Head Gasket shot?

How sensitive is the 16v turbo to overheating?

Last year (August/Sept) the fan stopped working when I was miles from home attending an Alfa meet.

I didn't realise until the temperature reached something like 115deg, I forget exactly how high, but it was quite a lot!

Turning the heater on helped cool it down at the time.

But...my car was giving off LOTS of smoke a week or two after...this is the OLD video:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...h_Q4_Movie.jpg

It looked white/grey but smelt oily so I've swapped the turbo and just started the car today.

It's much better now but I fear it may still be smoking a little bit more than it should.

I also saw drips of water coming from the downpipe (must be a small hole in it!) until it had got hot.

Smoke doesn't smell oily any more....and the garage isn't filled with smoke like it did :lol::eek::cry:

What are the chances the head gasket was fried last year?

wrinx

Mine has been that hot in the past with water pump failure and seemed ok after. I suspect its oil residue burning off still. Takes a tiny amount of oil to make a lot of smoke.

Is the coolant level constant? No oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil?

make a cylinder compression test , check sparkplugs, oil and water levels and that they are not mixed. if everything is ok, dont worry maybe the smoke because of residual oil /water in the exhaust.

I'm still looking at the water level, just using plain water for now to check...filled and ran for a while, level dropped. Topped it back up and ran for bit longer...now I've got what was left of the old pink coolant so I reckon it's finally full!

Exhaust wasn't dripping second time round either....I'm a bit more hopeful now :)

Q4s love airlocks! :lol:

wrinx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by juamin

make a cylinder compression test , check sparkplugs, oil and water levels and that they are not mixed. if everything is ok, dont worry maybe the smoke because of residual oil /water in the exhaust.

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Only checked the plugs so far, they all look fine...

wrinx

Have you thought about whacking up the boost and taking it for a spirited drive? It should soon let you know if the head gasket is gone. If your going to find out, do it in style :D

Try not to rise water temp at 115 degrees again making your test!

If headgasket is gone you will see it in a couple of weeks.

Nick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlfaJack

Have you thought about whacking up the boost and taking it for a spirited drive? It should soon let you know if the head gasket is gone. If your going to find out, do it in style :D

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Like the idea...but no MOT so perhaps not a good idea :( Might get that bit sorted tomorrow although I suspect a fail is on the cards, for rear brakes at least!

wrinx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlfaJack

Have you thought about whacking up the boost and taking it for a spirited drive? It should soon let you know if the head gasket is gone. If your going to find out, do it in style :D

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+1

All or nothing!!!

:smile:

Mmm, just moved it out the garage ready for a VERY early start and MOT test.

More little puddles under the car....

wrinx

Didn't get chance to do the MOT as it overheated on the brake rollers, fan stopped working! :(

Pretty sure the HG has gone, but will do a test when I get over being pissed off at the car!

...also the turbo is overboosting and the clutch slipped when it hit about 1.5bar :roll:

Not happy!

wrinx

(Has anyone replaced their own head gasket...how much of a pain is it?)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wrinx

(Has anyone replaced their own head gasket...how much of a pain is it?)

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Its not the worst job to have to do. Basically remove the belt, pull the exhaust manifold off - then you have the problem of the inlet manifold . You could lift it off with it attached to the head if you do it slowly and then you can split the two on the bench for the re-fit. I would recommend putting the inlet trumpets back on the head and re-fitting the inlet manifold to that when the head and trumpets are back on the car.

maybe of topic but it's something I wanted to ask for a long time. Is it possible to use reinforced studs at the oem M10 thread - not going to 12mm - instead of the oem bolts? Are there such studs and where can be found?

If it's possible, I'll replace my head gasket sooner.

Nick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlfaJack

Its not the worst job to have to do. Basically remove the belt, pull the exhaust manifold off - then you have the problem of the inlet manifold . You could lift it off with it attached to the head if you do it slowly and then you can split the two on the bench for the re-fit. I would recommend putting the inlet trumpets back on the head and re-fitting the inlet manifold to that when the head and trumpets are back on the car.

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Thanks Jack, why would you fit the inlet after fitting the head, when they came off together?

Might be a daft question but I've never removed the Q4's inlet :?

...and I guess the bolts are stretchy?

wrinx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wrinx

Might be a daft question but I've never removed the Q4's inlet :?

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Give it a shot and you know the anwser ;)
I find it a hell of a job :tapedshut:

Greetings,
Marc

Oh yeah...I can't wait to have a go :cry::eek::cry:

wrinx

Done some checks...

The "sniffer" liquid only turned a very slight tinge of off blue and I got the following compression test (dry) readings:

1 - 130
2 - 125
3 - 128
4 - 130

Perhaps not the head gasket then???

wrinx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wrinx

Thanks Jack, why would you fit the inlet after fitting the head, when they came off together?

Might be a daft question but I've never removed the Q4's inlet :?

...and I guess the bolts are stretchy?

wrinx

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I dont think the bolts are stretchy - if they are then I have not replaced them before :tapedshut::tapedshut:

I was just suggesting that method of fitting them back separately (I did it with both bolted together actually) as it allows for more manoeuvrability when locating the head. Having a big heavy inlet on it makes it clunky and reduces the chances of getting it right and more likely chance of damaging the HG.

Ah, fair enough. Easy when you have an overhead gantry with block and tackle though ;)

wrinx