Vw polo Head gasket gone?

robclay26

Looking for a bit of advice,

Car is using coolant, was with my mechanic and he found a leak and repaired it, car is using coolant again.
It is using a bit of oil too, I keep an eye on the dipstick and top it up of needed,
Engineer running well.
This morning checked the expansion bottle and it was foamy and a brown scum in it, the oil on the stick is not contaminated and the filler cap is the same, no contamination.
My mechanic put an additive into the coolant a few weeks ago when repairing the coolant leak.

Any ideas? Would the cylinder head gasket be gone? I'm in work and won't get it up to him until tomorrow. It's a 1.4 tdi polo 2002

Thanks

arthur daly

Yup sure sounds like the head is gone

arthur daly

Yup sure sounds like the head is gone

robclay26

arthur daly wrote: »

Yup sure sounds like the head is gone

Thanks Arthur for your help.
That's going to cost a lot!

robclay26

Got a pressure test done on the coolant system, no cylinder head gasket leak, system had 2 o rings perished and have been replaced and an additive put into the system, seemed to hold up fir a while but noticed today 2 weeks later, coolant level going down in the expansion tank.

Any ideas?
Car is 2002 polo 1.4tdi 110,000 miles

spiggotpaddy

Check the oil cooler. And the heater matrix.

robclay26

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

Check the oil cooler. And the heater matrix.

Hi paddy,

Check them for leaking pipes, connection etc or physical damage? What's heater matrix?

power pants

heater matrix would be expensive unfortunately

jca

robclay26 wrote: »

Hi paddy,

Check them for leaking pipes, connection etc or physical damage? What's heater matrix?

The heater matrix is a small radiator in the heater that provides the heat for the heating system. If the matrix is leaking you normally get a smell of coolant when using the heater, it's a horrible stink. Are any of the carpets damp/smelly?

robclay26

jca wrote: »

The heater matrix is a small radiator in the heater that provides the heat for the heating system. If the matrix is leaking you normally get a smell of coolant when using the heater, it's a horrible stink. Are any of the carpets damp/smelly?

Aha, I know it now, but there is no coolant smell in the car nor is there and wet/damp spots on the carpets

robclay26

robclay26 wrote: »

Aha, I know it now, but there is no coolant smell in the car nor is there and wet/damp spots on the carpets

Found the leek with the coolant, are these the pipes into heater matrix

jca

robclay26 wrote: »

Found the leek with the coolant, are these the pipes into heater matrix

Yep that looks like the heater pipes.. Well done tracking the leak down.

robclay26

jca wrote: »

Yep that looks like the heater pipes.. Well done tracking the leak down.

Happy it's not the engine, but Jeysus, this looks hard to fix!

George Dalton

That is a common issue on those Polos. It is not much fun to fix to put it mildly. I did one late last year and it nearly cost me my sanity.

greasepalm

better way of checking head gasket is by the sniffer test

spiggotpaddy

greasepalm wrote: »

better way of checking head gasket is by the sniffer test

Facepalm more like.

greasepalm

no use this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHp5E7XnbXo