[mbir]

Hi all

I've been reading quite a lot of threads on here but none really seem to match my current situation - any advice much appreciated!!

My 2000 W reg Clio 1.4 (sport trim) about 3 months ago started juddering really badly when idle and when stationary at lights etc (whole car shaking).

Changed the plugs which didn't do anything but driving the car is fine - no loss of power or anything like that.

Then a about 2 months ago it started using a lot of oil - but not leaking.

Then about 1 month ago i noticed the heater was not working on cold mornings which in turn led to the car over heating and using a lot of coolant. Took it to a local garage for a quick look and they said thermostat change for the overheating issue and new coil pack for the juddering when starting. I thought as much from reading some threads here so booked a day off work and was pricing up the parts.

But before i could change them the car has started using a LOT of water and noticed coolant splattered all over the engine after most work journeys (40 miles per day). I'm now filling it with water every day.

After reading some threads i'm thinking may be a head gasket issue - ticks some boxes such as watery oil, lots of water use and bubbles in filler tank - BUT - it's driving great (apart from juddering which it has done for months), no loss of power and no smoke or steam from exhaust??

I'm rather reluctant to take back to local garages incase they try and sting me for a new head gasket or other such expensive works.

Anyone any ideas? The car is probably worth less than £1k and has done over 100k miles but apart from that is a good runner and has been well serviced covering mainly motorway miles (40 miles to work and back).

Any help much appreciated!!!!

Thanks in advance

 

[malpass]

If there is oil in the water or water in the oil its deff a head gasket replace bubbles in the filler tank leans towards pressure in the system plus watery oil (driving with thinner oil wont have done ur engine any good stop driving and get sorted before it dies ) id say head gasket but then again water may be getting into oil another way tricky hmmm if warter was in oil it would chuk smoke out as it gets hot.

take of the oil filler cap is it like mayo ??

 

[plasticslugspilot]

Does look like a failed head gasket, all the usual symptoms are present. If you have access to a cylinder compression tester, beg borrow or steal. etc, that would be the easiest and most cost effective way of checking each cylinder pressure. I'm sure you can find the correct cylinder pressure parmeters on here. A low pressure reading on any cylinder would indicate a fault. They are quite cheap to buy online. Most of them involve removing the spark plugs and either pushing or screwing the tester in whilst turning over the engine. If you do get a tester and find that one or more cylinders are low, drop a little oil into the faulty cylinder. If the pressure increases, it could be fault in the cylinder bore rather than the head which obviously is serious. If no noticeable increase or very slight, does indicate a blown head gasket with the symptoms you've described.