s20pe

Hi I have just fitted a second hand/recon engine from smk engines the coolant keeps blowing out of the expantion bottle we have fitted a new water pump ,stat (it is ok) , rad , on tick over no problem it will run in the garrage as soon as you take it up the road it blows coolant out of the over flow and gets hot I have been carefull to make sure that there is no air locks by sqezzing the bottom hose and uncliping the hoses on the header tank and filling them but as soon as i take it up the road out it comes there is bubles in the expantion tank when it blows the coolant out is there an simple test's to see if it is a head gaskit problem (no signe of oil in header) also if it is can the head gaskit be replaced without taking the motor out

Snapon

Have you changed the rad cap?

scoobian

sorry chum, but it sounds like a head gasket
a compression test should prove it

s20pe

no I havent I must admit it did Cross My mind do you think this could cause the problem

s20pe

I was clutching at straws I think it is head gaskit but I thought that someone on scoobynet may have had a similar problem and found it was somthing realy simple you never know your luck do you know if the hg can be replaced in the car of will it have to come out the engine has a 6 month warrantee so I should be ok to get it fixed and send smk the bill if it has to come out I may as well send it back and get a refund

dj219957

i was told they can be done in the car but its actually easier to take the engine out and you can do a better job when engine is out.

rad cap is a possibility.

the trick to fill em up is to fill very slowley via the top rad hose. fill the block and then fill the rad then reconnect top hose.

ozzreid1964

iTrader: (32)

sorry to hear that you are still having probs m8

wrxbart

iTrader: (5)

before you do anything phone the engine company,i had this with one off them and they replaced the engine but didnt cover the labour of me fitting it.

s20pe

I dont supose you are about tomorrow may be an idea to try another rad cap If you fancy a cupa I will pop down to brecon and pick you up and your rad cap and drop you back after It would be a help last resort before the motor comes back out

subaruturbo_18

It could be too much anti freeze? I've heard that too much anti freeze in your coolant mixture can cause it to boil.

s20pe

how did you find getting hold of them they have been a bit hard to get hold of ,the phone just keeps ringing

Shaun

Don't kid yourself..... it points to a Head Gasket. Been there myself last week and no matter what you try, if you are getting coolant blown out of your expansion tank, you have air in your system. If you have bleed the system than the air is coming from the combustion chamber under boost.

You will find that the bottom rad hose is stone cold as air rests before the stat. The stat does not open, so the water overheats and blows out of the expansion tank. If you rev the engine to around 3k and keep it there, the water will be forced to the thermostat, which will then open and the temps will go back down. The cycle then starts again.

Don't bother with the normal HG checks as I have been informed they rarely prove anything on a Scoob (sniffer in expansion tank or mayo substance on the oil filler cap).

Sorry.

s20pe

its spat that much out I dont think there is much left now cost me a fortune in antifreeze

StickyMicky

headgasket............

wrxbart

iTrader: (5)

Took ages but got hold of them eventually

mark28

would not worry about cost of anti-freeze i would worry about the hours you have spent on it and then the rest you have got to do to fix it.

i would say it sounds like the head gasket but i would just check you have got the hoses in the correct places. sounds silly but seen it done.

s20pe

Ithink you are spot on I havent driven the car more than 4 miles in one go yet , after spending all those hours fitting the engine and spending £1300 you hope for the best and someone to say blaaa blaa blaa thats a simpile one and its fixed O well better get used to the idea and tell the wife she wont be seeing me for a while she's been moaning that I spend more time and money on the scooby than her now

dj219957

i thought smr engines were rebuilt?

s20pe

so did I They may have a little explaining to do

dj219957

not the first time i heard of a suppossed rebuilt engine with problems

ozzreid1964

iTrader: (32)

yhpm

s20pe

to be honest mate when I saw it there was no evedence of new gaskets It just looked like it had been cleaned and repainted no risk to them just send it out and hope for the best but for the customer all the work its easy to say we will send out another I think I will ask for arefund and rebuild my original unit myself at least I know its been done properly

elv

Deffo sounds like the headgasket mate You need to do a sniffer test on the cooling system to detect exhaust gasses.. Call the AA or Rac out and tell em you've got an overheating prob.. they'll do the sniffer test FOC (providing you've got breakdown cover??) Hope you get it sorted whatever the problem is mate..

spudit

hi it's deffo air getting in the sytem sum how if u want to find out if it's the head gaskit start the car hold it about 4000 rpm and get sumone to look what's coming out the tail pipe if it looks like steam the head gaskit is gubbed and it can be done without take the engine out

StickyMicky

headgaskets, headgaskets,headgaskets...........

Mrfastbaz

sounds unfortunately for you as if the head gaskets are shot..........

damandblast

iTrader: (7)

Had a problem like this on my car which was pushing water out the coolant tank, turned out to be a blocked pipe near the rad which was stopping the water flow. So it's not always the head gasket

Drain the system, check all the pipes and see if there is a block, refill and recheck. Sorted my problem out since it could be an air lock etc. If the problem continues I would also say the heads are on the way out. Now I got a quote for £800 for them to be replaced so hopefully you'll get it fixed on warrenty since the cost is mostly labour for fitting (long job)

Also got told that with subaru's heads can crack and also aren't that strong (even more so on earlier models) and again they apparently don't always show white liquid or residue on the oil cap either so can't always tell that way!

Hope it gets sorted.

STI_Baly

iTrader: (23)

Sorry to say but it sounds like a headgasket, and as you said earlier i would definitely rebuild the old. Unless you get hold of a cheap closed deck block then rebuild that.

Good Luck

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Shaun's absolutely spot on! He's described - to a tee - exactly what happened to my car last Friday (seemingly, the same as the OP's too!). I too replaced my 'stat/pump first!

To rule out blocked pipes/rad, take the car out again and give it some boost for the symptoms to happen again i.e. boost causing an airlock... causing temps to rise... causing coolant out an header tank, etc. Then carefully remove the pressure cap and stick your nose in the opening - does it smell of horrible combustion gases (rather than sweet antifreeze)? If so, then 100% HG!...

(I'm waiting on a HGs replacement/heads skim quote from Zen as we speak. Already had a quote from RCM...).

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Can i guess for you?
£800?

Tony