Head gasket gone! Help!!! Stuck in Brighton

[russ3161]

I'm in of a bit of a nightmare situation here. I drove from Derby to Brighton and on the M1 had to get the AA out to fill up my cooling system after it overheated and pi$$ed it all over the road. I made it to Brighton after re-filling it twice more and it now seems it wont go for more than five minutes before emptying itself.

I have had the problem of the car revving itself up and down before and that still happens when I fill up and start it again which I'm told is air passing through the sensor in the system. However, having read around on this forum it sounds very much like the Head Gasket has gone.

Worst thing is I'm 200 miles from home and stuck here! Does anyone know anyone good who works on Mk1s in or around Brighton? For that matter, anyone who could do an urgent replacement Head Gasket which I appreciate is clutching at straws at such notice.

Also how much should it cost. Toyota said £975 all in (no way!) and another garage said £315+vat for the labour?

[Zirax]

Are you able to call the AA to get it towed? You should be able to get them to tow the car back home.

[NDR008]

ermmm.... you need to get the headd checked. I suggest you figure out how to get it home and sort it out later.

[Tom G]

could it be that the system is full of air? did you open the valves at the heater and rad when you refilled it?

[russ3161]

When it was filled by the AA he released the valve at the front. When it went again I didn't coz I was just desperately trying to complete the last little bit of the journey. Unfortunately I have basic AA membership so they would only take me 10 miles so back to Derby isn't an option. A friend here is going to help me bleed it properly in a bit so we'll see if that helps but I don't think that should necessarily have led to such severe overheating.

Could a dodgy rad cap cause the overheating? and how can you tell if it's knackered?

[cartledge_uk]

crazylegs is in woking, he maybe able to fit you in.

[russ3161]

Thanks I've sent him a message. If there's anyone else you can think of tho please let me know

[Tom G]

my first mk1 behaved just like yours when I filled it up incorrectly, not bleeding it properly. So getting the air out *might* fix the problem. Even if not, it might not be the head gasket, fingers crossed!

A cracked coolant tank cap will allow air into the system while it cools down.

[Tony jinxy froude]

Faulty thermostat could also be the problem, did you have lots of white smoke coming from the exhaust ? if so this is also a good indication the H/G has gone, the only sure way to tell if the H/G has definately gone would be to get it to any good garage & get a Sniff test done, this involves them holding a small probe over the filler cap & testing for evidence of hydrocarbons in the air above the filler cap, this will tell you either way & may save you loads of cash , good luck, Jinxy