I have a mate who has a uk 2000. Its had a new rad, removed stat and filled up via turbo to elimanate air locks. Car would not start so removed the HT leads and 2 were melted badly. Replaced leads and new plugs. Car will still not start but whilst turning over there is now has coolant coming from the exhaust!! Header tank smells of fuel... So rightly thinking H/G

The Coolant out the back end has really thrown me...

Anybody had this before?

 

Anybody!?

 

A Compression Test would narrow it down a bit but it does sound like Head Gasket Failure.
If you have coolant coming out of the exhaust,then its likely one of the gaskets has failed big time between a coolant gallery and the combustion chamber - can you see any coolant coming out of the spark plug holes when you crank the engine over with the plugs out ??

Mick

 

Not tried with the plugs out but will get him to try that. The only sense I could make of the coolant coming from the exhaust was a huge gasket failure but didn't know if it could push that much coolant through the headers, up the up-pipe and out the back!

Looks like its an engine out job no matter what!

Thanks Mick

 

If it has failed in a big way,then have the head(s) and block face checked for straightness/warp.
If there is no obvious sign of head gasket failure,have the heads pressure tested for internal cracks on the coolant-ways.
Hope its not too serious.

Mick

 

Thanks. Is it right that in order to skim the block face the block has to be split down and stripped?

The way the coolant is coming out the back on turn over, it can only be something big...
He was told at the time of purchase and therefore has the lolly to put it right!

 

Yes - If either of the block faces are distorted (or you have a cracked liner) then the crankcases have to be split to have the faces machined true.
The grinding limit on the cylinder heads is 0.012" provided they have not been skimmed before (standard height is 127.50mm) and the grinding limit on the block halfs is 0.004" assuming the block half is at the standard 201mm height.

Mick

 

thanks for the info Mick. Appreciated