My 306...which is now poorly :(

I'll see what happens tomorrow...was planning on a cam belt/water pump change anyway...always do when I buy a car normally

EDIT: and one more question...you know the radiator...when you take the cap off there is a massive release of pressure. Is this normal? None of my other cars have been like it. Normally there's been a little whisp of air when the cap opens but on this car it's like a really strong whoosh of air...keep thinking the cap is going to blow off lol. Is this normal?

depends how long after the engine has been switched off?

this happened with mine, does the car overheat at all? is it boiling the water?

The pressure in the water system could well be backpressure from where the headgasket is gone, i noticed you said on 306.net, it runs hot, also another sign it could well be gone, i'd also be checking the thermostat whilst the engine is apart to make sure that it is opening properly, this could have caused the engine to overheat in the first place if it is not functioning properly

Right car has gone in to get fixed today. Definitely head gasket as there's mayo on the oil cap now

Yeah the car has always run at 95-100 since I bought it...but got to just over 110 by the time I got to the garage today which luckily is only 2 minutes up the road from me.

The pressure release does it regardless of how long it has been since the engine was switched off. It's been sat for a few days and not run and still did it when I checked it this morning. Ah well at least it's getting sorted now. Think he's doing the head gasket, skim, and thermostat for £280

Thats not a bad price considering

Fingers crossed it will give you many happy miles when its fixed

Yeah I hope so too. The way I see it...head gasket and thermostat getting changed...am going to want the cambelt/water pump changed and a service and the car should be good for a long time!

Asked them to change the cam belt and water pump and they are charging me an extra £20

thats just the labour though

Nah he's just charging me £20 parts and labour. I had a fair bit of work done to my other car and my dad has had a fair bit of work done on his cars there too so I think he does things a bit cheaper for me

cheap? i couldnt buy a water pump for £20 and im in the trade

Alarm bells would be ringing with me tbh

Ah right...well I've got no idea of prices so I'll pop in there tomorrow and see what's happening. Cheers for the heads up!

Right update on the car. Popped in today to see how much progress they had made. I've told the water pump has pretty much siezed up as he said there was no pressure going through it (or something like that I cant remember what he said exactly), the coil pack has got a crack in it (which is probably my fault as I got one from the scrappy as a replacement), but what gets me is that he said there's oil in the water in the top of the engine but all the oil in the bottom is clear? So he's trying to figure out what's actually gone and where.

Any suggestions? Think this repair bill is going to cost a bit more than his orginal estimate

Where are you getting the car repaired mate? I'm from Merthyr too and one of the boys is a mechanic if you don't have any luck where its being done

Went to the garage Saturday to check how the car is coming along and had some good news and bad news. I was told that basically the fella I bought it off blew the HG, tried to fix it himself but bodged it...he put down a layer of silicone, then the gasket, then another layer of silicone, then just put it back together. He told me I was lucky that it lasted as long as it did and that the gasket had blown to bits as there wasn't much of it left in one piece.

Just lucky it died before now because I don't think it would have gone down well with the missus if the car died today as I was supposed to be driving us to Snowdonia for a few days break today, taking her car now!

Anyway, he had the head skimmed and stuff and put a new head gasket on it and now and it idles and runs sweet. Hes also changed the oil and filter, so combine that with the new plugs and leads that I changed its basically had a mini service too. Just the cambelt, water pump, thermostat to change now! Should come to about £430 parts and labour? Wish it didn't cost as much but that's life I guess at least there wont be much left to go wrong for a while

chrisj84 wrote:Where are you getting the car repaired mate? I'm from Merthyr too and one of the boys is a mechanic if you don't have any luck where its being done

Alright buddy it's getting repaired in Alan's Tyre Garage in Abercanaid as I live in Abercanaid so it was quite close for me...and should be done for Friday when I get back. Where abouts are you from? Cheers for the offer anyway!

I'm from Penydarren. Prob see my car about now and again. silver t reg gti6.Had my exhaust done down there the other day on my 106 gti. got massive dogs

Glad its on the path to recovery mate

chrisj84 wrote:I'm from Penydarren. Prob see my car about now and again. silver t reg gti6.Had my exhaust done down there the other day on my 106 gti. got massive dogs

Yeah I think I've seen that about...and yeah his dogs are beasts! The less hairy one always brings me an exhaust rubber to play with haha.

Popped to the garage again and the total price is.......................£360!! I'm chuffed with that. He said he hasn't changed the water pump as it looks and seems brand new and I he hasn't changed the coil pack as I want to see if I can find one cheaper than £55. Plus he didn't charge me for the spark plugs and the rest of the parts he only charged my trade prices for them!

Really happy with that as I was dreading a high repair bill but that's not actually too bad. Just will be happy to finally get the car back!!!

Ive got a coil pack sat in my garage somewhere mate from a 1.4, pretty sure they are the same

Cool stuff! Problems are:

a) I dont have the car back yet to pick it up
b) Even when I do I've been told not to go far because it's fine when cold but misses alot when warm
c) i'm pretty much in work solidly until the weekend

How much you after for it anyway?

Pfft not a clue i think i got it for £20 so £15 sound good? I spend a fair bit of time in aberdare so could give it to you next time im up that way, depends if i can find it first off

Yeah sounds good...nice one! Give me a shout if you find it

Thought your pug was dead too?

Dead doesnt quite describe it, f*cked would be a better phrase to use, ive got my ways of getting up there, mainly lifts off other people to be fair or by train.

Glad you got it sorted mate