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Coolant issues nightmare

Discuss problems you have had or are having with your Z4
Mike6
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Mike6 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:25 pm

Just a thought but if the thermostat is sticking shut then you will get overheating issues . Might be worth considering this before you start looking at head gasket failure.

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Ducklakeview
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Ducklakeview » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:36 am

Book time to do the head and valves is a whopping 17hrs.

Just the head gasket alone books at 11.5hrs, so can't see any indy doing that job for £300..
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by bz4kev » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:49 am

ph001 wrote: Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:14 pm
Zero4 wrote: Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:01 pm Is there an easy way to diagnose?
Start car up from cold, remove coolant bottle cap and place your hand on top. Get someone to rev car up - if there is a lot of pressure then your head gasket is stuffed. Proper compression / leakdown test will confirm as already mentioned. Changing head gasket not a major problem, would expect circa £200 - £300 from a good indy + £80 ish to have the head skimmed.
hi need mine doing could you recommend the good indy £380 seems a great price :D
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ph001
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by ph001 » Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:31 pm

I was really basing the time on how long it took me to change 4 bent valves on my old Calibra after the cambelt snapped which involved taking the head off, sending off for skimming, replacing head gasket etc. I did that in two afternoons and wasn't really rushing. Personally on a 15yr old car I probably wouldn't bother lapping the valves etc. But yes, £380 probably is a bit optimistic given the price of the gasket set. I think under £500 is realistic though....well, up North anyway.
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Zero4
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Zero4 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:15 pm

Compression test came back fine. He had it running for a few hours straight afterwards and no overheating at all. It It blew its coolant and overheated for me when I was on it so wondering what it can now be.

Its had new sensor, new coolant tank, new cap is on order now to see if its as simple as that.

Anything else I'm missing?

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Ducklakeview
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Ducklakeview » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:34 pm

Zero4 wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:15 pm Compression test came back fine. He had it running for a few hours straight afterwards and no overheating at all. It It blew its coolant and overheated for me when I was on it so wondering what it can now be.

Its had new sensor, new coolant tank, new cap is on order now to see if its as simple as that.

Anything else I'm missing?
A compression test won't necessarily identify a blown head gasket.. It needs a chemical combustion gas test performing on the coolant whilst the engine is running.

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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Zero4 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:04 am

Stuck a new cap on it and bled it out. Is it possible that all this was caused by a loose cap and some air lock?

Everything seems fine my Indy says it’s running wel, not overheating at all and no coolant loss.

It’s had us baffled but worried about longer journeys now.

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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by firebobby » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:40 am

Sounds like you need to have progressively longer drive outs to gain trust in it. When the head gasket went on my old Triumph Stag, it took quite a few runs to with lots of stopping and checking for drips, until I was happy.
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Zero4
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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by Zero4 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:51 pm

Yeah agree. Got the car back this morning, ran some chores I had to do, did some shopping, some work stuff and generally pottered about in it. Going to take it easy with it for the week, check levels, then some longer drives with a little more spirit to ensure it’s fine.

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Coolant issues nightmare

Post by allanhelen » Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:38 am

Ducklakeview wrote: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:36 am Book time to do the head and valves is a whopping 17hrs.

Just the head gasket alone books at 11.5hrs, so can't see any indy doing that job for £300..
that quite a chunk of time but if it is any consolation to change the head gaskets on my X5 is 48 hours and requires the removal of the engine :tumbleweed:

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