Heres how it started:
Monday morning.
Pulled into carpark at work and was amazed when steam rose from under bonnet. Had a quick look but couldn't see no evidence of leaks but steam seemed to be coming from around the uppipe/turbo area.
Left it a few hours then went back and checked coolant in header tank....empty Topped it up with roughly 1 litre, let it run for a bit.
Temp gauge reading half, water temp 91 then fans kick in and it cools down to about 84. Let it tick over for about an hour with no probs, so i'm thinking maybe an unexplained airlock and steam was finding it's way out of somewhere. Checked level again before i went to bed and seemed ok.

This morning.
Checked water before starting, gone down a bit . Topped it up and off i go. Got to work all seems good, water temp fans etc.
After work, started car to let it warm up and had a tinker under bonnet at the same time. Radiator stone cold but water temp according to the power fc was 70 (can see very faint steam on turbo side again). Try to pump top hose ..solid! Check bottom hose...cold. Took top off header tank and pumped hose and the rad started to warm up again, fans kick in etc.
Then i took the top off the oil fill neck and seen what i can only describe as a spunky looking gunk. Checked the dipstick and all seems normal.

Had head gaskets changed 4 weeks ago. What do you think?

 

It doesnt sound promising, but before you get too concerned was all the gunk cleaned out of the filler neck after the last head gasket?

and dont forget the thermostat wont open to allow the water to flow to the radiator until its at the right temp? on that note was the thermostat replaced after the previous incident as it may have been cooked.

What was the cause for the previous head gasket to go anyway?

 

I assume the heads where skimmed when replacing the gaskets?
It’s possible the water is leaking from the water banjo on the head where the turbo is. I would expect the rad to still be cold around that temp on a cold startup until the thermostat opens.

If your symptoms where head gaskets I would also expect to see signs from the exhaust, the oil on the filler cap may have just been there from before. Take it back to the garage and get it checked out. I would be very surprised if the gaskets failed assuming they where fitted correctly.

 

The filler neck was spotless, i checked the oil last week. Unsure if the thermostat was changed.
Head gasket went on the oilways last time (Turbo side) and the oil was running into the bores.

Ive run it back in for 500 miles and haven't give it a hiding yet. Rev limiter is still set to 5000.

 

As Un-Ink says .. I'd get it back to the garage that did the repairs and get them to block test it to see whats going on.

 

Yeah, going to get onto them first thing tomorrow. Guy at garage is pretty sound.
Just a bit gutted now. Didn't expect to have any problems this soon after the last job.

 

Are you sure one of the heads hasn't got a crack in it rather than the gasket failing. It's very unlikely you can blow a new head gasket after 500 miles unless there is a crack in the head itself or the heads aren't seated correctly. I'm assuming they were torqued down as per spec. Did you replace the stretch bolts or reuse the same ones. If the heads do have to come off again I'd be looking at them very closely - I'm not sure if you can pressure test them ?

On the bright side it could just be an airlock after refilling the system

 

I'm hoping it's something simple like that. I like a bit of positive thinking. Especially if it keeps my wallet in my pocket!

 

the tubo is water cooled on the left hand side there is a rubber pipe that goes to the bottom of the turbo housing it looks a bit like a u shape (sort of ) this pipe has split on me before or the clip might not bee on properly try having a look at that it is abit awkard to get to try pushing the pipe with somthig after youve run engine so the system is presurisd and you should see it or hear it give it a try

 

Went to Ace motorsport in newbridge today. Done a compression test and found that the header tank is w**k. Said the engine sounds fine.
The white stuff in the oil filler neck is from condensation and I've been told by a few people that it's quite common, especially if you do alot of short runs.
Just need to replace the tank now, think I'll go for an alloy tank.

 

Good to hear it's sorted.

 

Phew !

 

cheers guys......