My 306...which is now poorly :(

Not awsome pics but pics are pics...although the car is now off the road with big problems








Just wish it was working

whats wrong with it?

That answers my question...

Any luck diagnosing it mate?

I'm not sure...car has been sounding a bit tappety. Going up the road to work, tapping round went really loud so I pulled over...car started chugging and missing for about 30 seconds and then died. Now it only starts and idles really roughly for about 2-3 seconds then dies again. If you manage to rev the car before it cuts out the tappety noise is still quite loud but only when accelerating...when cars idling you dont hear it.

So personally, I have no idea...I'm pointing my finger at the tappets?

could be the oil feed pipe to the cam shaft making the tapping and a totally different problem made it cut out?

I dunno...spark plug 2 was rattling about so all the plugs and leads have been changed and it's tight now but it's still the same running wise.

I think I'm just going to have to put it into a garage to get fixed as I dont really have the time to go through all the different bits and bobs that it could be

Sucks balls...have only had it a few weeks too and has only got 79k miles

EDIT: make that 80k...I thought that the lower mileage would cause a lot less problems...obviously I was wrong

I also thought that when i bought a xr3 it had 1 owner 55k full service history i didnt get it home it blew as soon as i took it over 5k

Sods law...just one thing to ask...is it going to probably be a costly fix for me? As I'm not exactly made of cash at the moment

Worse case has to be another head? Get one from s crapper that you can hear running is the way i'd go

Head gasket is fine though...or can the head still get damaged in other ways than the head gasket going?

wouldnt have thought it would be a big outlay as long as the cause is found quickly

craig-o wrote:Head gasket is fine though...or can the head still get damaged in other ways than the head gasket going?

has the gasket been changed?

I'm just assuming something has come adrift in the whole cam/rocker area..

I think its just a case of having a look until something shows up, how do you no the headgasket is fine?

No 'mayo' on cap...water's clear, oil is fine.

HG hasn't been changed but I assumed it didn't need to be yet as none of the obvious signs were there

But I'm no mechanic so I'm just going by what I know (which isn't much) lol

Only real way to check the headgasket is to do a compression test.. Not sure what the figures should be for that though, Si will prob know

_Mike_ wrote:Only real way to check the headgasket is to do a compression test.. Not sure what the figures should be for that though, Si will prob know

Ah right ok...thought the signs of the headgasket going were the mayo, muddy water, etc.

I'm just afraid of putting the car into a garage because I know what they are like...they'll change a million things and then hand me a £1000 bill or something

Gasket could go between cylinder wall and outside face that way oil and water will be fine or it could go between 2 cylinder walls again oil water will be fine, first thing to check is your compresion as long as all 4 are roughly the same figure and 80+ psi then all is ok

Well my dad has said that the car running rough could be that it's only firing on 3 cylinders? Obvioulsy a compression test will show this up?

Yea, like simon said, the gasket could have gone between cylinders so it would show up that those cylinders would be down alot on compression, just borrow one off of a mate or someone in the trade instead of putting it into a garage just yet

Ok cheers guys I'll give that a shot. Just it couldn't really have come at a worse time as I'm going to be moving into my new house soon and the first mortgage payment alone is £980 so cant really afford big repair bills

yeah that could cause it to run rough, compresion test will show up if there is loss of pressure on any cylinder but missing on 1 cylinder could be electrical

I'd start with a comp test and go from there personaly

Will try and get it booked in for one tomorrow and will keep you all updated

Right car is booked in for tomorrow...I think your both right with the head gasket diagnosis.



Disconnected the top of the pipe that's arrowed and there's a little bit of 'mayo' gunky crap inside it

Will it just be a case of getting a new head gasket then?

head may need a skim if its warped. advisable to change head bolts(although not always the case)

No never just replace a Head gasket while head is off have it pressure tested and checked for trueness and i'd put a water pump and cam belt on while your in there