cracked head or head gasket gone :(

[the-man-that-can]

well it seems i have doomed my engine on my T5R ladies and gents. i have water comin outa my exuast and so am losing water outa me header tank/rad. car doesnt over heat at all and is still perfectly smooth and driveable i suspect a cracked head or the head gasket has blown. what i want to know is whats the main difrences between a t5r engine and a t5 engine was. is it mainly the ecu's that was difrent and an overboost feature? i also want to know if a T5R ecu will fit onto a T5 engine and run with no issues. AND are there any difrences between the t5r gearbox and the t5? i want to know whats the best possible engine to fit into my car IE straight bolt out and bolt in job. Engine on my r has done 238,000 and tho it starts and runs perfect and the engine temp doesnt budge above the half way line i was still thinking to meself the way i drive id be best to get a nice low mileage engine and replace it. THANKS (andi)

[Jamest5r]

Readview have a couple of engines mate £300, got about 120,000ish on them if i remember right, any 850 t5 engine will bolt onto your g/box(m56).

Your ecu should work fine.

You got any oil in water etc? might just be a hair line crack in your header tank or something simple, worth checking before you start swapping engines

[the-man-that-can]

hi james no theres no oil in the water at all. the car starts and runs A1 the engine temp will not exceed half u can let her tick over night and day and she dont over heat. but if u rev her hard water trails outa the exaust pipe and if i drive her say 10 miles and give her a lil welly then all the water disapears outa me header tank/expansion tank. can undo the oil cap and no sign of bailys what so ever and pull the dip stick and not a trace of water contamination. seems il be gettin a t5 engine for her at sumpoint then and untill then il have to just park her up i guess. AND i have new coolant hoses which i bought from a volvo dealer mate and had a new header tank on her so i know thats not the reason behind me water loss.

[cherry1809]

If you do a lot of short journeys you get a lot of water in the exhaust.
Is yours auto? May be worth checking your not losing water into the Auto fluid cooler from the rad.

[the-man-that-can]

umm mines a manual cherry. and the loss of water in the header tank is not a great sign and even when she is warm u still get water comin out of the exaust as well as white smoke tho only a small ammount like condensation THO the engine is fully up to running/operating temp so i really do think its a cracked head or a head gasket job. if i was to drive her and not top the water up i think she wud just seaze up to be honest.

[orse]

Dont be so convinced because of the water coming out of the exhaust,this is ment to happen.Any car equipped with a catalytic converter creates water after the cat,due to the chemical reaction that happens in the cat.Would really exhaust other options before condeming the head.Howz the heater matrix?Any external leaks?

[the-man-that-can]

heater matrix seems fine and theres no external leaks what so ever at all. i have had the car on a huge sheet of cardboard to see if there was the slightest of drops to apear and seems the cardboard was bone dry.

[Tomcat]

Do a compression check, that will let you know for certain.

[the-man-that-can]

will do tomcat. thanks to everyone who has taken time to read my thread and offer advice and help. THANKS alot so glad i joined this forum :)