Possible HGF symptoms?

[Corranga]

Sorry for another HGF topic, but i've now read so much that i'm completely baffled by the whole thing so here are my details, can soneone help?

Car:
1998 S1 Elise (Standard)
Symptoms that make me dread the worst:
The car is using coolant, not a huge amount, but i'm topping it up weekly, maybe 1/4 litre.
There is possibly a puff of blue smoke when started from cold, but it doesn't seem to be using oil (or certainly not enough that i've noticed!) I'm going to check this tomorrow, the car has been parked up since Thursday.
When the car is started from cold, the engine sounds rough for a couple of minutes.
White smoke / steam from the exhaust for maybe 15+ minutes after driving (i've been told me this may be due to water sitting in the exhaust)
There is NO gunk in the oil.
Me:
Not hugely clued up on the technical stuff

Can someone advie what else I can check, or what possibly routes I have?

If it is HGF, I was planning to simply buy the uprated gasket and dowel kit and hand the car over to a friend who is a mechanic. Is there any thing I should tell him to do / any reason not to use him / anything else I should get done (I was considering also buying a cam belt and having that changed?)

Chris

[blackbird]

if you are going to get your friend to do the gasket make sure that the engine is cold before he takes the head off.and have it checked to see that it is not warped.and yes do the cam belt .and do the thermostat to as it is easy to do with the head off

[Lawrence]

To what level are you topping up the coolant?
Have you replaced the coolant cap yet?
Try a "Block test" I have the kit in Edinburgh, Mac has one in Blantyre, this can confirm exhaust gas is in the coolant.
check the rad and hoses for leaks.

Always fit a new belt with a head gasket, skim the head back to true, Stu provides this service at his engineering shop. Measure the liner height protusions while the head is off to ensure they are within tolerance.

[r10crw]

Sounds like my first gasket failure. Water leakedinto the 4th cylinder over night so when started she didnt run right till all the water was out of the cylinder. On the plus side means that you wonthave damaged the head, although as everyone says its worth getting it checked for true when its off. Cheers Craig.

[Rich H]

First easy check, pull out the sparkplugs. If one of them is steam cleaned, you have a problem, if its number 1 (Off side) or Number 4 (Nearside) its probably the crap inlet manifold seal. Good news is it costs about a quid, bad news is fittnig it can be a royal PITA.

Also as has been eluded to, most Elises sit on or below the min line, does it use coolant beyond there? If you put too much in it wil blow it out the expansion tank cap. Oh yes, replace that too, its only £3 from a landie dealer.

Next option would be get an eazibleed, make sure its clean and dry, drop a spare tyre to 3-5 psi and attach it to the expansion tank, this will pressurize the coolant system so if you ave a leak you can find it. Chack all the coolant hoses you can see and have a good look around the rad end caps, lotus didn't do a great job of doing all the clips up properly!

Fingers crossed its trivia!

[mj9]

not too technical but when mine got hgf it was misfiring and white smoke from exhaust. Also had to top up with a lot of coolant and gunk in the oil.

Hope that helps. (I m not technical so dont know if these are common to other problems).

[r055]

ive not checked mine 'formally' but i was paranoid about it drinking coolant.
i replaced the cap but it still appeared to be losing it somewhere.

however, it dropped below the min and consistently stayed there. I then found traces of collant on the pipes - evidence that it was escaping through the cap - something it is designed to do.

everyones coolant sits at slightly different levels.

HTH

[BiggestNizzy]

and look out for "jizz" in the water / under the oil filler cap thats's what happened to mine

[r055]

and look out for "jizz" in the water / under the oil filler cap thats's what happened to mine

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007110349,00.html

[BiggestNizzy]

and look out for "jizz" in the water / under the oil filler cap thats's what happened to mine

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007110349,00.html

[mj9]

and look out for "jizz" in the water / under the oil filler cap thats's what happened to mine

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007110349,00.html

that guy must love lotus elises (especially the earlier models!)

[Corranga]

most Elises sit on or below the min line, does it use coolant beyond there? If you put too much in it wil blow it out the expansion tank cap. Oh yes, replace that too, its only £3 from a landie dealer.

Will do this next then. The coolant hasn't really been beyond the min level, it seems maybe 15-20 miles will see it down to there, but as i'm only using the car for commuting, it's always been topped up from there so i'm not sure if it's leaking or not then.

The cap from my Mini might fit given the 'rover' likeness...

I'll check the plugs as suggested too.

[Corranga]

So, i've been using the car daily and monitoring the coolant levels.

The car isn't misfiring when started from cold now
The coolant level when cold seems to be below the minimum level when cold, but at or above the max when the car is hot. Should I be watching the hot level or the cold level?!

Chris

[mj9]

If you have hgf then shouldnt really use the car as i have been told it causes more damage and so more expensive to fix....

Theres nothing worse than not knowing and trying to reassure yourself that it might not be... i would say take it to a good garage and get the problem confirmed asap

goodluck!

[Sanjøy]

Try a "Block test" I have the kit in Edinburgh

Could I have a shotty too please ?