I think my Cat died!

[staro30]

Felt and heard a rattling noise as I pushed the accelerator down. Got to top of traffic lights. Engine smoking. On red so thought I would turn off the engine for a couple of mins. Go green - wouldn't start. AA arrived an hour later. Car now starts as cooled down. Drove it round the corner to a petrol station. No coolant. AA man adds coolant but leaking from thermostat housing at bottom of engine. AA man adds some pressure gauge thingy to coolant tank - adds pressure, coolant leaking fast, pressure rising, car temp rising after few mins, heater matrix pipes shear off in front of our eyes!

So the nice AA man who use to be a mechanic is 99% sure that the head gasket is leaking as I drove it a couple of miles I may have damaged the cylinder heads.

So there is a few hours labour to change head gasket, check the cylinder (may need skimming), replace the heater matrix and hosing, replace the thermostat housing and hosing. The back tyres both need replacing - on the limit plus side wall damage. The rear arches are so corroded that I had to hide it with masking tape on the last MOT. The heater valve has packed up but that maybe connected to the lack of coolant prob. Both back bushes were done last year and the cam belt was changed on 75k. It's now done over 150k miles. Without these repairs and with bad rust it's probably not worth much more than £400.

So I think my cat died! Definitely?

 

[quest63]

I'm sorry you've had these problems but I think your starting point when working out if its worth fixing is flawed.

Even if it had not had these engine problems from your description a 150k car isn't likely to fetch £400.

Break it if you can for the best cash return for it. I thinks its time for a new Puma imo.

 

[staro30]

Ok.
If I scrap it at ASM (Main scrap dealer) I'd prob get £100. What's alterniative? Put it on AutoTrader for scrap/repair for £200? If I take it to ASM what bits could I take off and sell on ebay?
Thanks

 

[quest63]

I would break it all yourself if you have the space and time and tools. I previously found its the hundred small bits and bobs that people find themselves needing that make the best of recovering the cars cost. You might find that ASM or whatever scrapers you use want the car totally complete and that just selling the wheels puts them off. As it is they might not give you £100 with a duff engine. They will give you the Blah blah blah blah about the price of metal being down. Offer you a price and then turn up and offer you less than they said. Bone it yourself if you can.

 

[oilburner]

If the cam belt was done at 75k it'd need doing again now at 150k so that's another thing to factor in. Even if the engine was ok it's worth £250 tops

 

[staro30]

So I fixed the heater matrix pipes, added coolant and had a bowl under the engine for a couple of days. Still dripping coolant from somewhere but quite minimal. However, today I find no coolant in the tank, I add some water and it streams out from a 12mm nut under the engine. I've attached a pic and video. I got a 12m socket on it but it was just a screwdriver handle so couldn't leverage to tighten it.

Shall I attempt to tighten? Is the leak really from that nut? Will K-Seal coolant leak repair be worth a go?

Thanks

P.S. How do I attach a pic and video to this msg?