Heater issues !!!!!!!

[Deano2711]

With the cap off I have run the car on tickover for 40 mins. Then flushed out again and did it with the thermostat fitting guide from the Maintenence section which involved keeping the car at 2000 rpm with the cap off. As for the headgasket there would be a sign somewhere. I drove the car 50 miles home with no overheating and have been driving it since. The oil and water are clean even after using the car. There is no smoking whatsoever and no loss of power, runs perfect.  If it was the headgasket you would get a symptom somewhere.
I believe that everything under the bonnet is working fine. I have checked the water flow from the expansion tank to the engine, from the one side of the engine to the other and from the top of the rad to the bottom. Everything is fine there but when I reconnect everything up and run the car to speed the pipes go hard. The steam has now stopped but I am worried the pipes are hard. Also when I stop the engine you can hear the air in the system. Seems to be located where the heater pipes meet the bulkhead and travels back along these pipes. At the moment the steam has stopped but I also have no heating in the car. I am starting to think that the heater is my problem somewhere. As said earlier I have changed the expansion tank cap and the thermostat. The strange thing is that even when the car is steaming from the expansion tank overflow the temp guage is still on the half way mark and does not go over this whatsoever. The engine is not hot when I check it either.  Really is now just a pain in the arse and was wandering if anyone had ever seen anything like this because I sure haven't !!!!!!!

[opel]

possible crack in you head as air is getting into the system some how. i would do a pressure check on the engine mate.

[Wayne]

Any more news Dean 

[Ant1981]

As for the headgasket there would be a sign somewhere.

Yes, the sign would be, airlocks (no heating is a classic airlock sign), stiff hoses, overheating and/or erratic temperature readings, steaming expansion tank.

If it was the headgasket you would get a symptom somewhere.

You are getting the symptoms.


Stiff hoses plus the other symptoms you describe, can only be headgasket.

[Deano2711]

Well after a weekend of messing I now have the following......new expansion tank cap, new thermostat and engine flush. At the moment I have the engine warming upto half way on the temp guage which is great. I now have heating which is a little slow but nice and hot. No steaming from the expansion tank overflow. However I still have a rock hard top hose and cold bottom hose.
This leads me to believe that I have a blockage somewhere between the expansion tank and the thermostat. So I am dropping the car off to my Mate's garage lunchtime for him to have a look properly.
As for the headgasket, if the gasket was fooked then surely I would have at least one of the following....oil and water mixing (mine are clean and are after running the car for a few hours), smoke (mine has none even when I rev hard) or loss of power (mine has none). I am pretty sure head gasket is fine and as I get water returning to the expansion tank I believe the water pump is working fine. I am now banking on a blockage and my Mate to sort it for me.
Will update later when I know more.

[Ant1981]

This leads me to believe that I have a blockage somewhere between the expansion tank and the thermostat.

No, it's the head gasket

As for the headgasket, if the gasket was fooked then surely I would have at least one of the following....oil and water mixing

No, as the gasket has split between coolant flow and cylinder, not oil flow and cylinder, hence rock hard hoses as the cylinder is pumping up the cooling system.

[AudiA8Quattro]

Unfortunately i do have to agree with Ant on this.
Its very probable you have a head gasket leak, coolant hoses that go rock hard is a common symptom.
When i owned the vr years ago, i had a problem with the coolant system over-pressurising, the only symptoms i had was hard hoses and a bit of coolant coming out of expansion cap valve.
The gasket had failed between no.1 cylinder and a coolant passage.
Get the coolant system sniffed for exhaust gasses, it will tell you for sure, any garage should do this quite cheap.

[Ant1981]

It's a bit naughty of the previous owner, very.

[Deano2711]

Just to confirm Lads the head gasket is now being changed as everything has been tested and changed. Will update when I get the car back at the end of the week.

[Ant1981]

Port and polish the head whilst it's off if the head's ok. Head off always opens up a few opportunities like that.