Car overheating problems

[Sinbad]

The car is with the mechanic. We are waiting to hear about all the problems as the work progresses.
Head gasket blown and was sent to engineers - we still waiting in anticipation to know whether it is cracked, which will be a disaster.
Piston rings to be replaced.
Clutch kit needs to be replaced

Kia really is not a good buy. Spares are hard to come by and really expensive.

Woah. Rings why?
Clutch why?
And that wasn't my experience with Kia at ask. Your mechanic is shafting you IMHO

 

[rubytox]

Woah. Rings why?
Clutch why?
And that wasn't my experience with Kia at ask. Your mechanic is shafting you IMHO

Why do you say that?
Apparently the pistons are 'clean', whatever that means.
I am a bit puzzled about the clutch. According to my daughter the clutch was replaced a year ago.
When I took the car for a major service, I was told that there was huge problem that needed fixing but I cannot find the invoice with the report.

 

[ACTPerformance]

Sulphur smell from the radiator and milky chocolate oil = gasket leak.
Probably a warped head if you still drove it.

It is costly to fix.

Please dont take it to a back yard mechanic.

The head has to be skeemed by engineers, so take it to a mechanic that has an engineering shop as well or close by to keep your costs down.

SAC's comes to mind but Im not sure which area you are in.

 

[rubytox]

Sulphur smell from the radiator and milky chocolate oil = gasket leak.
Probably a warped head if you still drove it.

It is costly to fix.

Please dont take it to a back yard mechanic.

The head has to be skeemed by engineers, so take it to a mechanic that has an engineering shop as well or close by to keep your costs down.

SAC's comes to mind but Im not sure which area you are in.

The head is warped and with Mr Cilinder Head, hoping to hear from them soon.

 

[ponder]

Why do you say that?
Apparently the pistons are 'clean', whatever that means.
I am a bit puzzled about the clutch. According to my daughter the clutch was replaced a year ago.
When I took the car for a major service, I was told that there was huge problem that needed fixing but I cannot find the invoice with the report.

Why would you need a new clutch when the head gasket is fooked & head warped? Not related at all.
Piston rings I can't really comment on but that also sounds a bit weird.

 

[rubytox]

Why would you need a new clutch when the head gasket is fooked & head warped? Not related at all.
Piston rings I can't really comment on but that also sounds a bit weird.

From what I read on the internet, it might not be necessary to replace the piston rings but recommended when you overhaul an engine. The same with the clutch. Taking the long term view, it is better to have these replaced while the engine is being overhauled.
Does this make sense?

 

[Sinbad]

They are not overhauling the engine.
Blown head gasket = head overhaul, NOT engine overhaul. They don't need to touch the bottom end at all. This is why I say your mechanic is shafting you. That and his story about parts. Parts for my Sorento were very reasonably priced and easily available.

 

[rubytox]

Thanks Sinbad.
I'm going to have a long talk with the mechanic.

 

[ponder]

From what I read on the internet, it might not be necessary to replace the piston rings but recommended when you overhaul an engine. The same with the clutch. Taking the long term view, it is better to have these replaced while the engine is being overhauled.
Does this make sense?

1. He's not overhauling the engine.
2. Story about the clutch is BS.

From the sounds of things I reckon you will definitely need this though,

 

[ACTPerformance]

With these tiny motors the coolant channels are very narrow.

I would also ask your mech to flush the coolant system and not just fit the head and top up the coolant. If your mech is a one man operation, by the time he fits the head and all the ancillaries (very time consuming process),he will just top up the coolant and send you on your merry way.

 

[Gnome]

From my personal experience, overhaul is a very bad idea.

I've only seen it go badly. That is to say, the car is never 100% again.

I've recommended this, time and again, if your head gasket is blow, if the mechanic proposes you overhaul the engine. Get a working 2nd hand one from a scrap yard, take out the old, put in the one from the scrap yard.

Picanto engines may be harder to come by, granted, but with many popular car brands in SA the total cost will be the same to replace VS overhaul and in the end you have a much more reliable car because some backyard mechanic didn't put together your engine.

Even an experienced mechanic doesn't have the experience of a factory workers were they put together one engine after the next. Factory assembled engines are made to strict quality standards with strict guidelines.

Mechanics in a workshop, if you are lucky, has a lot of experience. If you are even luckier, he may have decent tools (things like precision torque wrench is a huge luxury in a workshop). You end up with a guy who "kind of" knows how to do it, he wings the parts he isn't sure about and he doesn't have the same precision tools the factory has.

Which is why you almost always end up having a bad time.

My 2c

 

[ponder]

From my personal experience, overhaul is a very bad idea.

I've only seen it go badly. That is to say, the car is never 100% again.

My 2c

No offence but this is complete and utter BS. If you have kuk mechanic then maybe yes. There is zero reason for a proper head job to cause you more troubles. There are car enthusiasts that swap heads like expensive whores change underwear on a regular basis. This whole thing about factory standards you mention is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard, in the factory they take a part out of the box and install it, same goes for a dealership workshop. The average factory or workshop employee knows jack schite about engineering and mechanicals. The people running engineering workshops know way more than any factory/dealership lackey!

People professing this schite really does get my blood boiling because they really don't know wtf they are talking about.

I'm sure there are people that do crap jobs out there but that's no reason to lump the other 90% of good shops with them.

Look at this fscking backyard mechanic for example and tell me he does not know wtf he is doing http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10063

It really pisses me off to no end when people that know jack schite what they are talking about try and make others look like idiots. Do you realise how many racing teams, car enthusiasts etc have changed heads that they modified etc on a weekly basis!?

I'm sorry this is not a personal thing directed at you, one just sees so much kuk uttered in this sub forum and I just stripped my moer because it makes me mad!

Have you ever stripped a head or entire engine and rebuilt it?

 

[Sinbad]

Agreed. My car has a re engineered head on it. Goes better than it did before. As long as the engineering work is done by someone competent its 100% fine

 

[ACTPerformance]

From my personal experience, overhaul is a very bad idea.

I've only seen it go badly. That is to say, the car is never 100% again.

I've recommended this, time and again, if your head gasket is blow, if the mechanic proposes you overhaul the engine. Get a working 2nd hand one from a scrap yard, take out the old, put in the one from the scrap yard.

Picanto engines may be harder to come by, granted, but with many popular car brands in SA the total cost will be the same to replace VS overhaul and in the end you have a much more reliable car because some backyard mechanic didn't put together your engine.

Even an experienced mechanic doesn't have the experience of a factory workers were they put together one engine after the next. Factory assembled engines are made to strict quality standards with strict guidelines.

Mechanics in a workshop, if you are lucky, has a lot of experience. If you are even luckier, he may have decent tools (things like precision torque wrench is a huge luxury in a workshop). You end up with a guy who "kind of" knows how to do it, he wings the parts he isn't sure about and he doesn't have the same precision tools the factory has.

Which is why you almost always end up having a bad time.

My 2c

Maybe you speaking from experience but this is not true.

Head gasket is a simple job to a qualified engineer, no need for replacing a whole engine.

And you looking at it from the wrong angle.

Think of the head gasket as a safety measure to prevent catastrophic engine failure.

If the cooling system fails, the head gasket acts sort of like a fuse in an electrical system.

 

[rubytox]

Well, it's been a couple of days since I got the car back and I've used a tank of petrol driving around to make sure the car is fixed properly this time around. I could not believe the difference after the head overhaul. The car definitely has more power and the engine purrs like a cat. The problem is that I just want to put my foot on that pedal. For a small car, it really does well.

For what it's worth, it cost R6k. I expected it to be a lot more. Apart from the labor, the head overhaul by the engineer was the most expensive item. The water pump, thermostat, spark plugs, big and bearing (not sure what this is), seals, timing belt, gasket set, oil and anti freeze were replaced. Best of all, the car was sparkling clean from front to back. The engine looks like a new one. The mechanic, has done a fantastic job - I would recommend him any day.

 

[ponder]

big and bearing (not sure what this is)...

Not big end bearings? That would be the ends of the connecting rods that connect to the crankshaft which means he did more than a head job and went into the block. They look like thin plates of metal.

R6k does not sound to bad.