rust in coolant ...

[Pascal]

Hello everybody,

i was looking at a M100 turbo this morning , maybe to buy a second one ...

Opening the bonnet, i found that she had the sensor on the turbo and some other things that i do not have in mine. On the exhaust line is likely a catalysor, a bulb somewhere in the middle.
But the birth date seems to be 1991, october . Is that possible ?

Back to the engine, the coolant level was low, and there was what seems to be rust, and not just a bit - even dry and sprayed aside the coolant tank.

investigating more, i noticed that there was some kind of black paste gasket at the block/head contact so this engine had been open obviously.

Engine on : sound was normal.
Driving then : was also normal, oil pressure at 4 (a bit weak), stable , boost raising at 7.

The rest of the car is in correct condition (very little rust, no oïl leakage, steering is normal ...)

I Wonder if this rust means that the engine will be dead soon or it can be reasonably repaired, i fear this is more than a head gasket story.

If you have experienced that ...
have a good day,
Pascal

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Pascal: Did you get the VIN? From that, you can tell a lot about the model.

It might be a Federal USA car or an S2. The rust is something to have checked, maybe it just needs to be cleaned and the system treated? The head to block area is hard to see, did you mean the valve cover attaching point? If not, then maybe it had a head gasket replaced? Does the owner have the service records?

Maybe this will help: