15 replies to this topic

[THedooBZ]

hi all
basically im not sure whether my cars head gasket is on the way out.
iv mentioned before it makes a jerking sensation, but a friend mentioned that this could be misfiring.
could someone decribe misfiring and what u would fell when driving???????

also my engine has mayo in the rocker cover and seperators.
and it has started to make a loud ticking noise also a hissing when accelerating.

one more thing one of my spark plugs has a crack in the ceramic and the two middle cylinders are always coked up black.
the first time i emptied the coolant it did look to have a small amount of oil in, but the level never seems to drop.

can someone please help me its driving me crazy???????????

cheers chris.

[77LeylandMini]

How is your temp while driving? Does the engine sound like a VW bug? Are you blowing any white smoke? The mayo sounds like a head gasket.. Not too bad to replace, give it a full day just incase the head gets stuck on the studs like michelles did!!! Good luck man!

[THedooBZ]

my engine gets top full temp in about 5 mins of driving, doesnt sound nice like it used to either.

no white smoke as of yet though

[77LeylandMini]

I sure hope you let it cool a bit before overheating all over the place!!! Yup, sounds like the head gasket!!

[dan__wright]

may be tappets.

[THedooBZ]

but can u describe what misfiring would feel like when driving??

and would the cracked spark plug ceramic make any difference to anything???

[dan__wright]

when it missfires the car wilt jolt slightly as for a split second it has now power, just the cars momentum to keep it going

[Jimmyarm]

Whilst not strictly misfiring, when my mates valve got stuck open it sounded like poo, if you imagine how an engine normally sounds sort of bang bang bang bang repeated really quickly (ok maybe not bang bang but you know what i mean!) its like one of the bangs is missing and is replaced by a sort of nothing nose. Its like a musical tune with a note missing and the engine physically shook in the car (you can really feel it).

Change the head gasket before you do any damage to the engine ! If the ceramic is broken on one of the plugs it might be that it isnt sparking so not causing combustion in that chamber....

[stormduck]

With all those symptoms

also my engine has mayo in the rocker cover and seperators. the two middle cylinders are always coked up black. the first time i emptied the coolant it did look to have a small amount of oil in, but the level never seems to drop.

It sounds like the gasket has split in several places. If a gasket is split between oil and coolant channels then they will mix, if the gasket splits between cylinders then the car will be down on power and sound pretty rough. Carry on driving it and the symptoms will get worse. You really don't want it to start overheating as that could warp the head, although less likely with cast iron. The cracked plug could indicate it's getting far too hot.

The fact that the middle two plugs are sooty indicates that that's where the split in the gasket lies. Or one of the splits at least.

The gasket blown could cause movement in the head, which could cause the tapping noise of the pushrods/rockers/valve clearence being out of sync.

So in short, get that head off asap!

[AlexM]

If the car is misfiring resetting the ECU may cure it.

[THedooBZ]

cheers for the advice and info guys!!!!
iv just bin at to a friends and one the way there and back it just hasnt got any power in any gear.
i have had a juddering sensation for ages which has slowly bin gettin worse, finally i may have the cause

o another thing, when u change it do you have to get the surfaces machined or not???

[stormduck]

if it hasn't been overheated badly chances are the surfaces won't need skimming. Cast iron doesn't tend to warp unlike softer alloy blocks/heads. Just make sure the surfaces are sanded with paper to remove all traces of dirt, rust, gasket before fitting a new one.

[Holly]

can i just say my car did this and it was the condensor(capasitor) and the points needed adjusting only a little thing but noe it fixed

[Jordie]

Sounds like head gasket to me. Do it to be on the safe side, least its easier in a mini then a peugeot 306 :S

[THedooBZ]

i changed the head gasket on saturday and its runnin so much better really quiet now just the nice barble of exhaust.
much easier than i expected and nothing broke in the process like usual, which was nice.

i may have come to a solution of the juddering, as daft as it sounds it stops when i seal the manifold to downpipe join up with paste, i assume this is down to the pressure getting out at the wrong end,(something with back pressure, not really sure what this is though)
so a nice new one peice manifold and downpipe will be on order next pay day, but they are proving hard to find for the mpi.

anyway once again cheers for the help and advice guys.