Car Broke Down, Suspect Headgasket

[chrisb1357]

Hi all,

Sorry this is a long post :-)

The other day our Peugeot 306 1.4 8v 1998 decided to breakdown when the wife was driving home from work. When she was driving along all of a sudden the rev's of the engine went sky high and stayed high and the temp gauge started to rise so she pulled over and she also noticed some steam from the engine bay. She decided not to carry on and phoned the breakdown service who then came out in 20min. He took the cap of the radiator and said its a suspect headgasket and did not know why the engine rev's was nearly on the red line so she was relayed home. When they got home the car started fine and was not overheating and I have drove it around for last 3 days.

So my main worry is now why did the car rev high and stay high. A few weeks back I noticed the car stalling when pulling up to junctions so I suspected the ICV which I removed and cleaned with carb cleaner and it was very dirty and looked like the original part. After this It seem ok until the above happened. Could It be that the ICV is starting to fail and that's why it caused the rev's to stay high which in turn nearly overheated the engine.

With regards to the head gasket the guy who relayed the car back all he did was look in the rad cap. I have checked rad cap myself and no mayo in there and no mayo on the oil cap or dipstick. No smoke from the car and coolant and oil levels are correct and the engine temp seems fine. The only thing I can see on the top of the coolant is a very very slight film of clear oil. Its not black and the coolant is still blue.

So has the head gasket gone and does the ICV need to be replaced as I have done over 100 miles in last few days and its fine

Been quoted £460 for head gasket but that was without anyone looking or checking to see if it has gone or not.

What would people suggest.

Chris

[Mattcheese31]

that's a high price fcuk me . .shop around mate, where you from?

[306Dan]

as above i'd shop round but it seems strange that they didnt do a proper inspection before towing it, also before you commit to a head gasket replacement get a sniffer on it to check for hg failure

[pugjohn306]

Yeh shop arround mate altho youd probbly find its cheeper to buy a new engine...drive arround a few days mate keep inspection oil and water if nothing moves for a week id say its not you HG...

[nttrucker]

When you took the water bottle cap off did it smell of petrol. If it there is it could be the head gasket going mine did exactly the same except without the revs building up. I ended up having to have a new engine.

[chrisb1357]

Hi all,

I am located in Alfreton J28 M1,

Not got any other prices or quotes yet

Chris

[Piggy]

how handy are you with spanners??
headset WITH bolts:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...0194333700

and cambelt kit:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...1225517200

then oil and a filter and some coolant and thats all the parts.
doing a heasgasket on a 1.4 is so simple, a good first diy job

we can all guide you through it

[Grant]

how handy are you with spanners??
headset WITH bolts:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...0194333700

and cambelt kit:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...1225517200

then oil and a filter and some coolant and thats all the parts.
doing a heasgasket on a 1.4 is so simple, a good first diy job

we can all guide you through it

Spot on there. ANd being an 8v it will be a walk in the park

Just remember, the head gasket going doesn't necessarily mean mayo anywhere. Yes, the gasket can go on oil ways and waterways (the most common place to see HG failure), but it could also go along the edge of pistons causing compression to leak to the atmosphere. Once your satisfied there is no issues with oil/coolant, get a pressure test on each cylinder

[chrisb1357]

Thanks for the advice,

I don't think I could do this myself as its something I have never done before. I only have a very basic tool kit and only just manage to change the oil, coolant and filters in the pass.

Chris

how handy are you with spanners??
headset WITH bolts:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...0194333700

and cambelt kit:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...1225517200

then oil and a filter and some coolant and thats all the parts.
doing a heasgasket on a 1.4 is so simple, a good first diy job

we can all guide you through it

Spot on there. ANd being an 8v it will be a walk in the park

Just remember, the head gasket going doesn't necessarily mean mayo anywhere. Yes, the gasket can go on oil ways and waterways (the most common place to see HG failure), but it could also go along the edge of pistons causing compression to leak to the atmosphere. Once your satisfied there is no issues with oil/coolant, get a pressure test on each cylinder

[John1.4]

whereabouts are you located?

[Grant]

whereabouts are you located?

This

I'm in South London. If you want to travel to me for the day we can do it You will have to provide sausage and bacon for the sani's though mind

[Niall]

Hi all,

I am located in Alfreton J28 M1,

Not got any other prices or quotes yet

Chris

[chrisb1357]

Located just of j28 of M1

Chris

[Jenkosowls]

Not to far from me the tu are a disks to work on luxurious space simple timing. 2 days max to do and that's having the head skimmed that takes the time. A tu head gasket was one of my first major repairs I'd done on my own and it all went smoothly and easily!

[John1.4]

just read back through your first post, i've had a couple of tu engines do this, the first one was the headgasket, but the other was electrical, try cleaning your wiring connectors around the inlet, and spray some wd40 in to eliminate the chance of moisture, then have a look at the water temp sensor on the thermostat housing (most likely imo) there are a couple of others, but it'd be best to get an emissions check before pointing the finger at lambda etc

[Danny2009]

If the gasket has gone and don't feel confident it's something I can do, be a lot cheaper than £400 too! I'm junction 1 m18 not far from you

[chrisb1357]

Hi

Its good to see people have offered to help me out with the car. I do have a Haynes manual that I could follow but it looks so detailed I got a little lost reading it LOL.

Its the timing that I am worried about etc once I have done the work. A local place I have found will skim the head but they cannot test it.

Chris

[Danny2009]

That's oc for you!

Timings pretty easy really, there's a hole behind the starter motor put a 6mm Allen key / drill bit ect into the hole put it in 5th gear and rotate the drivers wheel obviously when it's in the air, lock that off lock the cam off you can't go wrong mate

[chrisb1357]

I am trying to work out the best way you see as in costing up the tools I would need etc or helping someone from a forum like this to do it?

What tools would I need to do all this

Are all the below parts all I need to change or have I missed anything

Camshaft Oil Seals
Valve Stem Seals
Inlet and Exhaust Manifold Gaskets
Headgasket
Head Skim
Cambelt and Tensioner/idlers
Oil change
Coolant Change
New Thermostat
Waterpump

Chris

That's oc for you!

Timings pretty easy really, there's a hole behind the starter motor put a 6mm Allen key / drill bit ect into the hole put it in 5th gear and rotate the drivers wheel obviously when it's in the air, lock that off lock the cam off you can't go wrong mate

[306Dan]

You'll need new head bolts, you don't have to do valve steam seals or cam seals whilst doing the head but it is ideal, if you get a head gasket kit it'll have all the parts you need except the thermostat pump and cambelt.
To do the head gasket on a tu engine is so easy my 14 year old brother did one, all you have to do is follow the manual

[chrisb1357]

What tools are needed to do all this. I get over 50% off tools at Cromwell you see so

[Rippthrough]

If it got that hot the head will need a skim too, the TU heads tend to pit a little if the overheat with a dying gasket.

[Danny2009]

I've got a 1.4 head that's already been skimmed if your interested in it?

You will need a torque wrench and a decent socket set can't remember from memory if there are any special tools you need

[John1.4]

female torx sockets (star sockets?) for the new headbolts - very few are supplied with the original 13mm heads, other than that it's just a 2 inch m10 bolt, and an 8mm allen key to lock the timing - and a sump plug remover - one of the square ones for the tensioner

[chrisb1357]

Guest I will need a torque wrench as well

Chris

[chrisb1357]

Just been looking around on google and came across this. Not a 306 but is that the same sort of thing needed on a 306

http://www.eastment.net/206cb/index.htm

[Bender]

Buy a decent quality torque wrench is my tip.

[chrisb1357]

Hi all,

Just an update on my problem.

This morning drove car 3 miles then got back in the car and started the engine. As soon as I started it the engine just rev right up and would only go back down if I drove along. When at juctions it would rev up again as soon as I stopped and also the rev counter only works when it wants to.

[John1.4]

sounds like a sensor fault, possibly tps / water temp / lambda

[Rippthrough]

Sounds like a dodgy earth.