Hello all, this my first post and i come with my hands held out for help.

my wife owns the 4.2 V8 supercharged Beast....

we have had coolant issues, i have changed the expansion bottle, this alleviated the constant warning of low coolant...... until today when she jump right up on the temp gauge.....

i run and own a lawnmower repair shop ranging from chainsaws to great big diesel ride on mowers, with that we have a tester for telling when a head gasket has gone... we used it.... and it has gone....

im not afraid of trying new things (this def would be) but im asking for any advice people can give? aka suppliers to steer away from... tools not to use???

at the same time of effecting this repair i will be removing a gas system that was partially installed on the vehicle as well..

Thank you in advance

Reasonably unusual for head gaskets to go on the supercharged engine, it happens, but make really sure that is your problem as it will be a big job - I might even consider taking the engine out as access will be one of the main issues you face.

Check its not your lpg system passing gas from the reducer into the cooling system before you go pulling the heads off it .

Good luck

i was thinking along the lines of the lpg system. i have never found a filler or switch over button or even the tank..... so i was going to rip it out any way... might try that first and do a full cooling system flush...

Whoa

I assumed the system had been commissioned totally different kettle of fish if it isn't.

You need to ask why it was never completed and take things from there

It was like that when we bought it. But definitely going for a full investigation to see if it’s a potential cause and cheap fix.

Any advice considering I have never worked on this engine yet except a new expansion bottle which didn’t work.

could be something as simple as an airlock in the cooling system if you have allowed it to go too low a level,

top up the system slowly , there is vent screw on the top of the expansion tank that you can open as the engine warms and you continue to add coolant.

don't you know the history of the car ?

was it always losing coolant when you bought it?

how many times has it overheated?

how much coolant did you have to add?

Roughly a moth ago we had the check coolant lvl message pop up, so we topped up an so forth. i bleed the system but found it was leaking from the bleed screw on the expansion tank....

changed out the tank for a new one, refilled and topped and bleed the system. wife then has riven another 400 odd miles an we have ben checking regularly.

she has got as hot as been just under the red on the gauge luckily the mrs is switched on enough to know to pull over straight away and also get the heater smashing out the heat so fingers crossed no major damage. this has happened a couple of times.

but we also have a snif tester at work so we used it and it turned green which has lead m to believe the gaskets have gone. but i am going to try a full system flush and removing as much of this partial LPG system as poss as well.. before i go for major spanering

Cheers again

before you pull it apart. suspecting the HG pull the plugs are any steam cleaned? that would be a good test as would a compression test.

did you replace the t-stat in the housing by the SC.

Sadly it is def the head gaskets possibly more,

the thermostat was knackered (not sure if this was the cause or a reaction) there was bassically no fluid left in the system also considering it has been regularly checked and bled,

already got all the water system out of the front end. just about to battle with the fan.

Matt

There are some hoses under the intake/SC that probably should be renewed or at least checked thoroughly. 2006 Supercharged

the idea is the replace all hoses probably go silicon for a bit of bling as its the wifes car

Sorry to hear of your problems with the 4.2 Matt.

Regarding the silicone hoses, I have been looking for ages with no luck so far.
There are plenty out there for the diesel ones kits, individual hoses etc, if you can find a source let me know i'll do the
same.

Good Luck with your project

MattHughes86 wrote:

Sadly it is def the head gaskets possibly more,

the thermostat was knackered (not sure if this was the cause or a reaction) there was bassically no fluid left in the system also considering it has been regularly checked and bled,

already got all the water system out of the front end. just about to battle with the fan.

Matt

Hello,

can any one tell me the correct way of removing the damn fan?

and as soon as i find silicon hoses i will let you know..