Vauxhall Corsa A14 XER

So I was blessed with the task of investigating and diagnosing a coolant loss problem on the above vehicle the other day. The first time I came across this problem with a fault code P00B7 cooling system flow problem, I was unsure of the root cause. Anyway time has moved on and familiarity and experience has got to the point that when nthis code appears I just know its going to be the head gasket, they are so common.

I was therefore asked to investigate this concern before telling the customer what the cause is. Using the scanner and reading live data I could actually measure the cooling system response as the temperature rises between the engine and radiator, hence I could check the operation of the thermostat, the engine temperature rise followed by the radiator temperature rise. I quickly established that the problem was internal to the engine and not cooling system related. Now if I'd of removed the spark plugs first, I'd of known straight away that the colour od the centre electrodes changing from white told me that antifreeze was getting into cylinders 2 + 3. I advised that the cylinder head gasket was leaking based on these plugs, and although I could have done other tests, i felt they were not needed, hence I advsied that the cylinder head gasket was leaking.

The job was authorised and I dismantled the engine, the evidence showed...


 

A close inspection of the above cylinder liners at the top shows where the faces are burned due to excessive heat.

I stripped the engine one day between other jobs and spent another day rebuilding it. The engineers advised me prior to dismantling the engine that the sump needed to be removed, however, after all the additional work to do it, I could not see why it needed to be removed. Had there of been dowels of some description then I could of understood, but the timing case cover came off easily even without removal of the AC compressor. 

When the job was finished all I got was moaned at because the job took longer than his quoted five hours to do it. I'm not saying somebody much younger wouldn't have done it quicker, but  on a thirteen year old car I don't think five hours is realistic?

The engineers advised they turn them out for about £1500, but my boss went in £600 less and then moaned at me. I said to him, you priced the job not me, and if you think they can be done much quicker, no problem get them done and I'll do the hardest jobs, being the mots.