HGF!! Cloud of black smoke :-/ Edit - HGF confirmed!!

[Scottd]

I hate ‘have I got HGF’ threads, cause often people don’t. Sadly I’m thinking this is a def

On way to work this morning, floored it, cloud of black smelly smoke. Got to work, fresh oilyness around about half the head gasket area and on top of the cambelt cover etc. Fresh coolant pouring (not sure from where) all over the ground.

Oddly, no creamyness on the dipstick, oil looks perfect and the coolant tank looks normal or maybe a fraction lower.

So I guess it’s a case of, call the AA (no parts and labour cover anymore – doh!!) get car home on a low loader then call up local Dundee garage for a quote. Any recommendations?

And to top it all off I have to pay my insurance today! It just gets better

[Rich H]

Well, I would hold off on paying the insurance for a bit...

Sorry to hear that

Are you sure its coming from the head gasket? Find out where the oil and coolant is coming from.

Might just be a water jacket seal leak on the HG. That said the oil must have come form somewhere...

[mac]

Get the lowloader to take it to SLS


You know it makes sense.


Mac

[Rich H]

What I did was get them to agree to take you there on the phone before. When my clutch went they said they would only take me 10 miles but they had already agreed to take me to Falklands (20 miles) and had to honour it

Time for some head work perhaps?

[Scottd]

Called Ali, reckon it'll be going there if I can get it thro to Edinburgh. Anyone got a car trailer??

[tenkfeet]

Sure its not just an oil leak ? I though HGF was white smoke or if oil burnt in the engine it was blue smoke.

[Scottd]

I'm not sure now, everyone I talk to confuses me more The oilyness around the head gasket (and cloud of black steamy smoke) made me think HGF but the coolant all over the ground is odd.

Maybe I'll take it for a spin at lunch time an see if it goes away!?

[tenkfeet]

Oops I missed the bit about coolant on the ground. Call the AA.

[Scottd]

Hmmm, looking at the car again, not much oilyness there now. Lots of coolant. Could I have mistaken cloud of oily smoke with a big cloud of coolant? And the the coolant making the old oil that's always been around the head gasket area look fresh??!

Yup, I'll call the AA.

If this has become one of those - knee jerk reaction to blame HGF at first sign of trouble - threads I'll never forgive myself (me wallet might tho)

*re-reads Rich's post more carefully this time*

.....
Might just be a water jacket seal leak on the HG. That said the oil must have come form somewhere...

Where should I be looking??

[meatball]

Ali (SLS) has a mate that may be able to help you get it to Edinburger..........

[mac]

Water jacket seal failure is a proper Head Gasket failure - what the elise normally fails on is Head Failure when defects in the head allow a path from the inside to the outside

Mac

[Rich H]

What I was on about was the elastomeric seal (The orangy red rubber) around the edge of the head gasket, it is a HGF but a relatively minor one, just the gasket amterial has failed and water pissed out.

To explain a bit better, the head gasket seals several things:

The fire rings seal the pistons from the water jacket

The rubbery elasticy seals then seal the oil from the water and the water from the outside.

If the rubbery elasticy stuff fails you get oil in the water OR water in the oil OR water all over the engine bay. It is just a rubber seal, nothing very special and sometimes they go. If caught then damage is likely to be nil.

If a fire ring fails you get cloud of steam from the exhaust and a thirst for coolant. This is bad as there is a chance of hydraulicing (sp?) and can be due to damage to the head form porosity or pitting. Could be bad and expensive.

If its just coolant, check all your pipes and check the sills for water, IIRC you car is quite old and might have the chafed sill pipe syndrome that some people had, where a badly placed rivet wore through the sill pipe....

[Scottd]

Cheers Rich, I have a feeling your probably spot on. Will have a good look over the weekend, hope the weathers nice

[Rich H]

You can sometimes see it where the seal has been blown out, it'll probably be covered in gunge though.

Just find where the water is coming from, if you have an eazibleed top up the expansion tank with water nearly to the brim, screw the eazibleed onto the expansion tank (Make sure there is no brake fluid in it ) and put about 3-4 PSI (MAX! Or you could blow something expensive like a rad!!) in it from a nearly flat tyre. It will piss coolant without endangering the engine, job (As in finding the leak) is a carrot

Fixing the leak may be a bigger job....

[Edin430]

phone AA now..... upgrade your cover - take if for a spin and see what happens and if it causes any more probs - call the AA right back