Head Gasket away

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Jordan
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Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife

Head Gasket away

Post by Jordan » Fri May 18, 2012 11:44 am

Not having much luck this last week!
1st car wouldnt start, problem fixed by pass on the immobiliser
2nd MOT fail due to full beam on one side not working and fuses blowing shorting out somewhere,
Eventually fixed and mot pass!

Last night car temp was fine, parked for 15mins as i was on the phone engine still runnng temp just went to 115c and steam coming out the engine bay, let it cool down and managed to get water from some kind person, topped it up got home ok, checked it this morning and coolant level dropped again, just had it back at Falkland Performance they done pressure tests and its the head gasket thats away :( Mechanic said the K-Series engine are known for it, £650 for repair :( :(
Lotus Evora , previous car history Elise S2 , Mini Cooper S

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robin
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by robin » Fri May 18, 2012 11:48 am

Search for HGF on here and you'll find lots of information, views, opinions, etc. Depending on exactly why/how it has failed, simply replacing it with another one might not be a very long lived repair.

Cheers,
Robin
I is in your loomz nibblin ur wirez
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scottishselise
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by scottishselise » Fri May 18, 2012 11:48 am

Get parts and labour and then 'discover' the problem in a couple of weeks

KingK_series
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by KingK_series » Fri May 18, 2012 12:53 pm

robin wrote:Search for HGF on here and you'll find lots of information, views, opinions, etc. Depending on exactly why/how it has failed, simply replacing it with another one might not be a very long lived repair.

Cheers,
Robin

Well said -

just replacing a gasket is a waste of time and money, the gasket is not the problem.


S2 K Series Head Gasket Has Gone

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =5&t=33093

Jordan
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Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife

Re: Head Gasket away

Post by Jordan » Fri May 18, 2012 2:23 pm

KingK_series wrote:
robin wrote:Search for HGF on here and you'll find lots of information, views, opinions, etc. Depending on exactly why/how it has failed, simply replacing it with another one might not be a very long lived repair.

Cheers,
Robin

Well said -

just replacing a gasket is a waste of time and money, the gasket is not the problem.


S2 K Series Head Gasket Has Gone

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... =5&t=33093

Cheers, had a read, £800-£1400 , i got priced at £500 + VAT so £600 for the job to be done roughly...
Lotus Evora , previous car history Elise S2 , Mini Cooper S

woody
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by woody » Fri May 18, 2012 3:19 pm

Jordan wrote:so £600 for the job to be done roughly...
:| May be closer to the truth. Have a read of what's out there and what a £600 job is likely to include, the likely hood of that being a long lasting fix and the little things that may be of importance.

KingK_series
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by KingK_series » Fri May 18, 2012 5:29 pm

woody wrote:
Jordan wrote:so £600 for the job to be done roughly...
:| May be closer to the truth. Have a read of what's out there and what a £600 job is likely to include, the likely hood of that being a long lasting fix and the little things that may be of importance.

yes £600 is wasted without a digital calibrated hardness test, correct liner standproud, fitting a PRT etc etc

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campbell
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by campbell » Mon May 21, 2012 12:13 pm

Jordan, ask Falkland exactly what work they plan to do for their quote. Drop the details back in here before committing. They have a wide range of experience, and have looked after various members' Elises over the years, and it would be unfair to write off their expertise without a little more exploration first.

However, as suggested above, £600 is only going to buy a few hours' labour and since a lot of that can easily be consumed simply in removing and refitting the head - without doing very much else other than dropping a new gasket in - you do need to be careful. It may well get it running again for a few thousand miles but the first time the engine is put under sustained load or extreme heat cycles, and you might get let down again :-(

Several of the guys who've responded above *really* know their stuff, but none is running a formal service so unfortunately you can't just book it in with them :D (more's the pity...)

You should also contact Craig Moncrieff at Murray Lotus and ask the same question re: procedures / investigations. And a further thought is Dreadnought Garage in Callander, who have stacks of K-series experience. Obviously costs will vary between them all but it's the *content* of the work they'd each do which matters for a long-lived solution.

Campbell
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Jordan
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by Jordan » Wed May 23, 2012 6:09 pm

Had a call from garage today saying They have sorted the headgasket and got the car running, what was causing the problem was the fan was gooosed, it kept blowing fuses also...
Lotus Evora , previous car history Elise S2 , Mini Cooper S

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tut
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by tut » Wed May 23, 2012 6:49 pm

The fan would only have been a problem if you were stuck in traffic on a hot day, and did not come on when the temp got above 105 or so.

If you did not notice the temp, it would probably have to go above 120 before it caused damage.

tut

Jordan
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by Jordan » Wed May 23, 2012 9:37 pm

I was stationary for about 15minutes with the engine still running taking a phonecall when it happened, i didnt hear the fan come on, i noticed the temp was reading 115c and next thing steam was coming from the engine bay, also the coolant was loosing water
Lotus Evora , previous car history Elise S2 , Mini Cooper S

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campbell
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Re: Head Gasket away

Post by campbell » Wed May 23, 2012 10:20 pm

Jordan wrote:They have sorted the headgasket and got the car running
What exactly have they done, Jordan. Details, if you can, please!
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