Hi all

following my last thread repairing my dads astra following a cracked rad and its overheating i have now replaced the radiator

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=127253


However it is now a smoker, white smoke that becomes really thick under higher revs.

I presume this is a blown head gasket, is there anything else that could cause this?

Is it likely that the head/block is warped given that the head gasket is gone?
Or is it likely to be just a case of replacing the head gasket?


Lars

craked head, warped head.

either a warped head, cracked head or the head gasket. it will cost you nothing but time to find out.
simply pop off the head and have a look. a blown gasket can be easy to spot and will usually display itself as a cleaner or slightly different coloured piston and you will see from inspection of the removed gasket.(it can present itself as a very thin crack so be prepared to scan it closely) and will also be visable in the same place on the block as a clean line or patch. try to remove the gasket in one piece using a thin and flexi fuller knife if it needs encouragement.
a warped head can be seen as a bigger area of discolouration on the gasket than a blown gasket. strip the head and take it to a local engineering firm for a precautionary skim to level out the machined face. my local firm charged me £30 for this both times i overheated.
I've never cracked a head so cant tell you the signs, sorry but by process of elimation you should be able to call it

it could always be a warped head and a blown gasket as the two tend to go hand in hand especially if there is a serious overheat

[Edited on 2/1/10 by skinned knuckles]

There was a time (just before I came out of the workshops about 6 years ago) when vauxhall had a reputation for mysteriously cracking heads and the only cure for it was to replace the head. Some were even subject to a very quite dealer recall. So be prepared for a cracked head and if I remeber correctly a full engineering crack testing was the only way to find it.

thanks guys.

I'll have a look