Originally Posted by
LeeT5
The scratches, I personally would leave to an expert. I'm not an expert on paint. If you run the car round to a local paint shop and bung the guy a score, I'm sure he will whip them out for you in a couple of minutes.
During the recent storms, I had a bloody bin blown against the car. It put minor scuffs and scratches on the door ( no dents). A quick visit to my local body shop (the guys that rebuilt the back of my car after the accident) used 2000 grit and and polishing machine. The scratch was totally gone in 2 minutes! Cost me a drink and 5 minutes of my time.
As Merc85 says for the oil on the head. About £1.50p from Volvo.
A sniffer test and/or cooling system pressure test will be able to diagnose the cause.
Regards your coolant loss...as already said. That's way too much mate! My advice to you would be to not drive the car unless you remedy it. If the crack/leak gets worse whilst your driving it, you could hydro lock the engine and then you'll be buggered.
Have you ever tried Kseal? I recommend it mate. It's completely harmless to your engine. It will be definitely worth draining your coolant from the Radiator when the engines cold. Then refill with 50/50 mix of coolant and water, but chuck in a small bottle of Kseal first, before you fill the system. From what you've described, it does sound like your head gasket is leaking. Kseal will find the leak and quickly plug it. Works in about 10-15 minutes once the engine is warmed up.
I had a Rover 400 last year at the side of the road that had overheated because the HG failed. The water (on a static pressure test) was spraying out the front of the engine, near the timing belt cover between the head and the block. I thought the Kseal wouldn't seal it but after about 15 minutes, the cooling system functioned normally and the leak stopped. I then followed the lady 10 miles home. She was amazed as I was! The leak was very serious.
One more piece of advice....Don't drive your car just on water alone. You'll damage the water pump. Antifreeze is also a lubricant for the pump as well as having the ability to raise the boiling point of water by about 8*C, therefore, further preventing your cooling system from overheating due to gas formation when the water boils in the head. Once the water boils and turns to steam it's game over! It's not just to prevent your engine freezing in the winter.
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