[Oz]

Hi,

I have an EA Falcon and the radiator coolant has been mysteriously dissapearing.
I can't see any obvious leaks (i.e. there are no blown hoses or anything like t
hat). Strangely, it doesn't always happen. It might run for a few days without t
he water level dropping, then on some days it will need topping up once or twice
. I have checked the engine oil and it's clean, no water mixture, so I rulled ou
t a cracked head. However, when I showed it to my mechanic, he said there is a p
ossibility that the head is cra
cked. Has anyone else experienced this with theres? Also note that the cars idle
has been rough for the past week or so? Is this related?

Thanks,

Oz

 

[QuarterPounder]

Is is hard to start in the morning?

 

[Oz]

yeah... it's takes a few turns, but then again, it's always been like that. It also leakes oil (blown head gasket I think), but which EA Falcon doesn't

Oz

 

[Martin]

Best way to see if your head/gasket is faulty is to do a compression test. I guarantee you that if its blown it will be blown on the number 1 cylinder. Also pull the oil filler cap off and have a look inside it, if its got some milky white crap in there, then the head or gasket is rooted.

Also have you been driving normally and then suddenly you see the temperature rise rapidly? And then see it fall just as quick as it rised?
Thats another sign aswell.

 

[jase_elxr8]

Martin is absolutely right. The most common place where those head gaskets blow is between no.1 and the water jacket. Pretty common on the sixes. What we've worked it out to be (or what we think it is) is the gasket that is used to seal the front where it goes around the timing chain. It doesn't compress down properly and is also alot fatter than the head gasket. We dont put one on there anymore, we use a film of silicon instead and it seams to work better...