Hi,

Firstly I do apologise, being a computer illiterate newby, I can't find what I am looking for !!!
My wife has an S-Type 2.5 petrol (2002), auto, with around 90k on the clock. It's been an extremely reliable car until now.
I am 99% certain a cylinder head gasket has blown. The vehicle looses coolant and now the expansion tank appears to have blown. I can smell exhaust gas in the same tank. At no time has the engine overheated (thankfully).
Firstly, can anyone point me in the right direction for a thread detailing a strip down and rebuild regarding the gaskets ? Is it an engine out job ?
Secondly, my thoughts are leaning towards a possible engine swap (depending on cost). If I go down this path, can I swap the 2.5 for a 3.0+ without any mods ?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Matt

 

Sounds like you are correct about the head gasket, sometimes you can see bubbles and smell exhaust in the coolant res when bringing the car to operating temp if its a head gasket. a check of the plugs may help also. Is it producing any white smoke? The gaskets can be replaced in the car. Search this site and find the shop manual that is for your car, there are some free ones.

 

Hi Tony,

Many thanks for the reply...

There has been no noticeable smoke at all.

It's good news it can all be done with the engine in place, my biggest concern was sorting the timing before stripping down.
Unfortunately a lot of the manuals are Windows based, and we are a Mac household !!! I'm sure I will find something compatible with a bit more searching.

Many thanks again.

Matt

 

Just buy a used Windows PC.