Zetec HGF? I'm going to miss Gurston...

[Drumster]

On Saturday when loading 7 onto the tilt-bed I normally leave in first gear as under dash hand brake is useless, hop out and then lower trailer. This time 1st gear would not hold and 7 kept slipping back, it's never done that in all the time I've owned it.

I purchased a compression tester and last night whilst running engine up to temp I ended up with coolant coming out of the cap. Subsequent test results were:
 

no1 160, no 2 175, no 3 180 and no 4 185 
 

I'm assuming with the low compression on no 1 and the slightly reduced figure for no 2 coupled with the coolant issue means it's likely a HGF problem (AIUI), so will bale out of Gurston and ensure I can get it fixed before holiday in France in 3 weeks.

[Mcalvert]

Horlicks.  Really sorry to hear that Chris.  If you wanted to share a car, mine is certainly available and I'm sure you'd have plenty of other offers too...

 

[Mark Durrant]

Chris

I have left you a voicemail and I am not convinced you have a head gasket failure. The compressions you have will be sufficient to stop your car rolling back. I would start by checking the following:

Oil - any sign of water normally indication is the oil turning milky with a mayo consistency, check oil filler cap and dipstick.

What temperature is indicated, is the car running hotter than normal?

Is the fan operating correctly?

Is the thermostat opening when expected?

The compressions are within 10% of each other and whilst No1 is a little low it does not necessarily indicate head gasket failure, this is a Zetec not a K

Give me a call if you want to discuss further

 

[Nigel Fox]

Chris,

your compressions may well be higher if you hold the throttle open when conducting the tests.

the difference between front and rear cylinder pairs may be the throttles are not quite balanced at tickover.

i think garages have a check for combustion products in coolant.

good luck.

[Drumster]

Thanks for all you advice/offers etc but having spoken to numerous people during the day including Pete at Raceline nobody appears as overly concerned about the figures as me (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing  )

I've checked the thermostat in boiling water to check it opens and closes and run the car up to temp and watched the fan kick in and go off as expected, now I'm wondering if after topping up the coolant last weekend I didn't fully secure the Stant cap (oh the shame). 

There is no mayo on the dipstick or oil cap.

Off to my local garage tomorrow morning and they're going to test the coolant to see if any combustion gases are escaping into the coolant.

Hopefully all is well and I've just been indulging in a bit of muppetry and unnecessary panic 

[SM25T]

Fingers crossed.

[SM25T]

We all do muppetry occasionally.

[Mark Durrant]

The Chris Alston Checklist

1. Where is the laptop
2. Is the Stant cap fitted correctly
3. ...to be continued

See you at Gurston

[Tony Smith]

4 don't forget the polish and cloth!!!

I am sure it wont be mentioned at all by anyone at Gurston  

Hope it all ok

Tony

[andy couchman]

Just a  further thought Chris - did you accidentally put it in third rather than first? Sounds daft, but I've done it myself and it could explain why it wouldn't hold.

Just a thought...

Hope all goes well this weekend.

Best.

Andy