sheffield

OK, bit of an update:

First, I am by no means what you would call a competent mechanic, the bits I have done already are about my limit. I don't feel altogether comfortable changing the fuel filter, simply because I don't fancy working around fuel spillages (no matter how slight).

But as I always get the timing belt changed when I buy ANY car (irrespective of mileage, service history etc) I booked it in at a garage ("volvo specialist", they claim - not a dealership though) for this, and told them what's been happenning.

Now this is where I get a bit scared - the mechanic checked the coolant level, and noticed it was low. I told him that I had been topping it up a little more regularly than normal, but had assumed this was mainly due to the hot weather spells we'd had (honestly, we've had SOME).

Garage will be doing a compression test as well as a diagnostic as they think it MAY be the head gasket that's gone. Now I'm not sure if this is the garage trying to make some money out of me: I haven't heard any whistling, the temperature gauge hasn't gone excessively high (obviously a bit high in traffic, but nothing I'm overly concerned about), and the coolant looks "clear" - there doesn't appear to be any mixing. In addition, I haven't noticed it using any oil. Does anybody else think they're trying it on, or being fair? Obviously I haven't authorised that yet, and it is the first time I have used this garage so don't know much about their honesty yet.

Edit: Forgot to mention, spark plug tips were a nice brown colour when I changed them, pretty normal IMO, what would you be looking for there if the head gasket was leaking?