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View Full Version : Nearly got screwed £350 for gasket

B+B
6th April 2008, 16:21
I lost all the water (blown hose) last week and the car overheated bigtime. called the AA out and they refilled the rad, The AA bloke said the head gasket would be gone for sure, and to get it to a local garage.
The car seemed to run ok on the way home 70mph and no overheating, but I took it to the garage anyway, the garage started the engine and listened for about 30 secs and said definitely head gasket gone and would cost £350:fcuk:.
So I bought a "engine block sniff tester" for £25 and tested it myself, guess what? no leaks & gasket ok.:y:
So if you think the head gasket is blown or the head is warped, test it yourself:y:
bullit
6th April 2008, 16:24
so whats was the problem
leeK9
6th April 2008, 16:24
seen this on the garage ,very clever
B+B
6th April 2008, 16:28
so whats was the problem

No problem Bullit (now) just letting others know they can test the head themselves, if they didn't know before, newbies etc
B+B
6th April 2008, 16:30
seen this on the garage ,very clever

Thats where I saw it, and it works a treat:y:
manc
7th April 2008, 13:33
Sniff-tester?

Can someone enlighten me with some more info about this as I'v never heard about this before.

Thx.
Mystic
7th April 2008, 13:35
I love it when garages diagnose a costly job by ear ;)
Lozza_vtr
7th April 2008, 14:46
Sniff-tester?

Can someone enlighten me with some more info about this as I'v never heard about this before.

Thx.

Like this fella.

Tester (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CYLINDER-HEAD-UNIVERSAL-ENGINE-HEAD-BLOCK-TEST-KIT_W0QQitemZ160226274442QQihZ006QQcategoryZ30922Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

:y:
Andy72
7th April 2008, 15:16
What you may be forgetting is that while the combustion tester is good, it only tests for combustion gases present in the cooling system. It does not test for gasket failures to external air. Every gasket ive had go has been to external air and they aren’t always the easiest to pick up. The car can run fine on a steady run at 70mph due to the cooling of the air, but heat up very quickly in traffic. They may also only leak when cold and run fine when hot, or even vice versa. Listening by ear may have picked up a ticking noise or bubbles/leaks visible. I’d still have a good check over again to be sure.