Head Gasket?? Advice Please...

[Lyts1985]

Here we go... I'm basically looking for some suggestions or to confirm my fears as I can't figure this one out... It's a 2.0 TDCI 115, 04 plate, with 116k on the clock...

My car is losing coolant regularly. 2 litres (roughly) every 100 or so miles... I can't see any external leaks, hoses etc, and a Ford mechanic agrees (take that how you will!) They did a pressure test on the cooling system which came back fine but said a sniff test would be pointless on a diesel (?). The mechanics advice was that he suspects a head gasket failure as he noticed substantial white smoke when starting from cold...

He's right - when the cars been sat overnight there's a shed load of white smoke, then when I check the coolant level it has indeed dropped. The smoke clears after say 15 seconds of rough running but then runs perfect and doesn't lose any more coolant during running...

My limited knowledge tells me that water is running in to the engine overnight hence the rough running and smoke, but if the head gasket were gone would it really leak in to the cylinders overnight and not during use?? What else could cause this as I could do without a £1000+ bill right now...?

Unsure if it's related so I'll ask the question... There seems to have been, at some point, a leak around the EGR valve as there's something running down the bottom hose? Thought it was only exhaust gas going through the EGR?

Finally (honest!) there appears to be fluid (water??) around the injectors and the surrounding area... Normal?

I'd greatly appreciate some technical bods opinions on this... Thanks!!

[Stoney871]

Core plugs?