Any car mechanics here?
 

Got a question for any car mechanics on here..

My g/f's Corsa had the oil changed last week at a garage and on saturday the head gasket blew making a big hole in the rad aswell. I checked the oil level and it's well over what it should be so they have definately overfilled it. Question is, can this lead to head gasket failure?

The car was recovered to the garage and they admitted the oil was too high but say it's totally unrelated to the head gasket going. He originaly said the rad needed changing which he did then called to say it was the head gasket. So now the rad has been done we have to pay 209 quid to get the car back as it is, not working. Or, we have to pay a total of 650 quid to get it back fully fixed! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Are we being done?

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

You say the radiator needed replacing in the first place , was the car over heated before you had this replaced as this could cause the head to warp and the head gasket to go.

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

I'm no mechanic but I do know that too much oil can cause gaskets to blow due to pressure build up. Don't know how you would go about proving it though :(

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Hi There,

Are you sure that the oil level is not high because coolant has leaked into the oil and raised the level after the gasket blew?

Just a thought?

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Did your gf have the work done at a vauxhall dealer? if not give your local Vauxhall dealer a ring and ask them if it is possible that over filling the oil could cause the head gasket to blow. If they say that it's possible get back onto the garage where the work was carried out , as the last poeple to work on the car they will be liable for any faults that they may have caused.

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

The rad has a hole in it now but was fine until sat. The hole in the rad is a result of the head gasket blowing apparently..

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

It's a small independant garage but ringing the vauxhall dealer sounds like a good idea. But as mentioned, even if it could possibly cause it, I'd still not be able to prove that it did.

Guess we are screwed basically!

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Possibly, I don't know if coolant can get into the engine?

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Ok a head gasket blowing is never going to blow a hole in your radiator, i would imagine the hole in the radiator has been caused by something else usualy a rock or something, and this has then caused the car to overheat warping the cylinder head which in turn will cause the gasket to blow.

Too much oil is not going to cause the head gasket to blow, it could cause oil to leak from the crankshaft seals or damage the piston rings but this would only be if it was way over the mark, manufacturers build a margin for error into things like this.

around the £500 mark is average for a heagasket job..

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

p.s the oil may not have been overfilled it may just had some water in it from the head gasket failure, making it look fuller than it is, dont forget oil will sit on top or oil so any water will be lurking in the bottom of the sump.. dont run the car till the head gaskets been fixed..

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Over filling wit oil is UNLIKELY to cause too much damage. I massively over filled my Astra once and all that happened was plooms of smoke when I tried to give it any revs. Thought I'd blown something but it was just the pressure pushing past the piston rings.

It's more likely that the rad has caused the damage.

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

It is possible for a blown head gasket to cause a radiator to fail although they usually split along the seam or look puffed out near the leak from the high internal pressure. (Usually results in a split though and not just a hole.) Air or exhaust can enter the cooling system near the valves through the blown head gasket and cause too much pressure.
Does the radiator look like it exploded from the inside out???
If not..It's likely the hole in the radiator caused the motor to overheat...doing in the headgasket.

As mentioned earlier...the elevated oil level may be from coolant in the oil.
However it is not likely (though not impossible) that you would have both too much pressure in the system and coolant in the oil.
If so your head gasket is leaking in more than one place and you'd better have the head checked for cracks. (not a bad idea in any case)

The oil is not the cause.
If there is too much oil it can cause oil seals to leak but would have had no effect on the headgasket.
Check to see if the oil is "milky" looking or if any coolant runs out of the sump when the drain plug is removed.
If you're not doing the work yourself don't bother draining the oil.
It will have to be changed anyway as a small amount of coolant will enter the motor (via the cyls.) while removing the head.

Don't drive this car anymore or run the motor other than a few seconds for testing or you'll likely be needing the entire motor replaced.

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

Cheers all, decided it's an uneconomical repair.. Scrap value only now.

Thanks for all the replies.

Re: Any car mechanics here?
 

What Bannaman said

I had a car (Hillman Imp for those old enough to remember ;)) that blew 2 radiator hoses on the same trip due to a head gasket going.

Therfore its reasonable to assume that if the weakest part of the cooling system is a dead or dying radiator then the pressure could blow that if the system has been presurised by the cylinders