[Bx Tiger fan]

My 2011 i30 hatch developed a mis-fire last weekend; dealer in town says the head is porous and this has let the coolant leak into the spark plug; says only option is to replace the head, plus the associated work, approx. cost of $5200.00

Has anyone else had the same issue or similar, as I am looking for some advice on a less expensive fix.

regards

Bx Tiger fan

[tw2005]

Whenever i read these quotes I swear these departments  are either on something or simply the worst business people.

You may as well just find a low k used motor for a round $700 and drop it in.

So where is the coolant being found? internal or external of the head? Which plug or plugs?

is there coolant loss? is it over heating?

Is the oli looking milky or inside the oil cap from water contamination?

How many Ks?

Has it been serviced to schedule?

Are you the original owner?

[Dazzler]

Welcome Bx Tiger Fan,

Sorry to hear about your woes..

@tw2005 Gerard, sounds more like a blown head gasket doesn't it? Geez they come up with some crap don't they.

Your suggestion of a 2nd hand motor is a no brainer by the sound of it. 

[tw2005]

I could be off on the $700, prices are looking quite variable although an ebay writeoff with a 33000k motor went for just over a grand. driveable but hail, something also to consider at the auctions, a lot of leftover parts too but messy to deal with.

[tw2005]

auto or manual?

FD HYUNDAI I30 2.0 G4GC ENGINE, 09/07-04/12 | eBay

FD HYUNDAI I30 G4GC 2.0 ENGINE, 09/07-04/12 | eBay

HYUNDAI I30 ENGINE PETROL, 2.0, G4GC, FD, 09/07-04/12 07 08 09 10 11 12 | eBay

HYUNDAI I30 ENGINE PETROL, 2.0, G4GC, FD, 09/07-04/12 07 08 09 10 11 12 | eBay

[tw2005]

2210023780 (22100-23780) - HEAD ASSY-CYLINDER





2231123700 (22311-23700) - GASKET-CYLINDER HEAD

[Dazzler]

Mr Helpful as usual. 

[nzenigma]

My 2011 i30 hatch developed a mis-fire last weekend; dealer in town says the head is porous and this has let the coolant leak into the spark plug; says only option is to replace the head, plus the associated work, approx. cost of $5200.00

@Bx Tiger fan  mate like tw, I get really frustrated with dealer BS and attempts to rort .
You probably have a small crack in the head, not very common.
Before you rush off and find a new head, go to Supercheap and buy Risoline stop leak. Its not like the old Bars Leak that used to clog rather than seal.
Ive had good permanent success with this stuff, get the aluminium product as it only sounds like a minor weep.

look at the lower products.

Coolant Leak Repair K-Seal 236mL - Supercheap Auto

Large bottle will Cost $20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dazzler]

Certainly worth a try for that money Gary! 

[nzenigma]

Ive been running it in my Hilux ute for a year now. All good.
In my experience it has instant success, should be left in the coolant and allegedly does not conflict with corrosion inhibiters.

The thin area around the spark plug or injector seems most vulnerable to cracking on a lot of heads irrespective of make or model.

[John B]

Geeez mate if that works  OP is going to owe you a slab for sure.

[mickd]

G'Day Bx,
Get a 2nd opinion,  sounds like your dealer is full of it.
Haven't heard of a porous head in f-king years.
 Dazz thinks head gasket,  would be more likely, worse case, cracked head.
If its not using or  you can't see the  coolant , it could be just a dead plug or lead .

tw & nz, who both know i30's inside out,  have asked a heap of questions to help pinpiont the problem.
These are the things they would be checking if it was their car.
 They have  supplied many options, again,  if it was theirs.
Sometimes people quote ridiculously high figures because they are not interested in doing the work.

[nzenigma]

Geeez mate if that works  OP is going to owe you a slab for sure.

Thanks John, Slab of Great Northern should be arriving soon. 

Mind you, I learned here not to expect the expected. In this case, too many options  :

$5000 

          $700 

                  $20     

[tw2005]

Geeez mate if that works  OP is going to owe you a slab for sure.

Thanks John, Slab of Great Northern should be arriving soon. 

Mind you, I learned here not to expect the expected. In this case, too many options  :

$5000 

          $700 

                  $20     

Looking like a one way conversation and fly by nighter anyway

[Dazzler]

Geeez mate if that works  OP is going to owe you a slab for sure.

Thanks John, Slab of Great Northern should be arriving soon. 

Mind you, I learned here not to expect the expected. In this case, too many options  :

$5000 

          $700 

                  $20     

Looking like a one way conversation and fly by nighter anyway

Only been a couple of days, so best to give them the benefit of the doubt. Hope you're wrong..

@Bx Tiger fan

Can we have an update soon and maybe some feedback on the enthusiastic help offered please.

Our helpful volunteer technical advisors may have saved you thousands! 

[tw2005]

Geeez mate if that works  OP is going to owe you a slab for sure.

Thanks John, Slab of Great Northern should be arriving soon. 

Mind you, I learned here not to expect the expected. In this case, too many options  :

$5000 

          $700 

                  $20     

Looking like a one way conversation and fly by nighter anyway

Only been a couple of days, so best to give them the benefit of the doubt. Hope you're wrong..

@Bx Tiger fan

Can we have an update soon and maybe some feedback on the enthusiastic help offered please.

Our helpful volunteer technical advisors may have saved you thousands! 

Sorry Dazz. All benefit ....... No Doubt

[John B]

 @tw2005.My apologies Gerard, meant to put you are also due for a slab from OP as well. 

[tw2005]

@tw2005.My apologies Gerard, meant to put you are also due for a slab from OP as well. 

I'd just be happy with some info and feedback. 

[Bx Tiger fan]

Many thanks for the very good suggestions about fixing the leaks - much appreciated.

I will try the Risoline - thanks 'nz' - as well as talk to a mechanic that I have used in the past;  I did think that maybe a replacement motor may be an option, which was why I was going to talk to the mechanic.

I'll keep you posted

regards

Bx Tiger fan

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

[nzenigma]

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

[Dazzler]

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

What Gary is actually saying is unfortunately you appear to be mistaken on this occasion.. 

[tw2005]

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

What Gary is actually saying is unfortunately you appear to be mistaken on this occasion.. 

Nice try Dazz but it's a sows ear.

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

Thanks for your positive comment But we shall see...There must be a reason for such a strong reaction from your side which if actually never seen in here before The sealing works due to the pressure inside the cooling system being higher than the atmospheric pressure when the cooling liquid heats op & hence the additive can seal when/while the mixture of the sealing & fluid is escaping through the crack. If theres a crack in the head, no matter how hard you insist, the compression will make a pressure much higher than inside the cooling-system & push the sealing away. Anyway those sealeants are only for short term use....Some might use it to get home, other sell the car straight afterwards to send the repair costs to the next owner. But sure...Sometimes small miracles do happend 

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

What Gary is actually saying is unfortunately you appear to be mistaken on this occasion.. 

So the one screaming loudest & talks down on other members are the guy whos right?

[CraigB]

I believe some of the better leak/crack repair liquids like nzenigma mentioned actually form a chemical bond in hairline cracks which works like a weld, much better technology now days than the old crap that used to get you home but at the same time it also clogged radiators and gummed up the jackets and heater core.

[tw2005]

The coolant leak bottle wont help as if it was used on a faulty radiator.

 This is due to the air-pressure normally is lower on the outside when its a  radiator-leak. When a leak is in conjunction with the cylinders/head the enormous pressure from compression/ignitionstroke will the push it away from the crack.

Sorry, no easy/cheap way on this one :-(

Sorry you are talking utter bullshit.   
All internal areas of the motor /coolant system work above atmospheric pressure.  Unlike you, I have used it, and understand its advantages and its possible  limitations. We have here (per description) a small crack or area of erosion in the head. It is a coolant system failure nothing to do with "compression/ignition stroke". In this case, it is my first choice of a remedy.

What Gary is actually saying is unfortunately you appear to be mistaken on this occasion.. 

So the one screaming loudest & talks down on other members are the guy whos right?

Dazz is just trying to soften things a bit and translate it to something a little more diplomatic.

Don't take it to heart, Gary can be passionate. I'm not a great fan of stop leaks but I have heard of some success stories. I have used radiator stop leaks and on one occasion it clogged the cooling system and created more work. Stopped the leak though.

I've heard of people using chemiweld and getting years out of it.

I still don't understand the type of leak we have here. never heard of a porous head. If it's been maintained correctly and never overheated , sounds more like a defective casting,

If the corrosion inhibitor has never been change or incorrect strength and it's corrosion then it's operator abuse.

If a bottle of magic goop solves it or gets one going again until you can afford a permanaent fix , so be it.

If the leak was in a high pressure area and compression or combustion was able to travel through it I'd expect the cooling system to pressurise and dump. So if that is not happening it's likely additive may be able to seal off the crack.

I'm wondering if the leak is into the spark plug tube or external, it's not explained well enough to really get a good idea.

[nzenigma]

@ChipMIK
sorry if you took offence to my direct comment. Unfortunately, your equally strenuous rejection of the stop leak solution came at a time when, once again, we were not getting feed back from the member who had made the original enquiry.
 Gerard (tw) and I spend a lot of time trying to decipher member's vague fault descriptions. We are getting quite frustrated with the self interest of the many momentary members who make use of the site and make this a thankless task.

 The solutions we provide should always carry this caveat : 'we cant see or hear the fault, cannot work on the car and this is our assumption based upon logic and/or our past experience'. If we haven't had experience in an area, we say so and try to point the member toward a more appropriate advisor.

ChipMIK the vague fault description along with the mechanic's diagnosis of a "porous head" leads me to believe that coolant is leaking into the cavity/recess for a spark plug.
The mechanic's comment indicates that he could see the leak, otherwise he would have mentioned possible head gasket failure.
The spark plug recess is at atmospheric pressure. Ignition pressure has no influence upon the coolant system unless the head gasket fails or the head warps or cracks. In such a case, the evidence will be wide spread.
 

[Dazzler]

Looks like @Bx Tiger fan will be an exception to the rule Gary and keep us in the loop... Hint hint.. 

@ChipMIK
sorry if you took offence to my direct comment. Unfortunately, your equally strenuous rejection of the stop leak solution came at a time when, once again, we were not getting feed back from the member who had made the original enquiry.
 Gerard (tw) and I spend a lot of time trying to decipher member's vague fault descriptions. We are getting quite frustrated with the self interest of the many momentary members who make use of the site and make this a thankless task.

 The solutions we provide should always carry this caveat : 'we cant see or hear the fault, cannot work on the car and this is our assumption based upon logic and/or our past experience'. If we haven't had experience in an area, we say so and try to point the member toward a more appropriate advisor.

ChipMIK the vague fault description along with the mechanic's diagnosis of a "porous head" leads me to believe that coolant is leaking into the cavity/recess for a spark plug.
The mechanic's comment indicates that he could see the leak, otherwise he would have mentioned possible head gasket failure.
The spark plug recess is at atmospheric pressure. Ignition pressure has no influence upon the coolant system unless the head gasket fails or the head warps or cracks. In such a case, the evidence will be wide spread.
 

Fair enough Gary..My thoughts are the spark plug is wet where the spark happens, which off course is inside the cylinder (think we can agree on that one ;-) :-D )...But lets see if the guy returns :-)

Dazzler...I have read your comment again regarding translating Gary´s post to me & initially my translation of it made it look like you gave Gary right...As i now realize that you werent, but just translating to "nomal" forum language, thats the reaseon for my post to you as i didnt understand why you would speak out that way...So if sorry for that from me is the right word, this is my sorry to you for that :-)