In the last few months I?ve noticed that the coolant hoses on my wife?s Maestro TD are still pressurised after standing overnight. Opening the rad cap and the air blows out.
I replaced the radiator cap with no improvement.
The engine is running perfectly including the heater. No loss of coolant or oil, No sign of oil in the radiator header tank and no sign of water in the oil. Temperature gauge as normal.
Googling indicates a failed or failing head gasket.
Reading ?how stuff works? tells me that a radiator cap has a device which opens to prevent a vacuum and equalises the pressure as the water cools.
Taking all this into account why doesn?t the pressure equalise to atmospheric overnight and is there any other reason for this pressurisation.
Incidentally I fitted a new radiator a few months ago .
Any thoughts or ideas very welcome.
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I wouldn't have regarded that as a problem - but what do I know?
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"The engine is running perfectly including the heater. No loss of coolant or oil, No sign of oil in the radiator header tank and no sign of water in the oil. Temperature gauge as normal."
No problem then. Cooling systems will run at a little pressure.
Frankly all the signs look good. Just keep an eye on it weekly and dont worry.
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The thing is that she has had the car for 12 years from new and I check the water/oil etc every week.
Previously there was never any pressure whatsoever left in the header tank. Now the hoses are solid till the cap is removed.
Anyway you?ve cheered me up and her chances of me buying her a new one have reduced.
alvin
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My TD Montego (same engine) had an identical problem at about 85K miles, then again at 160K. Turned out that it was the head gasket on the way out. Tell-tale bubbles in the header tank when revving the engine were the second indication, then the temp guage showed slightly lower than usual with less heat coming out of the heater as the problem got worse. Like you there was no water loss and I did another few thousand miles before it started to lose water (only a cupfull a week) and I was forced to get the job done. Thankfully, there was no damage to the head so it was just a new head gasket.
Changing the head gasket on a Prima engine is an expensive job for a garage, not because it's difficult, but because it is a day's work. Your local garage will probably charge you £300, but you can do it yourself for about £25 if you're a competent DIY-er and have enough patience. The Haynes manual for the engine is very useful.
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Had same problem on my 1994 Peugeot 306 1.9TD. Turned out to be head gasket. I first noticed high coolant pressure at around 145k miles even though engine ran fine and by 153k it got to the stage where it virtually blew all the coolant out of the rad cap, so had to get it sorted in the end.
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Sounds like early stages of H/G failure.Usualy when you remove cap when cold.You can smell the diesel fumes
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Steve
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Thanks guys for your comments. Called into my little two man garage down the road yesterday and asked his opinion.
He practically recited Mikes words exactly. And even mileage which is 83000.
He asked if the heater was working OK. Looked in the tank for bubbles when revving and any signs of oil and said it was likely the head gasket was failing.
He said the price would be something over £300 as there was a lot of work and would vary a little if the head needed skimming but would fit a cambelt automatically.
He advised to leave it for a while and then decide if it was worth doing.
One of those ?is it worth it jobs.? She has had the car from new and its been a brilliant car despite its detractors. But the tin worm has began its work as it does on all Maestro and Montegos.
In 12 years its had one bottom swivel and last week its second alternator. Apart from that nothing has gone wrong. The battery was replaced under warranty and this one is still fitted at 11 years old.
Oh and part of the exhaust a couple of years ago.
I have a Vectra TDI 2.0 and it?s a good engine. However for all its sophisticated electronics I would choose the Prima engine as the best. Noisy at low speed and sounds like a real diesel but great cruising and acceleration albeit with clouds of black smoke which they all do.
Pity its blotted its copybook now but the boss will shortly have to decide its future. I tentatively suggested ?why do we need two cars now? but got one of those looks??.
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