Please help, engine stalls to a halt, blows white smoke and wont start!

[LB197]

So i was coming round a roundabout at a steady speed, all of a sudden loss of power then tries to stall. Managed to roll it to the bottom of my road then started and tons of white smoke came out of the exhaust. I managed to drive it home sounding like a tractor, now it wont start at all , wont even turn over, the engine just rocks back and forth.

Im really at my whits end with this car.m

if anyone has any advice, it would be gratefully appreciated.

its a 2000 reg mk2 ph1 1.2 8v

​thanks.

 

[Harbinger]

White smoke is Headgasket dude, has it got lard around the oil cap and no water in the bottle?

 

[LB197]

No lark mayo stuff however there is oil round where the gasket is so probably that, then i thought cam belt, but then i dont think it would even try to turn over, and to settle that its still there and intact, then starter motor, i really dont have a clue and the list is endless

 

[Dan@SJM]

Probably gone between the cylinder and water jacket, and filled the cylinder with water and hydraulic-locked it.

 

[LB197]

Probably gone between the cylinder and water jacket, and filled the cylinder with water and hydraulic-locked it.

Is this something that can be fixed or have i got to get another engine do ya reckon, thing is, the cars only worth 600 if that and has just failed the MOT, had it booked in for a £100 worth of stuff, think its gonna be a bit more after todays shenanigans.

 

[Dan@SJM]

It can be fixed yes.

 

[105e]

Head gasket went on my daughters 1.2 8v not long after buying it, Had little value so didn't want to spend money on it. So first thing bought the cheapest h/gasket kit I could find, then stripped engine down and removed cyl head. I then got some medium grit wet and dry, stuck this on to a pane of glass and rubbed the head back/forwards on this till I had an even contact over the whole surface, then followed by smooth wet and dry till I had a reasonably good finish. I wasn't sure if I could reuse the head bolts or not (stretch bolts ?) and didn't want to buy new so I just torqued them down in the old fashioned way, (did fit a new water pump why I was there. The car then went on for another 2 years and about 20,000 miles before it went again by which time I was happy to scrap it as it had served its purpose, total cost probably £50 (exc oil, anti freeze) but a few hours work.

 

[GrahamS]

If it is hydro locked it will be less hassle to just get a new engine. If its not locked I'd do exactly what the above if. You can also used mdf as its machine flat

 

[Dan@SJM]

I'd be happy putting a new gasket on, skimming the head and doing it like that. Make sure the pistons all come up level with the top with each other.

 

[LB197]

I dont mind doing the head gasket but im rather worried that its almost like the pistons have locked up, ill take the head off, if its obvious that its knackered ill get a new one if its more than 200 to fix this hydro locking thing might as well get a new engine.

 

[Harbinger]

you'll never know until you take it all apart, but if it's cooked it's prob best just getting another lump and dumping it in, would save the hassle and cost of getting new belts etc as cant re-tension a belt ( unless you're savage ) prob cheapest option, try ebay for one being broken or buy a whole car that's been smacked in the side or back and take it out, sell the other useful bits and brake even.

 

[LB197]

you'll never know until you take it all apart, but if it's cooked it's prob best just getting another lump and dumping it in, would save the hassle and cost of getting new belts etc as cant re-tension a belt ( unless you're savage ) prob cheapest option, try ebay for one being broken or buy a whole car that's been smacked in the side or back and take it out, sell the other useful bits and brake even.

Im looking at all the options, going to wait until my dad can have a look at it, then weigh everything up, a new 1.2 engine is around £200, 1.6 is £250 but then ill need all new brakes ecu etc. and then theres the option of buying a full car, but then ive got to take the engine out myself so even more time, then breaking it, i just don't have time.

I think if it cant be fixed for less than or around £200 i'll just get a new engine, im just not ready to part with the car, i mean i was cruising round happily in it yesterday.

 

[Dan@SJM]

Take the plugs out and crank it over. It should spin and fire the water out the plug holes

 

[Harbinger]

just bear in mind the cost of tools and hiring a crane for engine if you haven't got these things already, they can cost mega bucks for decent stuff, probably easier to just buy a lump and cart it over to Dan or someone to put in, you should be able to see change out of £600, last i heard 182 engines get dumped back in for £250 plus the cost of the engine and a few bits.

 

[LB197]

Yer my dads got all the crane air compressor and everything its just the time its going to take to wack it in, plus the cars only going to be worth about £600 now.

 

[Harbinger]

thats alright then, best bet might to search around for a stacked car and take the engine out of it then try and sell of whatevers left.
​just not a front ender as could be pure hassle trying to get the lump out and mounts bent etc, have you done anything like this before? is your dad a mechanic then?

 

[LB197]

I dont no what the hell is going on with this engine, its gone from not even turning over and juddering to starting up fine and then spluttering, at least its a start could be just a head gasket after all. although oil looks fine, might be because i was only doing bout 10mph when it happened i wasnt going 70 and the water didnt actually mix just got thrown out in the cloud of smoke/steam.

 

[LB197]

Ok, so i hate it when threads are half finished so i thought id add this so if anyone in the future has this problem they know whats wrong.

It was indeed the head gasket that went, it took a day to do it and cost around £80 - £100 for the gasket set, oil, oil filter, coolant etc. the engine is now running smoother and faster now its all been done so good times.

I had a quote for this work to be done at several garages and they ranged from around £400 - £600 so well worth doing yourself if you have the tools and stuff.

 

[Harbinger]

Did you skim the head? won't last long without it. should have had new belts etc too.

 

[LB197]

Right, as far as the skimming goes, my dad cleaned it all up it really wasn't that bad at all, I did get the belts but there going back as we found it was a bit risky doing it ourselves tbh they'll get done soon by a garage.

 

[Dan@SJM]

You do know the reason for skimming? Not just cleaning up. Did it true up ok?

 

[LB197]

I know what your saying, but i'd only been to the shop and back and was only doing >10mph when it went, it wasnt like I was doing 70mph i.e enough for it to warp/ overheat anything, I was literally going round a roundabout when it happened, anyway if it goes, it goes.

 

[The Fatty]

belts on a D7F are easy, not like the F4R. When I did my 1.2, I just tensioned it until I could twist the belts no more than 45degrees in each direction. It did around 50000 on the first change and 30000 (and still going) in the second change without problems.

 

[Dan@SJM]

You've taken the head off, but not confident in doing the belt?? You taken the belt off so your already practically doing the belt already. Retensioning a belt is very bad practice. Especially if its a very old one.

 

[LB197]

The belts only done around 15k so its about time it should be done but not urgent, we were a bit cautious that it might affect the timing so just left it for now, it shall be done so shouldn't be a problem.

 

[The Fatty]

I don't understand that post. To replace the head you had to (obviously) remove the cam belt, so you would have had to do the exactly the same thing as you did to reassemble the engine that you would have done with a new belt anyway?!! And now your going to have to do it again?! :S