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Suspected Head Gasket/Cylinder Head issue?


jambokaos87
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Morning all, hope everybody is enjoying their Easter break :smile: 

Apologies for the wall of text you are about to see but I am desperately seeking advice on what to do.

Having no end of issues since the new year with my 2011 Focus (1.6 EcoBoost with 26k on the clock) and it literally drinks coolant for fun (topping up every 3-4 days).

Started in new year when I noticed there was no heat coming through the vents despite the engine being up to temperature. Checked the expansion tank and to my horror the tank was practically empty! I found that my expansion cap was a little worn so replaced the cap with a new Ford OEM cap and re-filled with pre-diluted orange coolant. At no point prior or since has the engine temp gauge been above half way.

Since then I have been topping her up every 3-4 days.

Car doesn't feel down on power really. Rough idle when cold but is generally fine when up to temperature.

Last week I noticed a slight knock coming from the engine when getting up to motorway speeds (60-70mph). No engine light came on but I booked her in to the garage I normally go to just to be safe.

My local garage has done the following:
1) Checked for visual leaks, found none
2) Left the car with them overnight for them to cold test

They told me (to my horror) that there was coolant leaking into cylinder #4 during their compression testing and that there was white smoke coming from the exhaust. I noticed the white smoke early this year but it soon disappeared when the engine was up to temp.

They were reluctant to tell me if it was a cracked cylinder head or a failed head gasket. Whilst I appreciate that stripping an engine down and taking the head off the block is very time consuming, I got the distinct impression from them that they really weren't interested in helping,

Since them telling me this I checked the oil for signs of coolant mixing in and made sure there was no oil mixing in the expansion tank. I have also avoided using her.

Does this sound like a blown head gasket/cracked cylinder head?

I have booked her in to another independent garage that I found offhttp://www.goodgaragescheme.com/ on Tuesday morning for a 2nd opinion.

Thanks and apologies again for the wall of text

Jamie

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if its leaking into cylinder 4 theres no external leaks then yes it looks like the head gasket has gone into its stripped theres no way of seeing how bad it is you can book it into as many garages as you like but I dont think the outcome will change

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does the ecoboost have an exhaust cooler? maybe get that checked if it does, HG on a low mileage engine is very worrying.

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headgasket gone looks likely then if its in the cyl combustion chamber.

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just another fault to add to the newer focus which is racking them up at a considerable rate it definitely shouldn't have gone that early but as its 5 yrs old ford will be of no help

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Thanks for your replies guys.

Been advised by somebody I was speaking to that not many mechanics/garages have had experience in replacing the head gasket on an Ecoboost 1.6.... Really don't know what my options are here and there is a significant amount owed still on finance (though not more than the car's value)... :sad:
 

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ecoboost no more difficult than any other car, its not rocket science, 

its rare for the ecoboost 1.6 headgasket to go, ive not seen one go yet

think theres alot of garages out there that cant manage anything other than a service.

 

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11 minutes ago, iantt said:

ecoboost no more difficult than any other car, its not rocket science, 

its rare for the ecoboost 1.6 headgasket to go, ive not seen one go yet

think theres alot of garages out there that cant manage anything other than a service.

 

That's made me feel a lot better :)

Other then the coolant going missing I'm seeing none of the other well known signs of HG failure, which is why I've booked her in for a second opinion.  I see a bit of steam coming from the exhaust first thing in the morning but it does not smell sweet and doesn't smoke at all when the engine is up to temperature.  

I don't know if the garage where I normally go even pressure tested the cooling system properly.  To my knowledge all they did was run the engine for a bit with the car on the ramps and checked for coolant leaking out.  I know this from what the receptionist said to me.  They gave me the verdict of coolant in the cylinder when they had the car overnight to "cold" test.

I haven't used the car since Wednesday (when I was told by the garage) but had to go inside this morning to fetch something from the glove compartment.  I noticed a very distinct, sickly sweet smell....  Checked the foot wells on both the driver's and passenger's sides and they were bone dry.... Possibly the heater matrix or hoses connecting to this?

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well, the coolants got to be going somewhere, sometimes if the headgasket is leaking into the combustion chamber it will missfire on that cyl, esp after haveing engine running for a while, allowing it to cool and starting it,(coolant under pressure when hot forces its way past headgasket slowly as it cools, alowing coolant in cyl, this then when cold stops sparkplug combusting fuel/air mix causing a brief missfire.)

in servere cases it can fill cyl and cause a hydrallic lock, stopping engine turning over.

you need to find a garage with decent mechanics

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So as to eliminate it. Have you dipped your oil level to see if it's risen? Is the oil filler cap devoid of white stuff?

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Forgot to ask but is there an engineering workshop near you? They're better than any service garage and cheaper.

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oil seems good and not milky or gunky.  Cap is clean as can be.  The coolant inside the expansion tank looks like iron bru and doesn't seem to have oil mixed in with it.

I'm based near Bury, North Manchester so I'm not too sure if there are any reputable firms nearby.  I say nearby because if it is indeed the head gasket I don't want to take a big risk and drive a great distance and risk well and truly killing the car.

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Look up Princess Engineering Levenshulme. I've used them in the past and they're 2nd to none. I've seen Porches Jags Beemer in their car park. If it is your head gasket then take it there.

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2 hours ago, tazzman600 said:

Look up Princess Engineering Levenshulme. I've used them in the past and they're 2nd to none. I've seen Porches Jags Beemer in their car park. If it is your head gasket then take it there.

Nice one buddy really appreciate that :)

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  • 1 year later...

I know this is a late reply...but I'm having same problem with same car...just wondered how you got on

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Tess,

You might be waiting a while for a reply from Jambokaos, he visited this site last on 31 March 2016.

A personal message could possibly get through to his email address, worth a try.

ScaniaPBman.

 

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  • 1 year later...

I'm wondering what the outcome of this was...

I have a 63 plate Ford Focus 1.6 Diesel Titanium X that is currently in my local Arnold Clark Ford garage after I called out the AA on Tuesday night (11/02/20). The car's mileage is 71,287 and it had a full service a couple of weeks ago. I was told as an advisory that the coolant was contaminated with water. On Tuesday morning, a warning came up several times saying 'Engine Malfunction service Now' and it was cutting out a bit, going up a steep hill. I still managed to get to work, but contacted the AA via their handy app when leaving work. The engineer did a roadside diagnostics check and found problems with the fuel pressure and noticed the coolant was almost black, as well as a couple of other error codes. I drove the car a few miles to the garage that evening with the AA following and their were no issues or error messages. It seems to be just when I put my foot down that the message comes up.
 
I am now being told by the Ford garage that the Head Gasket has blown and the cylinder needs to be sent away to be pressure tested and the end result could cost me about £4000 if the cylinder can not be repaired. As you can imagine, that is a major shock as I had no idea there was much wrong with my car. I've never had to spend that much on a car and this is my best car ever, or so I thought...

I reckon the car is still worth about £6000, but I'm wondering if it's even worth taking the risk and telling them to go ahead with this work or just scrapping or trading in my Diesel.

I need to let them know by Monday. Please help!

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I can recommend a mechanic in Paisley to have a look at it. 

Coolant being black isn’t good. Is the oil cap and dipstick got ‘mayo’ gunk on it?

Some ‘mechanics’ don’t / can’t fix jobs like this , I know someone who’ll do a good job. 

If you’re gonna repair it I wouldn’t pay Arnold Sharks prices! 

My experience with them was they wanted £100 per hr just to investigate and see what needs done. 

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Haven't you had enough advice on that other thread you've got running? 

My own feeling is, don't surrender your car (and bank account) to this garage.... Get a 2nd opinion.  How about this Paislsy  guy ALEX.S above has mentioned? 

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On 2/15/2020 at 9:55 AM, AndrewErroch said:

I need to let them know by Monday. Please help!

Sounds like driving it could potentially be catastrophic, there’ll be people on here able to advise on that. If you’ve AA cover, drive it out Arnold Clark’s ..call AA , get towed to a mechanic. If you don’t know one I can recommend one. Otherwise you’ll be another statistic of people completely ripped off by Arnold Clark. Might be a week or two at an independent mechanic but if it saves you literally a few grand then it’s a no brainer 

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  • 11 months later...

Alex can you tell me who your mechanic is in paisley please.From stewart.

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On 2/5/2021 at 11:07 PM, Disasterfocus said:

Alex can you tell me who your mechanic is in paisley please.From stewart.

I see your in Renfrewshire. Do you know Stoney Brae? It’s a wee road off the Barrhead to Paisley road. I’ll copy and paste their details from somewhere..

I don’t know them well but they’ve a good reputation and have done a few good jobs for me. They’ll fix head gaskets etc no bother. Where some others won’t/can’t do . 
 

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