Is this head gasket failure?

[Piggy22]

Car starts first time every time

Guy who i bought it off said the hg had been done, but with no proof, i suspected otherwise. Milage is 70k

Checked the coolant yesterday and the expansion tank was empty Suspect 1

Got it up to temp this morning and there is quite a bit of white smoke coming from the exhaust suspect 2

The engine judders/misfires if i put my foot to the floor from low revs. Water getting into the bores? Suspect 3

When i went to buy it, the coolant was horrible and brown with mayo on the expansion tank cap. Suspect 4

The oil is fine....although it changes itself due to a leak

Cars a vvc brm

Ive got a compression tester, would that finalise suspicions? What psi should each cylinder be?

[Fast Alan]

Ill check the psi in a moment

1 you should not lose any water without a leak somewhere so thats not good

2 water would end up down the exhaust but another but the exhaust on a k series builds up a lot of water and you can get steam for a long time

3 that would be a good assumption but IMG leak can have same effect,but is note usual on the vvc version unlike the rubber ones found on other k series

4 could be old left over residue,you need to change the coolant and keep an eye on things,brown or mayo colored water is a sure sign of HGF

I bought mine in the same situation HG done but a few months later was loosing water and getting brown gunge,sometimes there just not done properly

[DarthRaiden]

The gunge takes forever to clear out, my Head gasket was done a few years ago, 2 water changes and flushes and its still there. But no overheating, white smoke, juddering, mayo in oil. Plus I don't rev it over 3000 RPM unitl the engine is nicely up to temperature.

I'm not loosing water though.

[Piggy22]

Compression shows

200
140
140
175

Any more opinions?

Head off and change gasket?

[Fast Alan]

You`de be very happy with 190/200 but your middles are down,I would say a bit to low,perhaps others might say what they think of those readings,looking like the head has not been done properly to me

[Piggy22]

Anyone else any opinions?

How long should the gasket change take me and how can i tell if its already been done?

[Fast Alan]

There all being a bit slow arnt they,quite at the moment perhaps everyones out tidying there cars :D

[peasantslife]

Well, I dont think Piggy22 did ever get to grips with his real issues before selling the sickly beast to me. Anyway the head came off with no issues, (too easy) so it had been done recently with a multi-layer HG, but it is blowing into the coolant, so the head needs stripping and a skim. May be running again mid month....