Latest Wisdom on Head Gasket Failure

[davidcgriffiths]

I started my Elan today in preparation for an MOT, Cam Belt & water pump change but to my dismay it was running rough and the tell tale signs of water coming out of the exhaust. On inspection the water bottle was empty, oil clean and no apparent external leaks.
Toped up the water & an hour later started , engine now purrs & runs smoothly as it did when it was put away in the garage last year,

I have just received the cam belt and water pump from Rock Auto and have the car booked in for the work to commence on Friday.

1) If it does turn out to need a Head Gasket which unfortunately looks inevitable what is the best gasket to use and where can I get one from. Looked at SJ website & see they have kits but are they recommended or should I get the Lotus offering.
Have these gaskets been uprated as reading the posts it appears to be a common occurrence reminiscent of the Rover K series engine ?
2) is this preventable can anything be done to reduce the likelihood of it happening again?

3) My car (SE Turbo) as not been fitted with an Everest chip but I have just bought an O2 sensor to make closed loop and was going to do this mod later does this increase the HG failure rate ?

Any advice would be appreciated as I need to source the HG in the next few days

Thanks in anticipation
Dave

[HJ2]

Hi Dave,

Up to now i Always used the lotus one. I got the complete head kit from Rockauto, and used the Lotus gasket instead.
Make sure ou have the complete kit though as a lot of parts need to come off and the gaskets will crack.
Don't forget the exhaust manifold gasket as well, although you can probably reuse it.

Closed loop will not increase HGF in my opinion. Everest does, but only if the gasket was in a terrible state anyway. Using Alan's chips is a no brainer. They are fine.

No uprated HG's are nessesary as far as I'm concerned. OEM is fine.
use a good quality coolant that is compatible with our little engines (not the pink stuff for example) and always always always do a good warming up, and equally important: Cooling down after you take the car for a spin. Then it should be good for another 15 years or more

All the best!
Henk-Jan

[Brit-Car-Nut]

David: If the misfire was caused by a HGF, then it would still be misfiring. After sitting for the winter, the injectors might get a bit sticky and the plugs might have a bit of carbon that often cleans off as you run the engine a bit.

It would be good to figure out where the coolant went, but the water pumps (don't forget the electric pump) and hoses as well as the radiator are all suspect as much as the Head Gasket.

When they change the cam belt and water pump, they will be able to tell you if the mechanical water pump has been leaking and they will know how to look at all of the other places that can leak coolant.

Make sure they replace the coolant with good quality products. The green synthetic anti-freeze seems to be fine as long as they mix it correctly. You might consider getting a new pressure cap for the overflow bottle.

Changing to closed loop will not put any additional strain on the engine. Just make sure the wiring between the main loom and the dash harness is already installed or you will have to add those wires yourself.

Remember: the tip of the O2 sensor can be contaminated, so don't get grease or anti-seize on it while you are working on it.

Drive the car until something finally announces you have a problem (be conscious of any changes and look things over regularly). The coolant issue might not be a problem at all.

[davidcgriffiths]

Thanks guys I will leave getting a HG kit until they have a look at it Friday

[HJ2]

that sounds like a plan!

You really don't want do do a head gasket job if you don't need to! It's a pig.

[GeoffSmith]

My guess is that you've had an air lock which has worked its way to the header tank. Keep a careful eye on the coolant level and temperature gauge and keep your fingers crossed.

[davidcgriffiths]

My guess is that you've had an air lock which has worked its way to the header tank. Keep a careful eye on the coolant level and temperature gauge and keep your fingers crossed.

Turned out to be HGF new gasket cambelt and water pump fitted by Williams of Hartlebury and now mobile again just need some good weather