06 1.2 Cordoba - Diagnosis: Cracked cylinder ?

dodzy

Hi folks, a colleague brought his car to dealer of sale for scheduled service only to be told that it has a "cracked cylinder". €500 to repair, plus service costs. 2nd opinions recommended ?

toyotaavensis

Cracked clutch master cylinder, clutch slave cylinder, brake master cylinder, brake slave cylinder ....

Any idea which one. There are a lot of cylinders in most cars.

Renegade Mechanic

TA is right, well need more to go on:o. Hardly an engine cylinder!?

dodzy

toyotaavensis wrote: »

Cracked clutch master cylinder, clutch slave cylinder, brake master cylinder, brake slave cylinder ....

Any idea which one. There are a lot of cylinders in most cars.

Apparently none of the above.

@renegade, yep, he was told an engine cylinder. Sounds very odd. Only symptom of any issue is a periodic miss/ uneven idle. Car driving fine. Not losing any fluids. Dealer might be bending him over

toyotaavensis

If a cylinder is cracked then it is a lot more than 500 to repair it. You would be in new engine territory.

I would look for a second opinion before doing anything.

Toyotafanboi

you'd swear you weren't in motors sometimes.

given the car and price range i'm going to put my money on a cylinder head.

Renegade Mechanic

I'm putting mine on an exhaust valve:D. Seriously, those little 3cyl VW enginrs are notorious for burning away the exhaust valve on the 3rd cylinder causing low compression. Ive done a few now and theyre grand to work on. Burnt valve is entirely repairable but still a right bargain given the work involved. Cracked cylinder would absolutely be a new engine but for 500? Im not so sure...

EDIT: Now... he did check the ignition coils to make sure they were ok, yes? They do go but its when they are fine that the more serious causes are the case..

dodzy

Thanks guys, going to urge hi to get a 2nd opinion.

dodzy

Right, update. Had a look at this car today. The 3 cylinder 1.2 jobby. Whipped off engine cover. You can see the engine rocking while its running. Suspected a faulty coil pack. Got a code reader. Sure enough, Cylinder 3 coil pack fault. Happy days we though. 36 quid for a replacement and popped it in. Threw a CEL after a few mins. Got a friend to do a compression test. Well down on the 3rd cylinder. Burnt valve perhaps ?

Car drives fine, just at idle, it "chugs" as if its missing. Any potential for further damage by continuing to drive it. As Ive said, no issues once she's rolling ! Looking at a €500 bill.

@Renegade. Looks like your diag was spot on;)

Renegade Mechanic

dodzy wrote: »

Right, update. Had a look at this car today. The 3 cylinder 1.2 jobby. Whipped off engine cover. You can see the engine rocking while its running. Suspected a faulty coil pack. Got a code reader. Sure enough, Cylinder 3 coil pack fault. Happy days we though. 36 quid for a replacement and popped it in. Threw a CEL after a few mins. Got a friend to do a compression test. Well down on the 3rd cylinder. Burnt valve perhaps ?

Car drives fine, just at idle, it "chugs" as if its missing. Any potential for further damage by continuing to drive it. As Ive said, no issues once she's rolling ! Looking at a €500 bill.

@Renegade. Looks like your diag was spot on;)

Im actually sorry to hear that mate.. They are known for it unfortunately. And coils go on them often enough so both, may well have been at fault. The engine itself is ok to work on, the only fiddly bit being the timing chain. I wouldn't drive it too long as they have a habit of ruining their rather soft catalytic converters aswell:( I actually have a valve somewhere in the shed, Ill get a pic soon.

jca

dodzy wrote: »

Right, update. Had a look at this car today. The 3 cylinder 1.2 jobby. Whipped off engine cover. You can see the engine rocking while its running. Suspected a faulty coil pack. Got a code reader. Sure enough, Cylinder 3 coil pack fault. Happy days we though. 36 quid for a replacement and popped it in. Threw a CEL after a few mins. Got a friend to do a compression test. Well down on the 3rd cylinder. Burnt valve perhaps ?

Car drives fine, just at idle, it "chugs" as if its missing. Any potential for further damage by continuing to drive it. As Ive said, no issues once she's rolling ! Looking at a €500 bill.

@Renegade. Looks like your diag was spot on;)

Workmate has only just recovered from this problem in a 05 polo. By the time he got the head rebuilt by engine specialist, replaced the catalytic converter, new coolant, oil change and filter, new stretch head bolts etc etc it all came to just short of €1000.... Feckin nightmare. :mad::mad:

Renegade Mechanic

jca wrote: »

Workmate has only just recovered from this problem in a 05 polo. By the time he got the head rebuilt by engine specialist, replaced the catalytic converter, new coolant, oil change and filter, new stretch head bolts etc etc it all came to just short of €1000.... Feckin nightmare. :mad::mad:

Aye, thats how they can get indeed. To be honest, op, Id advise your friend to put more than 500 aside, just incase.
Also, didnt find that valve.. Mabye tomorrow.

dodzy

No worries RM, thanks for the solid information. I've learned another bit today