Cooling problem, then power loss and blue smoke.

[fangy]

Hi there,
Whilst out driving, my Xantia 1.9 TD started overheating badly. Pulled over and found there was no water left. Got it AA'd home, filled it up and discovered that the water was pouring out the front grill and could see water dripping from the radiator and it look pretty corroded. Someone recommended k-seal, so I tried it. Left it running until the fans came on about four times, but the coolant just kept pouring out.
So I bought a new radiator. After I had fitted it, I left it running, in the correct manner with a header tank and bled all the air from it, until the fans had come on and gone off a few times. Everything was fine. The temperature behaved normally and there was no leaks or drips.
Just to be on the safe side I took it for a spin.
For three or four miles it ran beautifully, then all of a sudden the power dropped and it started blowing blue smoke out the back. Then as quickly as it started, the smoke stopped and the power came back. It ran fine for a couple of hundred yards and started again. All gauges read normal.
Got it home, lifted the bonnet and all around the expansion tank was covered in coolant and there was a hissing from the cap. When I went to remove the cap the pressure felt very high so I left it and haven't been back to it yet.
Does anyone know what could be causing this?
Is the coolant issue linked to the power loss and smoke problem?
Any advice would be appreciated as I've just about had it with this bloody car.

[myglaren]

Sounds as though the head gasket is blown.

When it has cooled down, remove the radiator cap, refill the cooling system and bleed it then run it with the radiator cap off and check for bubbles coming through. In your case there almost assuredly will be.


Comiserations.

[Peter.N.]

I would agree. You can very rarely get away with boiling an XUD without head gasket failure or even the head cracking. Unless its a 2.1, they seem to be almost indestructable!

[Xaccers]

So, depending on how you feel, you can either:

Ebay the car as a non-runner
Break it for parts
Pay a garage to repair it
Fix it yourself (done that, it's not that bad and was only a couple of hundred quid - less than another xantia and much less than the garage would charge)

[CitroJim]

I too concur the head gasket Fangy

Xac raises a good point. The job is not difficult, just time consuming and a mite fiddly as so many Xantia jobs are. Garages will charge an arm and a leg as that's the only way of charging they know and the hours involved are genuinely quite a few.

Think of it this way. On a DIY basis the cost is unlikely to exceed £200 in parts and if the rest of the car is good it makes sense. Can you pick up a known good replacement for that sort of money? No.

Lots of us on here have experience of the work you will be facing and there is no shortage of advice.

Unless its a 2.1, they seem to be almost indestructable!

Ahh, the good old 2.1 Surely the cream of the XUD crop

[fangy]

Thanks for all the advice, I done what you said myglaren, topped the water back up and started the car, it's like old faithful, the water's gushing out and the smokes filling the street, but the good news is there's a guy that lives round my way who knows these cars inside out who's going to fix it for £170ish, thats the gasket, head bolts, timing belt the lot. I thought about doing it, I've done motorbike cylinder head gaskets, but the more I thought about it I scared myself off it.
Thanks,
Fangy.