Head gasket problem

SARAHA95

MEMBER
2005 VAUXHALL CORSA
1.0L
MANUAL
77,000 MILES

Three weeks ago I broke down. I was taken to the garage who normally fixes my car and I informed them the water tank was losing water and the car overheated(I to the red zone) they kept the car for two weeks and changed the water tank and radiator costing me £375! I collected the car 1/12/2017 at 5:00 pm and they told me they had fixed it. At 5:20 whilst on my way home the car broke down again! The temperate had not risen but the water tank does not hold water and there is lots of pressure, there is mayo in the oil tank and the car does not start first time. The car smokes when you first turn it on or rev too much. Is this the head gasket and should the garage have checked this when it was taken to them? The garage is telling me I have to now pay to have it fixed again when I have just payed £375 for the to fix the problem which is not fixed or can I solve it by putting sealant in the gasket (the garage previously replaced the head gasket 21/12/16)?

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

Very probably a head gasket or a cracked head, the work shop should have done a head check. This is a chemical test for exhaust gasses in the cooling system, now saying that, they could have done the test and it may at that stage still been a negative result. This has happened to me before, although I was convinced that the head was suspect, no test at that time proved beyond doubt that it was so, and a week or so later it did fail. How do you convince a customer to spent serious money to fix a problem that you only have a belief is there with no hard evidence? Sometimes you are between a rock and a hard place, probably what he should have done was tell you that he had done the test (if in fact he has) and advise on what his suspect may happen, and let you make the final decision. Some times you think that you are making the right decision and it comes back to bite you. Anyway, do not use a sealant as they just do not work and often cause more damage by blocking radiators, get it fixed properly.