Possible head gasket?

Whu557

Got a peugeot 207 a 2006 model that is drinking quite a bit of coolant (from max to min in about 500km or so maybe more) and i have a feeling its going into the engine.

Car can sometimes but not all the time be a bit spluttery when starting it from cold. Also have a ticking noise coming from the engine which i was told was tappets.

It is quite annoying the tappet sound and the coolant problem.

I had the system checked for leaks but they could not find anything so a bit stumped.

Any clues guys??

pablo128

Take the plugs out one by one. If coolant is entering the cylinder, the plug will be 'washed'. It will definitely look different to the other plugs.

Whu557

I will pop it into a garage this week to see if they can look at it.

Is there any other symptoms i would see?

I tried taking the cap off once when it was warm by opening it slowly and there was hardly no hiss and the coolant was luke warm.

I am getting no overheating or anything although the temp gauge reads 80 most of the time instead of 90 and staying halfway.

Also noticing there seems to be a lot of water around my oil filler neck

delly

I think the most obvious sign is a substance that looks a bit like mayonnaise on the inside of your oil cap. This is formed by the mix of oil and coolant.

Whu557

I have had that but my garage put it down to condense

Runs perfect may i add and has a lot of power in it

king_of_inismac

Whu557 wrote: »

I will pop it into a garage this week to see if they can look at it.

Is there any other symptoms i would see?

I tried taking the cap off once when it was warm by opening it slowly and there was hardly no hiss and the coolant was luke warm.

I am getting no overheating or anything although the temp gauge reads 80 most of the time instead of 90 and staying halfway.

Also noticing there seems to be a lot of water around my oil filler neck

You should check to see if your thermostat is stuck open (if its not getting to 90).

If you're losing coolant, its going somewhere. Either a leak or into the engine. Run the engine in a dry area and watch for any leaks. If there's no wet patch, I'd be leaning towards a head gasket.

The next step is to bring it to a garage and get a pressure or sniff test done.

Whu557

Took it to a garage they told me it was fine they pressure tested it and all and said there was no leaks.

No wet patches under the car which is leading me to believe its the head gasket.

Could this be causing the tappet noise also??

Yeah they also tested the thermostat and they said it was fine but its a bit strange how i can turn the engine off and its on 80c and leave it 5 mins turn the engine back on and it drops to under 70c before rising a few mins later

delly

I can only go on my very limited experience, but understand that some cars can run for some time with initial minor head gasket issues. In relation to condensation being the cause of the mayo, maybe if the car has been laid up, or only takes very short trips. I wouldn't expect it for cars that are used for reasonable trips.

Whu557

I would say on average i do about 120km a week in it maybe a little more. Some days it won't be used for 3-4 days due to work

9935452

Is there any white smoke from the car which would be steam?
As one of the other posters said remove spark plugs and see if one is very clean/washed.
A pressure test wont normally find a head gasket problem, it will find minor water leaks.

What engine has it??

king_of_inismac

9935452 wrote: »

Is there any white smoke from the car which would be steam?
As one of the other posters said remove spark plugs and see if one is very clean/washed.
A pressure test wont normally find a head gasket problem, it will find minor water leaks.

What engine has it??

A sniff test detecting exhaust gases in the coolant should detect a failing head gasket. That might be worth doing. How much coolant are you losing per week?

Whu557

king_of_inismac wrote: »

A sniff test detecting exhaust gases in the coolant should detect a failing head gasket. That might be worth doing. How much coolant are you losing per week?

It's a 1.4 petrol 90bhp to engine I think belt driven.

About 500km takes it from max to min so a few weeks with the driving I do. There's no white smoke at all either.

Thanks guys

9935452

Might be a small bit of use to you
http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=160&t=1168994&nmt=207+head+gasket

gavman1

Ok, so you have had it to the garage and they have ruled out the hdad gasket yet your still loosen water, is this correct(?if so get down on the floor kinda behind the dash and pull up the carpet.have a good look around for water.if the car isnt consuming the coolant and its not ending up on your driveway then chances are the heater matrix is leaking water/coolant into the cabbin.its worth a check anyway lad.