Quick question for the mechanically minded.

[carlo]

I'm afraid I am a bit of a dunce when it comes to the oily bits; would anyone have a word of advice on a car I looked at today?

 

Twas a 306 petrol automatic, and whilst the oil looked clean and the head free of mayo etc, I noticed the radiator water was foamy and frothy at the top, and a curious cream colour, like dirty waves.  There is no expansion bottle on these.  There was a tiny bit of pressure release when undoing the cap despite it not being started for a day.

 

I know the car hasn't been used much at all for the last year, could these be innocent symptoms or something worse?

 

Ta muchly.

[Asimo]

Creamyfoamy radiator contents suggests oil getting into the coolant to me.

[worldofceri]

They can look like that for ages though even after OMGHGF has been fixed as the residual oil in the system works it's way to the highest point in the system.

 

Caveat:  I base this 'fact' on analysis of a sample of one, which was a '94 Renner 5.

[I_am_Diesel]

It shouldn't hold pressure for that long in the coolant system. I suspect HGF or worse. If you want my advice, walk away.

[Tamworthbay]

Could be minor, could be major. Why chance it? As above, walk away.

[steveo3002]

dont sound good , might have some kind of head gasket miracle cure in it   

[scaryoldcortina]

^ A small amount of retained pressure is fairly normal, and an engine with compression related HGF won't hold pressure at all....

 

Filthy looking coolant can also be quite innocent. Is the car very cheap?

[carlo]

The car was a reasonable price but being sold by a young lad on behalf of someone, so who knows.

 

I did walk away, as apart from the suspect rad, it wasn't as good as advertised as the back exhaust had had it, it only had one manky immobilisor key and the a/c didn't cut in.  Nice to drive though as these things always were, although they don't seem as strong as a 405.  What I do like about them is that they have a reasonably sized engine for an auto, together with that pretty reliable ZF mechanical box.  Unfortunately the 306 was burdened with the shitty AL4 French box late in its life.

 

I'm sure there's better examples out there.

[scaryoldcortina]

You probably did right then. Broken immobiliser keys are way, way harder and more expensive to fix than head gaskets!

[cobblers]

Most 306s are easy to disimmobilise, just start the car with the immobiliser key then unplug the immobiliser box. Now any key that fits will start the car.

[scaryoldcortina]

Which is all well and good if you remember to do that BEFORE the last key packs up for good...

[New POD]

The car was a reasonable price but being sold by a young lad on behalf of someone, so who knows.

 

 

 

Classic case of "I'm selling it for my aunt/granddad/sister/uncle"

I'm yet to ask "Can I meet the person named on the V5 please?"

but smack of a small time trader.