stage. Also, I noticed that I had to keep nthe car in a much lower gear then I would normally (when I am not going fast), I was having to keep it in 3rd at 30 - 40mph because when I went into 4th it really wasnt happy.
So with the loss of power, the white smoke and chugging, I expect the head gasket has gone.
Does anyone have any other idea's as to why this might be? I cant "really" see it being a loss of air somewhere and whilst it could be petrol related, the light was on this morning, and I put a 5ers worth in at the Shell on the A41, so I would expect it would have shown up a problem with the fuel before now.
On my way to New Brighton, I went over the Bidston Flyover, where I hit in the late 5000's before I changed into 4th. The redline is at 6000 and the maximum bhp is at 5750.
Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!