*Help* (Please!)

[redarrow]

Steel Seal good stuff the mgf community use it daily lol.

just slap a new head on. MLF guilty

sorry to say sounds like the head might of wrapped ,therefore your need a new stripped head.
(all that means you send the top head to a place to get machined, this gives the surface a new flat face,)

steel seal is suppose to block any imperfections on the head that causing the problem.

you can get a die test to test the head only £10 from most places, also do a self test. your no if the head gone or going,Have a look at the dip stick. if there a mayonnaise looking substance on it,then it could be the head, if you then look at the coolant lid if the same mayonnaise substance is there in the lid then 80% sure it the head, if the coolant is going down then 90% head, if blue smoke is also present  then 100% it the head.

the only way to fix a blown head is fix the head gasket where it gone.

i recommend the following as a proper job in fixing a head gasket problem.

new head.
new stretch head bolts.
new water pump.
new gaskets all round.
new coolant and a good bleed.
new thermostat

around £90 for above parts all in.(there no magic solution for head gasket i am afraid sorry)

labour can cost from £400 to £900 for a decent job done.


if you added while there.

new pistons.
new valves.
x4 new bores.

you got a bran new engine.

[MelBee42]

Redarrow, I appreciate that you're trying to help, but the hg issue has all been covered in great length and detail by the many posts in this thread.
The hg is definitely not leaking internally. If there is an external leak it is a small one. I won't bore everyone by repeating what's been said about it in this thread already.
To everyone else... caliper has arrived apparently (at my parents). Just need to sort it getting fitted now and fingers crossed it might even pass the MOT.

[MattPerformance]

Got a mechanic to fit the new handbrake cable today.
It has made no difference. The chap says it is without doubt the rear off-side caliper, not the hand brake cable, that is the problem.

I'll grant you that it is possible that the caliper could have failed as well as the cable having seized but make no mistake, that cable was seized.  
The cable was seized in the "hand brake on" position so without attaching a new cable it is impossible to say for sure whether the caliper is working properly or not.  Presumably you have the displaced cable? Check it and you'll see that it is tight/ seized.  Has the caliper been reset after the cable was fitted?

As for the head gasket weep, it sounds to me that sleeping dogs should be left to lie.  Two people checked the engine bay when I had the car and the HG was definitely weeping at the time (and the water level dropped and I had to top it up), but if it's not weeping now then it may not need fixing at all.

[MelBee42]

Matt, I can only tell you, as I have already said in this thread, what the facts are as I know them, ie whether the car has been fixed or not and what various mechanics' diagnoses have been over the last few months.
The cable went in the bin (my bin) at the time. I see no benefit to me in trying to rake over what previous problems might have been and I have offered no personal opinion on here as to any particular mechanic's diagnosis as I don't think it's appropriate to do so on a public forum.
I'm sure you understand I am only interested in just getting the car fixed and ultimately that is what I am focussed on doing now.

[MattPerformance]

Clearly, everyone wants you to get your car back on the road as quickly and as cheaply as possible.

The benefit in raking over the the history is to learn from it.  You brought the car to me from a workshop who was unable to fix the car.  Within 2.5 hrs I had it fixed.  At that point you asked me to get the car MOT'd but it failed, most notably on the O/S hand brake efficiency.  I diagnosed the fault but at the time it was not viable for you to have me do the work.  Now somebody else is working on the car and making comments that just don't ring true.  Can you see where I'm going with this?!

Checking a displaced component (to confirm its failure) is the most basic of fundamentals for any mechanic, not least of all because we all know that problems can have more than one cause.  If this wasn't done, and no attempt was made to reset the caliper, then whoever is working on the car isn't fit to do so.  I'm not saying that the caliper is not defective, just that it might not be (oh, and the fact that the cable definitely was but the evidence has been conveniently disposed of  s;) s;)  ).  The caliper would have needed to have been removed to do this.  Was it?  You could be about to spend even more money that you don't need to.

[MelBee42]

I'm not willing to go into this further on a public forum. As I have already said previously, there is no benefit in discussing this because (as stated just a few posts up) I have purchased a replacement caliper.

[MattPerformance]

You can take a horse to water...

[MelBee42]

I could do without unhelpful comments such as that and I will not be goaded into having an argument with you about what the current diagnosis is and why, and I'd rather you didn't make further comments about the competence of my mechanic (who I know).
I have a replacement caliper and the next order of business is to a) get the caliper fitted, and then b) get it MOT'd and then assuming it passes c) monitor coolant levels and if it is losing fluid at all (hasn't been since I had it, in fact it is very overfilled at the moment), add steel seal.
If anyone has any comments, help or advice specifically on those things that would be very welcome. Otherwise I'd just ask that the mods close this thread. In fact, given the last few comments, I think locking the thread would be a good plan.

[nathanMR2]

Mod - Locked at ops request