Having major problems with M Reg Astra 1.4. Was blowing out white smoke, going through hell of a lot of coolant and temperature gauge was hitting the red mark after only a few minutes stationary.
Head gasket had blown so set about replacing it. Had head skimmed, replaced the thermostat, water pump, cam belt and used all new bolts tightened to the correct torque.
Started the car, worked fine, continued to run for approx 15 mins, still fine. Temperature gauge didnt move but we also own a Corsa which can run happily for nearly 30 mins before gauge moves.
Popped car in gear to move off drive but as it had been sitting for a while the back brakes had locked. Before going any further we added some of Halfords own brand radweld as we knew there was a very slight leak on the radiator. This is where the problems started. As soon as car was put into gear again the white smoke started to appear at the exhaust much the same as before the gasket was replaced. Drove around the block and nothing changed, still white smoke.
Any suggestions? It was working fine for about 30 mins, it was only when the radweld went in that the smoke started.
Thanks
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Hairline crack in the head somewhere that only opens up when the engine is put under load maybe??
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mmm suppose it could be.... we did ask the place which skimmed the head to check to see if it was OK but I don't know how small a crack they would be able to detect.
Its really got us baffled because we ran it for going on 30 mins on Sunday and again yesterday and moved it. It was only after the radweld stuff was added that problems started.
Someone has suggested that if the inlet manifold wasnt clean enough when refitted water could get in through any small gaps. Sure everything was clean but we could check that first. Just cannot face taking the cylinder head off again, all that tightening the bolts several times......
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The only other thing I can think is;
Plain water alone in the cooling system generally won't show up tiny leaks, but put antifreeze / coolant in and hey presto, it leaks. I'm wondering if the *Radweld* type stuff you've put in also does a similar thing.
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Will have a check when I get home to see if there are any signs of any leaks. Used antifreeze when we filled it up and not just plain water.
Only other thing I thought of was that even though we had completely drained the water and oil out of the car we may not have flushed it all through thoroughly enough and there are still some traces of water in the oil.
Going past the limits of my knowledge here but I thought it may be that some gunge had got into the radiator and its only after we have run the car for a long period that the thermostat has opened and water has started flowing through the rad thus picking up any gunge on the way, or by moving the car gunge has been dislodged????
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Checked it last night and there didnt appear to be any signs of leaks. Left it running on the drive for 15 or so mins and there was no smoke at all.
Not taken it for a run since Tuesday night so things might change when I take it out. Ideally though I need to get a new crankshaft pulley before I take it too far as this one is slightly warped ..... probably from having four guys all trying their hardest to remove it in the first place.
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Could be that the exhaust has a lot of water in it due to failed gasket. If so it should disappear when really hot.
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Yep , I would agree that , assuming you replaced parts carefully etc. you may have an exhaust full of water/condensation , this may not be got rid of by idling , give it a few longer runs , if it is still burning water through combustion then it will probably mis-fire .
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Thanks for the advice, I will give it a try at the weekend and let you know how I get on.
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mmmmm well the white smoke seems to have cleared up after a week of running it back and forth to work (car actually sounded and drove better than when we bought it 6 years ago) but the temperature gauge appears to have stopped working and on Monday the car wouldnt even start!!!
In my Corsa it usually moves of the pin and towards the blue/90 mark, only if standing in traffic for a long time that it moves above that. However, its not even moving off the pin in the Astra.
To add to the problems I was going to investigate this on Monday but left the house to go to work and car wouldnt start - battery appears to be flat. Not had chance to investigate since then.
Suggestions from guys at work is to check if the battery is actually flat and if it will charge ... if it charges then its likely the alternator is to blame but if its fully charged then it could be the starter motor - does this advice sound good to you? Have to check tonight.
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Hi,
I know this wasn't the point of your post, but it sounds like your Corsa has a duff thermostat. Temp should get up to about half way within a few minutes of driving, and stay there, whether you're driving on the motorway or stuck in traffic.
As for the battery, I'd jump it from the other car, and then test voltage while car's running. Should be approx 14v if alternator's OK. Then switch car off for an hour or so, and test volts again. 13.2v is right if battery is good. Less than that and it's bad.
Cheers,
Mark
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Took the battery off the Astra and put in on our charger, it was pretty flat so charged it fully before putting it back into the car - started first time. Tested the voltage whilst car was running and got a reading of 11.85v.
Guys at work took the alt to auto-elec but it was too far gone to recon (melted inside) so purchased a recon one. Fitted it, all connections were clean, car started first time but voltage reading was now only 11.5v.
Took battery off again and it was a bit low so fully charged it, left overnight, and checked voltage on car again and its now 11.9v. Still not getting that magical 12 - 13v as mentioned in the manual, any suggestions?
Must the battery be fully charged when testing the voltage? The battery is only a few weeks old, could it be a faulty one?
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Are you testing the battery with a digital multimeter? If so, then check the battery in that first. I was once doing some electrical work on the mains in the house. When I put the meter across the 240 volt socket, I only got 180 volts.
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Thanks for that I will check them - although they are relatively new and the test worked properly on one of the machines in work.
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Daisy 1, now you have fitted this new/recon alternator, when you first turn the ignition on, does the red 'battery' sign on the dash light up? (Obviously it should go out when the engine is running). The current this bulb takes is fed into the alternator (via the thin lead) and is used to initially energise the regulator. If you have a bad connection or the bulb is duff, you have no energisation and hence no output from the alternator. Also is the alternator belt (and alternator drive pulley tight? Good luck.
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