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Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much?

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #16
BobAH100 Bob Markovich Patterson, NY, USA Sign in to contact	Aug 31, 2022 06:05 PM Joined 8 years ago 389 Posts

Interestingly the compression readings look pretty even, which would tend to rule out a head gasket failure. If you haven’t flushed and replaced the coolant for awhile (two years max), I’d do that.

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #17
steveg2 Steve Gerow San Diego, CA, USA Sign in to contact 1959 Austin-Healey 100-Six 1974 Triumph TR6	Sep 1, 2022 02:09 PM Top Contributor Joined 7 years ago 1,894 Posts

Comments re pix above:
--coolant level is high for a stock setup. It will overflow, seeking it's own level, until it's down closer to the tubes. That's why the factory used such a large tank.
--coolant looks good. If there's an internal leak, it can look like a milkshake.

+1 on replacing the radiator cap.

IMO a new cap and lower coolant level will likely sort things out.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-09-05 09:31 AM by steveg2.

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #18
Jack T Greensburg, PA, USA Sign in to contact 1960 Austin-Healey 3000 1966 Jaguar E-Type	Sep 4, 2022 05:27 PM Top Contributor Joined 12 years ago 719 Posts

If you keep topping up the coolant it will keep spitting out of the overflow when you shut the motor off after a run, especially if the radiator cap isn’t up to snuff. Install a new cap, then don’t add any coolant as long as the coolant level covers the radiator core when cold.

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #19
Dickim Mark Dickenson Bullsbrook, Western Australia, Australia Sign in to contact 1956 MG MGA 1500 1958 Austin-Healey 3000 BT7 1958 MG Magnette ZB "M" 1999 Mazda MX-5 NB & more	Sep 5, 2022 03:33 AM Joined 4 years ago 659 Posts

+1 on Jack T's comment - when I 1st got my MGA (as Org with no expansion tank) it was covering the tubes but not "FULL" so I changed the coolant & topped it up fully to the neck and yup after a run there was green pools under the car, after doing this 4 or 5 times, I just let it find it's "happy" level - yup back where it had started when I bought it spinning smiley sticking its tongue out

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #20
Ken1945 Ken L Brockville, ON, Canada Sign in to contact	Sep 5, 2022 07:20 AM Joined 8 years ago 36 Posts

Andy,

I assume you are running an ethylene glycol/water mix.

Why not drain the coolant, flush the system thoroughly with a rad flush solution, fill with water and go for a long drive and see what your water looks like, before replacing the coolant mix.

Good luck

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #21
layaj2 Andy Lay Folkestone, Kent, UK Sign in to contact 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ8	Topic Creator (OP) Sep 6, 2022 05:19 AM Joined 10 years ago 310 Posts

thanks for all the feedback. Weird thing is that I hadn't touched the coolant for years before this started happening. I changed the cap and it did it again, then 2nd time out it stopped. I'm going to run down the coolant level now anyway and maybe flush it as Ken says. Maybe the freak hot weather here upset it!

At least the compression readings came out well.......

cheers

Andy

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Re: Head Gasket failure or worse - or nothing much? #22
blue62 David Bradbury Woodland, WA, USA Sign in to contact	Sep 6, 2022 08:47 AM Joined 9 years ago 254 Posts

It may be as simple as the coolant has aged out.
The antifreeze doesn't really change but what does happen over time is the additives in the coolant degrade.
So with everything else in your system looking ok perhaps a change to fresh coolant (antifreeze) is all you need.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-09-06 10:53 AM by blue62.

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