Help! Bought A Vvtli And Think Head Gaskets Gone ?

May 26, 2009

Hey Guys ,

Hope someone can help with this - I'll start from the beginning sorry if i prattle on a bit !

2 weeks ago bought a vvtli 190 , drove it the 120 miles home no probs , drove fine , no overheating , hesitation etc . Checked the water and it was very low so i topped it up and then checked a few days later and it was low again , during that time i kept hearing a gurgling noise on start up so thought it may be an air lock . So topped it up and run the engine , took the cap off and whacked the heaters on . the water level dropped quite a lot a few times while doing this till eventually it became stable .

Thought all was well and drove the 10 miles home , checked again and had dropped slightly so topped it up again ! . Yet today once again i check and it has dropped once again .

There is no mayo in the oil , from what i have seen no water from exhaust . Slight bit of smoke when engine was coldish but soon cleaned up but only once , Runs fine but with a slightly high idle on start up , never goes over temp , when engine running and coolant cap off there are no bubbles but when the engine is revved there is a slight motion in the water , Cant see any water leaking on the floor when engine is running but stationary .

It is booked in to go into the garage but not for a week , Pretty worried as i just spent £3.5k on it !!

Any help or opinions on what could be wrong would be GREATLY appreciated .

Cheers

May 26, 2009

Make sure you are bleeding the coolant system correctly. You are supposed to unbolt the header tank and place it on the bonnet release catch so its the highest point in system.

There should be bleeding instructions on the underside of the bonnet.

Mart.

May 26, 2009

Make sure you are bleeding the coolant system correctly. You are supposed to unbolt the header tank and place it on the bonnet release catch so its the highest point in system.
There should be bleeding instructions on the underside of the bonnet.
Mart.

Yeah funny thing is i seen that after i topped it up the last time ! When i read it i figured that was the process for when you completely drain the system and refill. Seems a bit of a pain in the ***** to do but i will try it tommorow . cheers

May 26, 2009

Make sure you are bleeding the coolant system correctly. You are supposed to unbolt the header tank and place it on the bonnet release catch so its the highest point in system.
There should be bleeding instructions on the underside of the bonnet.
Mart.
Yeah funny thing is i seen that after i topped it up the last time ! When i read it i figured that was the process for when you completely drain the system and refill. Seems a bit of a pain in the ***** to do but i will try it tommorow . cheers

Yeah bit of a ball ache doing it properly but these are a pain to get the air out completely.

Always worth a try though.

Mart. ;)