At 397000 k's the head gasket is finally leaking. The water level suddenly dropped and the oil is starting to turn brown/milky.

Before getting down to changing the gasket I'd like to try (I'd prefer to do the gasket when the weather is a bit warmer) an additive in the water. From reading there seem to be products that are made for this.

Has anyone got any experience using such? It'd be nice of I can nurse this engine along for another 3 monmths before changing the gasket.

Water and oil makes an abrasive mixture.

Time for a new motor I reckon.

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After all the work you have done on the car
you have a failed head gaskets ..thats bad luck

all I know if is chemi weld .... and quite a few bottles... may give you 3 months
http://www.goss.com.au/products/13A

if you use that stuff or similar
drop the oil and change the filter after pouring it in and it has stopped the problem

(correction Dont leave the heater core system connected up )
Dont ever open the valve to the internal heater core


chemi weld will well and truly block your engine radiator

I may have been a bit quick off the mark on this one. I drove to a mates place about 70 k's and there was no shift in the water and I had topped up the oil and rechecked it. The water oil mix I spotted on the filler cap may have been water condensed in the rocker cover and the drop in water level because of a fine break in one of the smaller hoses on the side. The oil on the dipstick is actually good, in sunlight. I suspect he was right and it's ok. I'll just watch it closely now.

Meanwhile any comments on what to do in case one catches a head gasket leak early on and can't fix it straight away much appreciated.

___________

I wrote that before other posts.


So, it sounds like a replacement engine is needed. That's not a problem for me because of the spares I have. Another instance of the value of picking up cheap 'wreck's for parts.

Re the possibility of fixing such a problem and keeping the engine, again not a problem because I have spare heads.


Back to stretching out the time to dealing with such a problem. : Chem Weld and cautions re heater core and radiator.


What I'd do is plug up the heater hoses, I hardly ever use the heater anyway.

Use the chemweld and then change oil and filter and use one of the replacement radiators, one of which I've recently gone over. Seems ok.

Then hope it holds for a while.

In the meantime get the replacement heads and gaskets ready.

???

yep check over what motor parts you have and may need just in case
if anything has been sitting a while might need stripping /cleaning

Yes, apt dictum. I just checked the low temps and the last few nights have been the coldest (and mistiest>frost) of the year so maybe it's lots of condensation atm. There are other cold nights coming up so I'll keep checking the refill cap/dipstick to see how things go.

Another thing that's been concerning me is the battery seeming to loose charge quicker lately. I think that also could be due to the cold. I'm thinking of getting a trickle charger to connect to the battery overnight. ???

Lesson for all of us:

Instead of saying 'I've got a car with a blown head gasket!'
try saying: These are the symptoms, could it be a blown head gasket?

Note:
Batteries loose some cranking capacity in cold weather. The engine will crank over slower. This is normal.
No Magna ever made had a tap for the heater core. Coolant flows through it all the time.
(Sigmas had heater core taps, and they were a source of problems.)

The conslusion I came to was a gasket failure. At that point what seemed most important to me was to know about, if possible, a temporary solution so I can do a proper fix later. Good suggestions came out of that.

All good imo.

This morning the oil on the dipstick stayed good, on the cap was good, and the water slightly down. Still haven't pinpointed any leak. I've checked the footwells undercover - dry.