Cracked head / blown head gasket

[11redrex]

Long story but my mates had my maverick for about 6 months. It's always leaked oil like a sieve but never used any water. The oil and water are not contaminated either.
So, my mate tells me his dad wants to buy the truck, and signs it over to him. He took it to the garage to get one of the windows looked at and they told him the head's cracked and the gasket is blown. So my mate tells me and obviously I start to think that's why he wanted to get shot of it.
Funny how people turn into Aholes when dealing with cars and bikes isn't it ? Anyway I spoke to my mate today and he said it didn't use any water on the drive from London to here, and it never used any while he had it. It didn't use any when I had it either but I always suspected the head gasket had gone because there was a lot of pressure out of the oil filler on the rocker cover.
Mostly I'm wondering how and why the garage would check for gasket/head failure, especially as they were supposed to be fixing the window. I will be speaking to them tomorrow, and I'll have the truck back here then so I'll be able to see if I can find anything different from when I had it before.
I think I've heard stories of people with head gasket failure / cracked heads and no symptoms, ring any bells ?

 

[jims-terrano]

Check the oil cooler down the drivers side of the engine. Mine had had a bolt removed by someone removing dip stick tube to get to the starter. That leaked water and garage told me head or gasket was gone, the same garage that had removed the bolt!!!!!

 

[solarman216]

Sounds like a load of effin tosh to me by people who do not have a clue, first off air coming from the oil filler is normal, all pistons pass air/gas, if the head is cracked how do they know this? bullshit unless water is visibly leaking from the outside, head gasket gone? what are the symptoms, OK first to check, make sure the top up bottle is at least half full and leave the cap off run the engine and remove the rad cap, hold your hand tight over the rad fill hole, rev the engine and check for bubbles in the top up tank, you must not let go for at least 10 minutes, every time you release more air will be allowed in at this point and will be seen as bubbles at the top up tank, if you have bubbles the maybe the gasket has gone but a proper garage can test this as the gas will be detectable as combustion gas, Rick

 

[cncfabs]

Sounds like a load of effin tosh to me by people who do not have a clue, first off air coming from the oil filler is normal, all pistons pass air/gas, if the head is cracked how do they know this? bullshit unless water is visibly leaking from the outside, head gasket gone? what are the symptoms, OK first to check, make sure the top up bottle is at least half full and leave the cap off run the engine and remove the rad cap, hold your hand tight over the rad fill hole, rev the engine and check for bubbles in the top up tank, you must not let go for at least 10 minutes, every time you release more air will be allowed in at this point and will be seen as bubbles at the top up tank, if you have bubbles the maybe the gasket has gone but a proper garage can test this as the gas will be detectable as combustion gas, Rick

Ive had couple with headgaskets gone didnt need to look for bubbles when i released the rad cap water shot out all over me and that was from cold start:doh

 

[96terrano]

Check the oil cooler down the drivers side of the engine. Mine had had a bolt removed by someone removing dip stick tube to get to the starter. That leaked water and garage told me head or gasket was gone, the same garage that had removed the bolt!!!!!

They don't have oil coolers...do they?

 

[jims-terrano]

TDI defo does but it's a bit limp wristed as far as oil coolers go, it's more like a panel on side of block. It was Makeitfit I think once posted about one that had frozen on him which made me find mine leaking.

 

[solarman216]

well spotted Ryan, I have a TDi and have not seen an oil cooler but I would have to clean the mud off to check, Rick

 

[solarman216]

TDI defo does but it's a bit limp wristed as far as oil coolers go, it's more like a panel on side of block. It was Makeitfit I think once posted about one that had frozen on him which made me find mine leaking.

Please tell me more, I must find it before it gives me gip, Rick

 

[jims-terrano]

Hmmm OK. Locate the Dip Stick Tube, you'll see a bracket that attaches to the block. The bolt that attaches the bracket to the block is also a bolt for the panel that I was told is the oil cooler and I think I checked the manual calls it an oil cooler too.

 

[solarman216]

Hmmm OK. Locate the Dip Stick Tube, you'll see a bracket that attaches to the block. The bolt that attaches the bracket to the block is also a bolt for the panel that I was told is the oil cooler and I think I checked the manual calls it an oil cooler too.

Right will check tomoz but cannot recall anything resembling what you describe as did starter a little while ago, Rick

 

[jims-terrano]

Rick grab a photo and post one here, not 100% sure exactly what it looks like as I saw it in a small mirror which is when I saw the missing bolt.

 

[11redrex]

nice one rick and jim, something to add to the ever growing list of things I have to do tomorrow. Get new van tyres balanced and swap them over, take rubbish to tip, collect the maverick, speak to the garage, check the maverick over, think of and carry out a childish but satisfying revenge for someone who hit me round the head the other day, tidy the garden, take more rubbish to the tip, take metal to scrappy, Really looking forward to my 24th day off work this year. 80 out of 104 ain't bad. Why ain't I richerer ?

Back on track.

Would a head off a fairway taxi fit and work ? They seem to be cheaper than ones advertised for terranos/mavericks.

 

[96terrano]

well spotted Ryan, I have a TDi and have not seen an oil cooler but I would have to clean the mud off to check, Rick

Yes I've not seen or heard about one on a terrano, I am intrigued, my td definatly doesn't have one, never seen one anyways.

 

[jims-terrano]

CNC you're bound to have a TD and a TDI engine knocking around. See if you can find the part and take photo's to see if it's on both variants.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

So, let me get this right, you are not using any water, but the car is eating oil...

Other than that, it seems to run fine....

If that is the case, whip the large rubber pipe that runs from the air filter to the Turbo off, and have a look for oil in the pipe. If there is oil in there, it sounds exactly the same problems I was having, and it drove me nuts, as everything pointed to the cylinders, or cylinder head...

It took me 6 months to get my head round what was happening, and finally bit the bullet, changed the Turbo, and everything is fixed...

It's a pig of a job, but do-able, and could solve all your problems.


Ohh and by the way, My TDI does not have an oil cooler, the pipes run too and from where it should be, but it just has a loop of pipe where the cooler should be.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

If you want to talk through symptoms, send me a PM, and I will send you my Mobile number, We can discuss what I did to fault find it, etc. New Turbo was about £340 IIRC, and a days work. Only other costs were replacing the coolant, as that was impossible to catch, and doing an oil and filter change, as it is recommended to start a new turbo on clean oil.

 

[briggie]

well ....... I had a blown head gasket on my mistral ......the symptoms where ..... losing a lot of water ( and I mean a lot of water ..... 6 litres in about 100 miles ) ...... truck was overheating ...... didn't seem to have as much oomph...... obvious bubbles in expansion tank ....... but the beauty of a t2 is it has a cast iron head .... so if the head gasket does go , it wont warp like other cars .... you wont have to skim the head ...... just replace the gasket :naughty

 

[11redrex]

Hiya Briggie, hope you're ok ! Ferret it leaks oil badly but it doesn't burn any, and there's no water loss, no bubbles in the header tank, no oil in the water, or water in the oil, no loss of power, in fact nothing at all to point to a head gasket gone, apart from the amount of pressure out of the oil filler cap.

 

[Barrbeast]

Have you tried the condom test? :naughty

Seriously, take the radiator cap off and place a condom over the hole. Start the engine and leave her running. If the gaskets gone then the condom should inflate with the combustion gas leaking into the radiator, and by inflate I mean noticeably inflate and stand up (at least partially). You may find it inflates ever so slightly but thats nothing out of the ordinary; my LWB Shogun did that when I checked after she momentarily overheated due to the water pump leaking water and she was perfectly fine.

Also check for any white cottage cheese-like deposits when you open the oil filler cap.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Ferret it leaks oil badly but it doesn't burn any, and there's no water loss, no bubbles in the header tank, no oil in the water, or water in the oil, no loss of power, in fact nothing at all to point to a head gasket gone, apart from the amount of pressure out of the oil filler cap.

That was the thing, until mine went very badly, it never seemed to burn any oil, which was why I could not work out where it was all going... the first real clue was one day, after driving slowly in a queue of traffic, I went to pull forward and suddenly the revs shot right up, and I disappeared in a cloud of smoke, while the car rev'd it's ""Dogs" off. It was fine again after that for many miles, before it did it again. I then realised it was running on the engine oil in the turbo.

The thing is, because when it first goes, the oil is a continual fine mist, you are not burning enough in one go to really notice it as smoke.

Also the same as you, I seemed to have excessive crank case pressure, if I blocked off the breather with my thumb, it would blow the dip stick out the tube, but these engines seem to have a high crankcase pressure, as since doing the turbo, I can still blow the dip stick out the tube if I block the breather, but I am no longer using any oil.

The thing is, it is pretty easy to check, just whip the big pipe off, and look for puddled oil at the bottom, and then put your fingers on the centre nut of the turbo, and look for play. Mine did not feel like a lot, when you moved it with your thumb, but basically, any movement you can feel like that, is too much.

There is another thing to have a look at, there is a pipe that runs from the bottom of the oil trap, back into the engine, check it is not blocked or split as well.