Please help me, I'm really hoping you won't say y car has a bad head Gasket. please give me advice

[FastLife91]

I feel like giving my car away and never getting another, but I don't have much in life, Having a car gives me freedom and makes me happy (when it works well)

I've had 4 cars and each one has given my hassle, I have spent I guess over £7,000 already on repairs, and I am hardly very rich atm.

My current car, after 2 days of buying it garage diagnosed and charged £950 for bad HG, later found out they only replaced water pump.
I have had so much more trouble with this car, probably spent a further £1200 on top of head gasket bill on repairs.


Here is my question.

About 3 weeks ago I replaced the car's coolant tank as discovered last tank was bad after noticing a trial of water behind my car.
Since putting on a brand new tank with new cap I notice every 2 days or so that the water level seems to be slightly lower. I have checked but can't see any leaks, no leaks under car e.t.c. I replaced some pipes for coolant a few months ago and they still seem fine.

I have done basic tests for bad HG and

NO OIL IN WATER
NO WATER IN OIL
NO SMOKE AT ALL, EVEN WHEN VERY COLD AND WHEN REVVED TO 3000 RPM
NO POWER LOSS ( OTHER THAN THE BAD MAF CAUSE)

Any ideas are much appreciated.

thanks




edit : also notice that when hot the water in the coolant looks to be at a lower level than when coolant is cold, and does not look like it is expanding in the bottle ?

 

[Yugguy]

I have the 1.8tdci, 54 plate. I recently had to change the whole thermostat housing, sits under the intercooler, as the plastic had perished. Its a known issue with age. Easy to replace, but you have to rwmove the ic. Oem about 50 quid off ebsu

 

[T9 man]

Thermostat housing and or the water pump gasket would be a good place to start.

 

[FastLife91]

I have the 1.8tdci, 54 plate. I recently had to change the whole thermostat housing, sits under the intercooler, as the plastic had perished. Its a known issue with age. Easy to replace, but you have to rwmove the ic. Oem about 50 quid off ebsu

I had thermostat and housing replaced months ago

 

[FastLife91]

Thermostat housing and or the water pump gasket would be a good place to start.

replaced thermostat and housing months ago.

I can see something that looks like either oil or water, it is under the egr manifold several inches beneath,did had oil on there from weeks ago but jet washed it off, it might be oil as I know turbo oil feed pipe has slight leak, but it does look a bit like water

 

[T9 man]

I had thermostat and housing replaced months ago

So! As numerous posts on here have testified, just because it was changed does not mean that it was done properly, check it out again buddy

 

[FastLife91]

So! As numerous posts on here have testified, just because it was changed does not mean that it was done properly, check it out again buddy

Would I need to replace whole housing or just thermostat?

I have no problems that I know of that point to a bad thermostat apart from slight decrease in expansion tank on a daily basis

 

[Yugguy]

I got the whole unit from ebay, stat and housing so didnt have to worry about too many gaskets

 

[T9 man]

I had a similar problem once my friend, the coolant bottle kept losing but the exact source of the leak was a mystery. Eventually it was traced to the gasket for the water pump. Is the prospect of a second look to determine the exact cause that difficult? Be safe my friend and then be sure! The money is best off in you're wallet than a garages till

 

[FastLife91]

I had a similar problem once my friend, the coolant bottle kept losing but the exact source of the leak was a mystery. Eventually it was traced to the gasket for the water pump. Is the prospect of a second look to determine the exact cause that difficult? Be safe my friend and then be sure! The money is best off in you're wallet than a garages till

I appreciate your advice, thanks so much

I have spent thousands on repairs, if I can get away with replacing just the thermostat for £5 instead of the whole housing for £50 then that would be nice. I have no symptoms of a stuck open or closed thermostat, I am not a mechanic so would have to pay somebody to look things over which increases the amount I spend.

Is there any way a gasket on a water pump can be checked ?

 

[FastLife91]

I got the whole unit from ebay, stat and housing so didnt have to worry about too many gaskets

see above

ty