Nick.Petty Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 Just viewed a nicely put together SEW with a standard 2.0L Zetec on 45s, and when I unscrewed the cap on the water filler bottle it was full of brown sludge - the water undeneath looked clear and the oil looked fine. Anything to worry about or just a case of flushing/relacing the coolant? Cheers, Nick. PS what bhp would you expect on this set up - 160 ish? Quote
adhawkins Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 I thought head gasket trouble was indicated by sludge in the oil, rather than the water. I'm far from an expert though. My 2 litre Zetec on 40s produces around 150 BHP. Andy Quote
Blatman Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 Brown sludge in the water is a symptom of head gasket failure, although it could be the residue from a previous head gasket failure, or just an accumulation of crud over the years. A compression test would be a good idea before a purchase price is decided.......... Quote
Westfieldman Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 A compression test would be a good idea before a purchase price is decided.......... A leak down test is even, better but not that easy to do at home. Quote
Nick.Petty Posted January 29, 2004 Author Posted January 29, 2004 Hmmm, the plot thickens. This was apparently a brand new bottom end from Ford in 2001 and recon head, although it is the only item the seller has no history on. Complicated, this buying lark when you are as technically 'challenged' as I am! Nick. Quote
adhawkins Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 Complicated, this buying lark when you are as technically 'challenged' as I am! In that case, make sure you do what I did, and take someone less technically challenged with you to look at the car. It's the only way to be safe. Find someone local with a Westy if you can, and take them. Andy Quote
Guest Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 Sorry if it is just too silly for words, but you didn't by chance confuse the water filler with the oil catch tank did you. Colleague of mine used a water tank in this way and it confused me fof a moment! Gasket failure is normally a mayonnaise type gunge, usually evident on the underside of the oil filler cap. John Quote
Nick M Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 Brown sludge in the water is a symptom of head gasket failure, although it could be the residue from a previous head gasket failure, or just an accumulation of crud over the years. A compression test would be a good idea before a purchase price is decided.......... Ding FWIW, I have an accumulation of brown gunge in my header tank which has *nothing* to do with head gasket failure - it's simply the crud being washed around after the block had sat for a while during the rebuild and had then had nice warm coolant sloshed around inside it again. I've flushed it once and it's better, but there's still stuff there. I suspect if it was a new bottom end which hadn't been run then there might have been rust in the waterways and this is simply what you're seeing. But a compression test would help you find out. Quote
Ian Podmore Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 My header tank looks terrible, rust stains, brown looking mess, but the water is now clear. Must get around to changing it - looks do count ! The reason was simply not doing frequent enough coolant changes over the years. There's no problem with the head gasket though, and no sludge as such eithet, just a coating on the inside of the tank. Quote
Thrustyjust Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 I've just cleaned mine out with descaler and got most of the whiteness back with bleach and hot water overnight. Quote
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