190E 1.8 Head Gasket

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ianaddyadams

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Jan 29, 2014
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2
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Kia Sorento
Looking for some advice; I have a 190 1.8 which I bought unseen off EBay last November, a nice car on the face if it. Was 6 months until I got round to looking at it, head gasket gone. I had the head skimmed and head gasket done by a local garage, still seems to be losing coolant.
Questions is, do I sell it as spares or put a new engine/gearbox in? I have read a thread about sticking a W124 engine and gearbox in. I don't want to throw good money after bad though.

Thanks,

Ian

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You need to ascertain the reason for the coolant loss. Is it the gasket again? has the head gone porous, is the car overheating, is the water pump leaking, is the cooling system depressurising due to a leak- radiator /header tank pressure cap is a favourite for coolant loss. A quick check is to remove the spark plugs and examine them. Then have a look down the plug holes at the top of the pistons. If any plug or piston looks black and oily it can indicate water getting into the cylinder. Coolant loss may also show up as white smoke or condensation from the exhaust when th engine warms up.
 
If coolant is leaking into the oil ways (via head gasket) you will get a creamy yogurt like build up on the inside of the oil filler cap and neck, visible when you take the cap off.

Does it run hot or overheat? as that could be an air lock in the coolant system resulting in coolant being blown out of the header tank via the cap.


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Quite a few of the 8-valve M102s that have been left with leaking head gaskets for some time suffer corrosion on the alloy cylinder head, usually on cylinders 3/4 (near the back).

You'd either need a replacement cylinder head or the old one could probably be repaired by cleaning up, welding and skimming back (I'd look for another head though if this was the case)

Usually oil gets in to the coolant before coolant gets into the oil, cooling system runs around 1bar, oil prsssure a little higher. Header tank is the highest point in the system, and oil floats.

It's still possible that the coolant is leaking somewhere else though. You need to identify the leak - as per Graeme's post, before considering any other options.

Maybe ask the garage that did the work for their advice, they may be able to pressure test the cooling system for you? :)
 
One of several reasons why I decided to part with my 190e after 21 years was a small amount of coolant loss into No 4 cylinder. The early symptom beside coolant loss was starting became less reliable. When I removed the plugs the visual difference with No4 plug was obvious as it had quite a build up of contamination which was causing a misfire. Pure water in small quantities actually cleans up a combustion chamber but presumably the chemicals in the coolant leave behind deposits. A compression check confirmed No4 to be suspect and as I heard this was a common enough fate for the M102 engine at high mileage I called it a day before it got worse.

Back to your problem. As already mentioned the coolant loss could be something else including a leaking water pump gland which I had at one point. Before condemning the cylinder head take a look at the plugs and have a compression test done.
 
When ever I buy a second hand car the first thing I look at is the coolant, if dirty and brown I dont bother looking any further.

85% of all vehicle breakdowns is coolant related.
 
Make sure it leaking first .Get a pressure test on it I had a problem after replacing my
water pump .Water was driping down from rear of engine . From the area that holds the back lifting eye, just at the rear the cylinder head .And inside of it sits this O ring .The o ring was perished .But it was a hard job to remove it as the allen bolts had corroded very bad . Why do you think the head gasket is shot?
 

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