MGF Water leaking?

[Emu2005]

Hi. I have an MGF and recently have been seeing a LOT of steam from the exhaust at the beginning of a trip. A friend of mine has checked there are no water leaks, so he thinks that the cylinder head gasket may have gone. But yesterday the water level did not drop at all after driving 50 miles. Does anyone know what might be going on, might it be the head gasket?

[lebesset]

still might be, often these seal up when the engine heats before the gasket really fails
when you take off the oil filler cap , are there any signs of white mousse on it? sometimes even on the dipstick

[jake-the-peg]

Is it a pre 98 1.8i (rather than a VVC) these have an inlet manifold seal that can fail and cause trouble like this:

See if this page helps:

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/hgf_diagnosis.htm

[stanleyman]

Probably just normal exhaust vapour due to the cold weather when the engine and exhaust is also cold. The burnt fuel can produce as much water again and it can often been seen actually running out of the exhaust. If you are not losing coolant then no problem.

[wacky racer]

probably quite normal while the weather and your engine is still cold.

Real question is - "are you losing coolant"
"is the temperature guage reading high"
"is there any signs of water in the oil (foaming and sludgy)
or oil in the water"

If answers to all are NO then there is probably nothing to worry about.

[Emu2005]

Thanks for your answers! In answer to your questions Wackyracer, the answer to all of your questions is no.

But my friend has told me the water pipe is just about to 'seize' (whatever that means) and he is going to look at the head gasket. Although now he is mentioning that it might be the cylinder head itself and not the gasket, is it a separate part then? He has quoted me about �500 for a new cylinder head if it is that, does that sound right?

Although I do trust my friend I am worried that maybe I should just take it to a garage, although I know I would get ripped off there for sure!

[wacky racer]

Your friend probably means "water pump". The only way he can tell it is about to seize is if it is making a noise or if he has removed the rubber belt that drives it.

If it is not noisy (and not leaking) I wouldn't worry. The price for the cylinder head is not far off but that would be a drastic step to take if the only problem is a bit of steam from a cold engine. Does the steam stop when the car is hot? From what you have said I would guess "yes". You are not losing water, you are not overheating and I guess the car runs OK. If that is all true there is nothing seriously wrong.

When an engine burns petrol, part of the exhaust is steam. When the engine and exhaust is hot you will never see it. With a cold exhaust and a cold engine and on a cold day (winter is here) the steam will condense into a white vapour cloud. Also a cold engine automatically compensates by adding more petrol (enrichment) to make sure the car starts OK, and ticks over when cold (this used to be done by a "choke control"). This makes the steam even worse. When the engine is at full operating temperature this steam should clear up.

Just look at other cars on the road first thing in the morning leaving the homes around you (some will be worse than others).

[stanleyman]

I would agree completely with wacky racer. A worn water pump would not cause water vapour or a head gasket to fail unless it was leaking and had caused the engine to overheat to a significant extent. There does not appear from what you have said, to be any reason for concern.

However, if you are still concerned have the cooling system pressure tested, this is a lot less drastic than stripping it down to find out there was nothing wrong.

You friend may have more enthusiasm than experience so keep him away as this could be a very unnecessary and expensive experience for you.

[v8supercarford]

Okay Dood, before you go any further fill the car with castrol antifreeze or a recomended antifreeze 50% mix Bleed air out of system via bleed hole located on coolant hose over by the air box air box in engine compartment. Its a small 8mm screw in the coolant pipe. Step 2, bleed air out of bleed screw located on fire wall middle of car underneath bonet behind plastic moulding. Step 3, bleed air out of screw located on side of radiator at top.
Start engine with expansion tank cap off.. Watch for flow returning to expansion tank. Rev motor up to about 3000-4000 revs and idle. Watch for flow back to expansion tank. If no return flow, ! there is you problem.!
Remove jiggle valve located at end of expansion tank bleed hose which connects to main coolant hose at end of engine. Small black plastic thing. Remove from hose and bang on someththing solid to bemove ball bearing. Clean it out and reassemble. You should have flow back to expansion tank at idle - 1500 rpm. Job done.
The jiggle valve role is for bleeding excess air built up in cyl head to the expasion tank and maintaining water level. Water level should maintain 10mm above expansion tank seam.

Just a little NZ knowhow.