Head Gasket or not ?

**alfalan** · 03-11-17, 10:54

Hi Everyone, I am new to the forum and looking forward to being involved with any fun and headaches that being an Alfa fan brings. I have owned new and old Alfa's for the past 20 years and enjoyed every minute.
I have a problem with my 1999 Alfa GTV 2.0L TS I would like to share and appreciate any help ...
I bought it with an over heating issue so I have so far checked the water return which was fine, changed the thermostat for an original new unit and it seem to have improved the problem where as its now not boiling over and spitting fluid from the expansion thank.
The thing is it has been spitting water from the tail pipe from the get go and still is...it also splutters on initial start up for a few seconds, so now I am beginning to think it could be the head gasket. It runs really well when its warmed up not like you would imagine if the head gasket had gone, but still spits water from the tail pipe. I do remember reading a while back ( i dont know where ) that some guy had all the same symptoms as me and it turned out to be the inlet manifold was loose and because the Inlet gasket seals water ways too it was taking in water with the air. So now I am thinking the new thermostat may have cured the over heating problem and the water loss could be the inlet manifold. Have any of you guys had this problem ? also has anyone removed a manifold with the engine in the car and if so how difficult a job is it ? .. any help would be greatly appreciated . Cheers

**jNk** · 03-11-17, 12:09

Hello and welcome alfalan!

Its a bit quiet here these days but hopefully you can find some answers to your questions

Unfortunately I dont have anwers for your GTV issue but i'll ask my mechanic friend at the weekend, he might come up with some answers.

**alfalan** · 03-11-17, 14:33

Originally Posted by jNk

Hello and welcome alfalan!

Its a bit quiet here these days but hopefully you can find some answers to your questions

Unfortunately I dont have anwers for your GTV issue but i'll ask my mechanic friend at the weekend, he might come up with some answers.

Thanks jnk... much appreciated

**Steve Webb** · 03-11-17, 19:39

Hi @alfalan , no experience of that engine, but have dealt with blown head gaskets before.

First things first, is the car actually losing water at all? That's usually the first symptom. After that, check for the mayonnaise in the header tank / radiator. If you want to be sure you can get a chemical tester that tests the vapour in the cooling system, changes colour if hydrocarbons are present.

Never heard about the exhaust manifold sealing the water passageways, I'd like to see that for myself before believing it fully.

The rough running when cold could be down to any number of things, and liquid coming out the tailpipe is not uncommon, could actually be a cold fuelling problem.

Let us know if the car is losing water first.

Oh and welcome to the forum, feel free to add your cars to the forum garage, you can get to it from the tab at the top of the page.

Cheers

Steve

**alfalan** · 04-11-17, 07:12

Originally Posted by Steve Webb

Hi @alfalan , no experience of that engine, but have dealt with blown head gaskets before.

First things first, is the car actually losing water at all? That's usually the first symptom. After that, check for the mayonnaise in the header tank / radiator. If you want to be sure you can get a chemical tester that tests the vapour in the cooling system, changes colour if hydrocarbons are present.

Never heard about the exhaust manifold sealing the water passageways, I'd like to see that for myself before believing it fully.

The rough running when cold could be down to any number of things, and liquid coming out the tailpipe is not uncommon, could actually be a cold fuelling problem.

Let us know if the car is losing water first.

Oh and welcome to the forum, feel free to add your cars to the forum garage, you can get to it from the tab at the top of the page.

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve, thanks for coming back, will check for water loss and get a hydrocarbon test kit.... I found the post on the manifold problem here is the link... thanks again http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...rk-beware.html

**jNk** · 04-11-17, 11:17

My mechanics first thought its only condensed water which comes from the exhaust and its not releated to any manifold gasket issue. If it were coolant water it should be less and less in the system which you can check and verify.

Nevetherless if you want to remove the inlet manifold its doable with engine in the car.

Its an easy job for a car mechanic with 20+ years of experience, probably longer job for you but hopefully you dont have to do it

**Steve Webb** · 04-11-17, 15:50

Interesting article, I've just looked up the inlet manifold gasket, <here> and you can see an extra couple of holes that could well be for the water galleries.

60659747-1571-1-800.jpg

Hopefully its something simple to fix.

**colibry** · 04-11-17, 17:40

Thats not for water its for OIL to feed cam variator and drain back down. Thats why TS engines have diesel sound for 2 or 3s before oil gets to valve. Some users do modify the oil feed with inserting Oil non-return valve .