Head Gasket Diagnostics

[jimbo]

OK. The car is home (after £150 tow!), I have a new gasket.......(more on that adventure later) but the big ask for now, is that I am after some guidance as to why it might have blown in the first place.

 

I have had a small leak in the rad which might have got bigger and caused overheating. It had been topped up not long before the journey. I have the radiator booked in for a recore tomorrow.

 

But is there anything else I should consider looking at before I put it all back together?

 

Cheers,

Jim

[bashmk1]

would probably be wise to get it skimmed bud.

[jimbo]

Cheers Bash. I'll consider a skim, but the head looks pretty clean and tidy.

 

I was looking more for suggestions of what might have caused the gasket to blow, other than poor cooling?

 

An even bigger question. As you can imagine there is a fair amount of "chocolate mousse" around the cylinder head. Is there likely to be remnants of this stuff in the sump as well? And, if so, do you think I can get away with just flushing it?

[bashmk1]

id say the rad was at fault if it was leaking. look at things like the waterpump and replace the stat while your there.

 

just change the oil and filter, then do it again in another 500/1000 miles.