is my head gasget gone

jm99

i just bought a 02 golf tdi a few weeks back (no warrenty:(). i cant keep coolant in it and its a reddish brown colour with some scum on top(no obvious leak). they may be some oil in it but i'm not sure. the engine oil seems to be fine. is there some way to tell for definate. and if it needs to be done how much would you be talking about. i was planning doing the timing belt even before i realised this. any idea of $$ of these

Bored-Stupid

Hi JM99,

I recently got my head gasket fixed (01 Seat Leon 1.9tdi) and unfortunately it may be what you have. I could not find a leak on the radiator and I even put in a new radiator and same thing occurred. I would get it checked out with a reputable mechanic as the cowboy I went to cost me more money than it should have. It cost me about €600.

Anan1

If it's any comfort to you, replacing the HG will be a lot cheaper if the belt/tensioners/water pump are being renewed at the same time.

robtri

op...
how long after you top up the coolant, does it take before it goes??

When you say no sign of leak, can you elaborate on where you are looking??
are you looking with the engine on???
Is the exhaust emmissions white smokey all the time, more so than usual?


I had a 206 recently same problem, couldn't keep coolant in... turned out after a bit of looking around it was a perished seal and coolant was leaking out behind engine block slowly dripping on to a hot engine and evaporating

cheap ass fix...

jm99

robtri wrote: »

op...
how long after you top up the coolant, does it take before it goes??

When you say no sign of leak, can you elaborate on where you are looking??
are you looking with the engine on???
Is the exhaust emmissions white smokey all the time, more so than usual?


I had a 206 recently same problem, couldn't keep coolant in... turned out after a bit of looking around it was a perished seal and coolant was leaking out behind engine block slowly dripping on to a hot engine and evaporating

cheap ass fix...

robtri
looking anywhere i can see and underneath. putting a 750ml bottle in every 30-40 miles n i do have the engine on. dont know about the smoke. have'nt noticed anything but i'll have a look. thanks for a little bit of hope, i could do wit a cheap ass fix!! but im still doubtful.

Fozzie Bear

jm99 wrote: »

i just bought a 02 golf tdi a few weeks back (no warrenty:(). i cant keep coolant in it and its a reddish brown colour with some scum on top(no obvious leak). they may be some oil in it but i'm not sure. the engine oil seems to be fine. is there some way to tell for definate. and if it needs to be done how much would you be talking about. i was planning doing the timing belt even before i realised this. any idea of $$ of these

Exact same thing as my 00 Tdi Passat. Could not keep coolant in it and when I opened the coolant reservoir to top it up, the reservoir was pressurised and you could hear air hissing out violently as the lid screwed open. There was oil particles floating in the coolant too. Sounds very much like the head gasket I'm afraid. Mechanic mentioned it might have been the oil cooler but once he had a look it was fairly obvious it was the HG. It cost E540.00 to get it done. Head skimmed and pressure tested for cracks, new head bolts and gasket. Takes about a day to do it as the engine has to be stripped down.

As someone else said if you were getting the timing belts, water pump, tensioners etc done then it will actually work in your favour as it will be a hell of a lot cheaper getting them all done at once rather then the belts now and HG a few months down the road or vice versa. I'd think you were looking at the guts of 1000 quid to get it all done. Depends really on the guy doing it and how long he takes. On the plus side you will have a fully serviced engine and it should last you for years to come.

johndaman66

This may be against the rules and if so apologies as I'm not really one for the typing! Below is a piece I posted in another similar thread where a subsciber is having difficulty with a Peugeot 306. I have substituted Peugeot 306 for VW Golf and other subscribers name with yours in this thread and please note the job may prove more expensive on a modern turbo diesel car and not all mechanics would be willing to take on the job with a diesel for that matter in my experience. Parts of the second last paragraph is not directly relevant to this thread also.

If it is a croaked headgasket jm99 which imo more than likely is I wouldn't be inclined to skimp too much on the repair job. By all means shop around for good reputable garages that wont absolutely fleece you but I wouldn't skimp on parts or processes that some may say are not absolutely necessary. Ive blown a headgasket on pretty much every car I've had down through the years apart from a Toyota Corolla so know from experience

On my first car which was a diesel I got the job done as cheap as possible and it was very much a pointless exercise. I got the headgasket done some months back on a Vectra and a few 1,000 miles later no issues to report. I bought the parts from the UK through ebay and saved a small fortune as bought timing belt, tb kit and waterpump also. The downside about this is the lead time until you receive the parts, in particular if you were to pay by draft and also not all mechanics or garage men will allow you to do this, some will refuse point blank from their experience of people getting incorrect parts and/ or as they are loosing their mark-up on the parts no doubt. Also if you were to go down this road make sure and double sure you are ordering correct parts for your car. If your VW Golf is like my vectra I'd be inclined to change the complete timing belt kit and definately the waterpump (as this may have given up and caused or contributed to the cause of the problem in the first place or at least is probably well croaked now if oil and coolant are mixing). The mechanic would need to take of timing belt anyway to do headgasket and as tb renewal is a costly labour intensive job to do chances are it would probably make sense to change it when doing headgasket even if not yet due if you understand what I'm trying to say. A complete headgasket set and new headbolts are necessary for a good job also in my experience.

On the job itself more often than not it would be necessary to get the head checked for hairline cracks and skimmed which costs around 50 quid in this part of the country. The mechanic would seldom have the facilities to do this job and send it off to an engineering works type place, not many of which there would be around the country. Also if there is oil in the radiator I'd be inclined to insist that the mechanic flush the cooling system and put in new coolant as you could be fairly sure problems would be caused with circulation in time.

Another subscriber suggested you should get the job done for 250 Euro I think. I don't think you would get it done for this imo if you were to get a proper job done. Only if you weren't being charged for labour perhaps but if not I want to be friends with your friends. I would say if you were some way savvy you should get job done for 500 to 600 including all parts and processes I mentioned which probably isin't too bad as a garage could well charge you at least 300 to do a timing belt kit and waterpump.

Edit; Also jm99 if you are completely baffaled as to where you are loosing coolant it is probably being lost out the exhaust when running I think. You may also find the engine running poorly after sitting overnight or for some period of time which may indicate coolant having seeped into a cylinder(s).