Cam Shaft and Head Gasket on VW Golf.

helpmepleas

Hi,
Can some one give me some advise please. My VW Golf GTTDI took sick so i sent it to the garage for a new cam shaft. That was ok. I took the car out and it was finding it hard to start and the mechanic said that the valves would have to bed in and after 1,000 miles it would be ok. So i took his word for it. (Car was running well)

Two days later the coolant light came on so i topped it up and the light turned off. This happened on Saturday On Monday evening the Light came on again and i pulled in and put my finger in the coolant and the water was mixed with oil. I then took the oil cap off and there was like a white scumm around the oil cap and i knew straight away that the Head Gasket was gone. :eek: With working on the cam shaft would this cause the head gasket to go. The mechanic is saying no but i have my doubts. The car was running well and never heated up and i had only done 300 miles since the cam shaft was done. He mentioned that he would charge me €400.00 to do a head gasket and this would include skimming the head. He normally charge's €600.00 (I am wondering if he feals guilty) :mad:


Cheers

Spear

Moved from N&F.

Plug

New camshaft you say, what happened there? Also he says the valves have to bed in. Suspicious:p Are you sure the head wasn't off before?
By the way your smiley should be replaced by a smiley.

Nissan doctor

The valves don't need to be touched to change the camshaft on an ohc engine so if the cam shaft was changed there would be no reason for valves to need bedding it.

What happened to the car initially? Camshafts don't really break or fail.

voxpop

There is a camshaft wear issue ( or can be ) on some tdi's - mostly the 150s - lobes wear down and damage the tappets. Causes misfires,smokeyness and general bad running. Shouldnt need to remove the head to repair - just valvecover and timing belt

crosshair1

Very common on the 150 engines, but can happen to any 1.9 or 2.5 pd with poor oil/ service intervals

helpmepleas

@ Plug, I dont think the head was off before. Also the smiley is a sign of maddness when you fork out money to get the cam shaft done and then the Head Gasket goes. Annoying the fact of the current climate we are in.

@ Nissan Doctor, The Cam shaft did go and this i do belive. It was the tappets that had to be replaced as one of them was worn and the mechanic said you would be better to replace all tappets. He showed me the worn tappets. All i need to know is the fact that the Cam shaft was done wrong that the Head Gasket blew. :mad:

@ Voxpop, You have hit the nail on the head . But i cant understand why the Head Gasket went Three days after the cam was done. (Maybe it was a coincidence) He is a good mechanic and i never had any issues in the last Six years going to him. The Mechanic reassured me that he did not go near the head and there was no need to :rolleyes:.


@ Crosshair, Thats what the mechaic said when i brought the car to him. He mentioned by the sound of it that it could be an injector or Cam shaft. He mentioned that the Cma shaft do give problems.

Thanks for al the responses. All i need to know is if he was working on the Cam shaft would he have done something wrong in order for the Head Gasket to go. Maybe i am being too paranoid. Forking out for the Cam shaft was enough without doing the same for the Head Gasket :mad::(

crosshair1

Is the oil in the coolant resevoir black or milkyish?

Plug

voxpop wrote: »

There is a camshaft wear issue ( or can be ) on some tdi's - mostly the 150s - lobes wear down and damage the tappets. Causes misfires,smokeyness and general bad running. Shouldnt need to remove the head to repair - just valvecover and timing belt

Ah yeah came across that before. Its the valve that busts out of the tappet and then starts wearing the cam. The tappets are now modified.

@helpmepleas
Just a coincidence, stuff like that happens the whole time in the world of mechanics:(

helpmepleas

Thanks Spear. Only new at this !!!

helpmepleas

Plug wrote: »

Ah yeah came across that before. Its the valve that busts out of the tappet and then starts wearing the cam. The tappets are now modified.

@helpmepleas
Just a coincidence, stuff like that happens the whole time in the world of mechanics:(

Thanks plug. The mechanic i have is good. I couldn't understand why something would happen like this as soon as i got the car out. Just one of those things. As people say the joy of motoring but theres no joy when you have to hand out €1,000.00 between cam shafts and Head gaskets.


Thanks again for your help.

helpmepleas

crosshair1 wrote: »

Is the oil in the coolant resevoir black or milkyish?

Hi Crosshair,
In the resevoir is a black oily water. Under the oil cap is like a thick cream scum.

crosshair1

With black oil in the expansion tank i'd be putting my money on oil cooler leaking (common) , tbh I have not seen one where the water enters the engine also but its quite possible when you shut off the car hot and the cooling system is pressurised.

I have yet to see mixed oil/water on a pd with head gasket trouble.

helpmepleas

crosshair1 wrote: »

With black oil in the expansion tank i'd be putting my money on oil cooler leaking (common) , tbh I have not seen one where the water enters the engine also but its quite possible when you shut off the car hot and the cooling system is pressurised.

I have yet to see mixed oil/water on a pd with head gasket trouble.

Thanks Crosshair,
I will keep you posted. The only thing is it the scum under the oil cap so it sounds possible that that the oil cooler caused the head gasket to go. Only time will tell.

crosshair1

Not sure your getting my point,
The oil and water are possibly mixing in the oil cooler (leaking internally) and its not a head gasket fault

helpmepleas

crosshair1 wrote: »

Not sure your getting my point,
The oil and water are possibly mixing in the oil cooler (leaking internally) and its not a head gasket fault

Thanks Crosshair, I get you now. I wouldn't be that mechanically minded. I hope your prognoses is correct.:)

Will let you know the outcome.