There's one born every minute.......and you're looking at him!......Please help!

[Nick13]

First post!

Well, Here I am, world biggest donkey when it comes to buying cars......I read up on all the buying guides for GT Turbo's....and then bought the biggest pile of do do's on the planet!

I had a test drive, everything fine, car had full srvice history, sweet....The seller drove it 20 miles for my test drive and it looked fine, under the bonnet was great, original Renault stickers, unmolested...looked great.

Guy picks me up from the train station in it, again, still fine......however, whilst travelling to his house to complete the deal there was a trace of steam from under the bonnet......upon lifting the lid there was a slight split in the water pipe that feeds into the engine block where the jubilee clip was.......not a major problem says the seller, who nipped the pipe off, refitted it and bobs your uncle.....the deal was done, I got a whole mile before there was a pop and said pipe blew off again.....no tools, no water.....

Rang the seller, came out with water and re fitted it again,.....got about four miles before it was off again......rusty coloured water everywhere......thats a head gasket I was thinking to myself........got it back on, to be fair it is in an awkward position to get tight with just a screwdriver......by this time the car had got really hot. the temperature guage was either bust or not connected up (clever seller eh?), but the car was so hot it ran on when I turned it off Damage, damage damage......that's a new cylinder head I thought...........then I managed to lose one of the top hose bleed screws that flew into a field when I was trying to get water flowing round the system again.............Somebody tell me you can still get these!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhow, I'm guessing at least a cylinder head and gasket here....but it could be worse.....I know nowt about these cars but experience tells me to suspect crank pressurising, so thats sleeving as well..........so I guess I'm looking at a replacement engine.....if there were any out there......or a rebuild that will cost more than the car....The temptation was to just chuck a lit match in it....

Anybody know somewhere I can get an engine?....do you think I could get away with just a head and gasket?????

Can't get over how well it went last week and then this........Please help or advise me if you are able.

Thanks

Nick:o

[RICHIE]

First post!

Well, Here I am, world biggest donkey when it comes to buying cars......I read up on all the buying guides for GT Turbo's....and then bought the biggest pile of do do's on the planet!

I had a test drive, everything fine, car had full srvice history, sweet....The seller drove it 20 miles for my test drive and it looked fine, under the bonnet was great, original Renault stickers, unmolested...looked great.

Guy picks me up from the train station in it, again, still fine......however, whilst travelling to his house to complete the deal there was a trace of steam from under the bonnet......upon lifting the lid there was a slight split in the water pipe that feeds into the engine block where the jubilee clip was.......not a major problem says the seller, who nipped the pipe off, refitted it and bobs your uncle.....the deal was done, I got a whole mile before there was a pop and said pipe blew off again.....no tools, no water.....

Rang the seller, came out with water and re fitted it again,.....got about four miles before it was off again......rusty coloured water everywhere......thats a head gasket I was thinking to myself........got it back on, to be fair it is in an awkward position to get tight with just a screwdriver......by this time the car had got really hot. the temperature guage was either bust or not connected up (clever seller eh?), but the car was so hot it ran on when I turned it off Damage, damage damage......that's a new cylinder head I thought...........then I managed to lose one of the top hose bleed screws that flew into a field when I was trying to get water flowing round the system again.............Somebody tell me you can still get these!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhow, I'm guessing at least a cylinder head and gasket here....but it could be worse.....I know nowt about these cars but experience tells me to suspect crank pressurising, so thats sleeving as well..........so I guess I'm looking at a replacement engine.....if there were any out there......or a rebuild that will cost more than the car....The temptation was to just chuck a lit match in it....

Anybody know somewhere I can get an engine?....do you think I could get away with just a head and gasket?????

Can't get over how well it went last week and then this........Please help or advise me if you are able.

Thanks

Nick:o

it doesnt sound like the end of the world to be fair if the pipe kept coming loose because it was hard to get it tight there may not have been anything wrong with the engine. however trying to top it up when hot is a no no it can crack/warp the head ect. best thing to do is do tighten said water pipe and find a bleed screw and give it a run see what happenes. if you can and want you could also give it a compression check see if anything shows up. a head gasket is a easy fix and plenty of help is available.

[Big Steve - Raider]

Hi Nick,

Welcome to the club first of all!! :D :niceone:

Which pipe was it that kept getting blown off?? Can you take a picture of the offending article??

My 5 had a MAJOR overheating issue when i got it & it just turned out to be the Radiator clogged up with cr@p.

Don't worry too much mate, the engines can be sorted easy enough & all the parts are avaliable in some way or another!

Steve ;)

PS. Get yourself down to ND next weekend if you can!

[Ryan p]

id be looking at a head gasket first before u go made an replace the complete engine, at worst maybe a head. if the bottom end was worn u would get crank case comprestion which would blow oil out manily the dipstick. best thing to do it try an find a member local to u with a bit of knowldge to try an help diagnose the problem

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

Thanks for the advice............maybe not as bad as I thought........still angry and upset about it, thought I'd done everything right when I was buying it..........but was wrong.......

[Andrew Cooke]

with the age of these cars it might just be a rotten pipe, a bit of TLC may see you right.

ask yourself these questions:

does it run OK, smooth idle, no missfires
do you have oil in your water
do you have water in your oil
do your spark plugs have rusty electrodes
if you take the header tank cap off does air bubble out with the engine running?

If you have a compression tester use it, if not get one.

it'll be fine

[JRP]

id be looking at a head gasket first before u go made an replace the complete engine, at worst maybe a head. if the bottom end was worn u would get crank case comprestion which would blow oil out manily the dipstick. best thing to do it try an find a member local to u with a bit of knowldge to try an help diagnose the problem

wouldnt even go that mad, id just flush out the coolant system rad out flush etc.

Change stats refill and see if its ok...

[clee]

I don't do 5's but I've got all the gear to test it if you think it will make it down the road to Heanor ? If not I can poss pop up for a look sometime .First job though would be to flush the cooling system and fix the bleed and dodgy pipe :agree:

[JRP]

I don't do 5's but I've got all the gear to test it if you think it will make it down the road to Heanor ? If not I can poss pop up for a look sometime .First job though would be to flush the cooling system and fix the bleed and dodgy pipe :agree:

so i do speak some wisdom :) very little but some :)

[bye_all_c_ya]

get some pictures up mate and welcome to the club :):)

[Os8472]

Need pictures up mate, we all wanna see this car.

Overheating is just another bump in the road with an R5, in time you'll be able to fix little problems like this with no help from anyone

[TNT ANDY]

Take off the 2 bottom hoses from the expansion bottle, turn the heater up to hot and then blow fresh water through a hose pipe in on for 2 mins and then the other. Repeat 5 times.

turn the heater to cool and and remove the engine coolant stat and repeat as before.

Mine over heated when I bought it but flushed it like this and it was a little better. I eventually replaced the rad which was pretty well blocked.

Before you do this do a compression test so as not to waste your time.

BTW Welcom to the club, sorry to hear your off to a bad start and like a few have said, nothing is too hard / expensive on the 5.

Try to get to national day if you can, you'l get a lot from it. It is the one RTOC event I have never missedsince signing up - top bunch of peeps.

TNT
:smokin:

[Sparkie]

also change the expansion bottle cap.

[Maka]

get the head checked for warping if you have driven while overheating.
thats if u do a headgasket check.

my cars been in bits alot..thing is with R5s they fix as easy as they break! dont panic.

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

What a great bunch of friendly, helpfull people.....thanks to you all.
I managed to go to the garage today and have another look........It's got to be at least a head gasket thats gone west..........there are rusty couloured flecks all over the back end of the car.......that's water blown out of the exhaust I reckon........briefly started the car and there's a bit if a rattle (little end bearrings maybe?,,,,or head related??????............I'm going for a head replacement and new head gasket to start with and take it from there.
There's no oil in the header tank water, just rusty coloured water.....there's no oil blowing out of the dipstick hole.......however, there was, briefly when I had all the trouble getting it home and it over heated big time, a cloud of white smoke billowing out of the exhaust......but that stopped.........This is a real poorly car.......
It needs a new engine............but not a £1500 one , which is what I've been quoted!...........
I've been spoilt driving the STI rice rocket around for the last couple of years.....this has brought me back down to earth with a bump......Ordered some replacement clocks in the hope that the temp guage will work on this set......at least I will have a clue when it's getting hot in the future...........
I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for this kind of hassle....hope my patience holds up!
I'm a bit reluctant to put pictures up because I'm ashamed of myself for buying such a heap......man I'm really struggling to love it at the moment!

[Os8472]

Don't go panicing just yet mate, first off found out if there's any members that live near who would be willing to pop round and have a look, there's gotta be someone

Itsa good bet that ya headgest is gone and you've warped the head but they are easy fixes, all you need is someone to show you how to do it the first time and explain a few things about the 5 and what normally goes wrong with them

[Sy5GTT]

I think nearly everyone on this site has felt like you do at the moment mate. I know I have a few times. I'd try and get a second hand engine or at least a head, gasket set, oil, filter and anti freeze. Give everything a good clean up while it's apart. One weekends work and It'll be fine. I'm sure some of your local members could lend a hand. KEEP THE FAITH. :agree:

[tonesGTT]

Welcome to the club mate and as everyone says, keep the faith. I think it fair to say that most people in this club have been in a similar position with at least one of the 5's they've had in the past, i know i have. I parted with decent money for a white 5 with only 60,000 on the clock thinking id done pretty well. Turned out to be quite a snotter in the end. Still, getting it back to its best is all part of the fun and a decent learning curve.

As for posting some pics, crack on. We love any GTT here ;) :)

[Ashy]

before you go fitting new clocks make sure the plug is on the water temp sensor on the back of the waterpump. It should have an orange and green wire running to it.

Please don't just replace the head & Gasket without checking the simple things that people have pointed out on here first!

[Andrew Cooke]

rust on the back of the car could be just rust from the exhaust.

[RICHIE]

rust on the back of the car could be just rust from the exhaust.

it could also be rust off the cast iron block if the split hose sprayed the old water everywere

[TrickyDicky]

i'd sniff it first m8 to see if the head gasket has gone! any garage will have this equipment. i've seen loads of various cars over the years where people have thought its overheating it must be headgasket and we've had it changed the stuck stat and all is well..

personally though, private sale or not i'd be back round the sellers house and get him to sort it or refund..

hth

Tricky

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

You know what, you guys are excellent.........no ridicule, no hollier than thou attitudes.......I'm not used to this, I was a Ford RS man for a fair few years, and yes, I made some good friends through my shared interest in RS Turbo's but I never got the sense of genuine willingness to help that my one day on here has shown.
Thank you to all who have offered advice and encouraging words.......it is greatly appreciated.
Had "Satan's chariot" (well, it IS red!!!!) running briefly again tonight, replaced the radiator top hose bleed valve screw that flew into a field on friday afternoon.........Bit of a rattle on start up, settled down nicely, then got clouds of steam out of the exhaust, so I'm saying deffo head gasket gone.....indeed not the end of the world and do able.
The heater doesn't work, no hot air..........matrix?, god knows really.....
Anyhow, I'm getting a head and an uprated gasket ordered.
I don't get alot of spare time these days as I care for my elderly parents and work full time, plus my hand movement aint so good these days (maybe I should get a battery car!!!!!!!), so I'm going to get it into my old schoolmates garagein our village, can anyone say what a fair or average price would be to fit a new gasket and head to a five turbo?
My mate Carl from work was itching to take my car to bits on friday, but he's thankfully in the Canaries now for a fortnight, I'm not saying he can't do it, but I'd rather have a proper mechanic on the job.

One plus point, the stereo fitted in my 5 nearly takes your head off and makes your nose bleed!........just need to find my Abba cd now!....hehe!

I'm going to take some photo's of the car in a while, perhaps then it will explain how I got suckered in a bit with it.....it's a smashing looking little car really..........
Again, thank you.........

[TrickyDicky]

[quote=Nick13;91929]New poster! (less than 10 posts)

You know what, you guys are excellent.........no ridicule, no hollier than thou attitudes.......I'm not used to this, I was a Ford RS man for a fair few years, and yes, I made some good friends through my shared interest in RS Turbo's but I never got the sense of genuine willingness to help that my one day on here has shown.
quote]

hi m8, I'm into the RS's as well, have done many RS1600i's over the years!

Tricky

[TrixNFlix]

Yo yo dude! Welcome to rtoc:) well tyour heating problem might be the heater matrix being bypassed. You will see to tubes sticking out from the bulkhead behing the turbo. This is your matrix.;) the two middle heaters in the dashboard only blow out cold anyways so it might just be these you checked. As for a fair price for doing your headgasket, your oil , coolant filter, bolts and headgasket will set you back about £100 and if he's done a few headgaskets it should take him about 4 to 5 hours. Regards andy

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)


[quote=Nick13;91929]New poster! (less than 10 posts)

You know what, you guys are excellent.........no ridicule, no hollier than thou attitudes.......I'm not used to this, I was a Ford RS man for a fair few years, and yes, I made some good friends through my shared interest in RS Turbo's but I never got the sense of genuine willingness to help that my one day on here has shown.
quote]

hi m8, I'm into the RS's as well, have done many RS1600i's over the years!

Tricky
Owdo Tricky, Nice one, I still have a soft spot for Fords.........You should've sen the S1 Turbo I had before I went Japanese!............that was a real beauty, knocked a floor pan out with an axle stand and sold it for 1500 quid........two months later it was sold on for 5 grand..........

Got to stick at it with this GTT, I'm sure I'll suss it eventually...........maybe

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)


Yo yo dude! Welcome to rtoc:) well tyour heating problem might be the heater matrix being bypassed. You will see to tubes sticking out from the bulkhead behing the turbo. This is your matrix.;) the two middle heaters in the dashboard only blow out cold anyways so it might just be these you checked. As for a fair price for doing your headgasket, your oil , coolant filter, bolts and headgasket will set you back about £100 and if he's done a few headgaskets it should take him about 4 to 5 hours. Regards andy

Thanks for that bro, and yes, I WAS checking the middle vents...........:o

[Andrew Cooke]

do you know that the centre dash vents are fresh air vents, and not connected to the heater?

edit - oops, too slow :laugh:

[mike r5 gtt]

hey firstly welcome to the club and secondly welcome to the world of gtts!!:D!its very rare ul neaver hav a prob with it !:devil: but there normaly not to bad to sort:cool: and there are los of very very clever people on here to lend a hand!:)!
unfortunatly i like playing with fords to and ul b glad 2 know gtts cost alot less to fix!!and they put a bigger smile on ur face!:D:D:D:D

[Big Steve - Raider]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)
I'd rather have a proper mechanic on the job.

If you've got somewhere to change the head gasket at your house together with a supply of Bacon Sandwiches, Tea and Party Rings i'm sure you may be able to get a few members of the club round to help you sort things and give the car a good look over??

[Nick13]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)


If you've got somewhere to change the head gasket at your house together with a supply of Bacon Sandwiches, Tea and Party Rings i'm sure you may be able to get a few members of the club round to help you sort things and give the car a good look over??


Brilliant, That would be great....and I'd pay someone the going rate, of course.
Been let down wth my new head, so I'm looking again at the moment......That's not to say I won't be tempted if a complete engine comes up anywhere......hell, I've even thought about a full rebuild..........

I'm liking being a member of this club, even though I'm not liking having no roadworthy car.....

It'll come though, just got to keep the faith.

Thanks

[Matt Cole]

[quote=Big Steve - Raider;92066]If you've got somewhere to change the head gasket at your house together with a supply of Bacon Sandwiches,


what if your jewish?

[clee]

Take the offer and sell it on :agree: