mannik 0 Posted November 30, 2004 Have had big problems with a Vr6 I bought recently. To cut a very long story short, after skimming the head and replacing the head gasket as well as the heat exchanger, the car is back on the road. But it uses loads of oil around a liter every 2-300miles!! There are no obvious leaks so it must be used up within the engine. Any ideas?? Many thanks for all constructive suggestions Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted November 30, 2004 Did you get the valve guides/stem seals done while the head was off? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted November 30, 2004 Why did it need the head skimming? Any puffs of blue smoke out the back? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted November 30, 2004 Why did it need the head skimming? Probabl becuase the HG was changed... Should also ask what sort of oil you are using and what temps are you seeing on the MFA? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mannik 0 Posted November 30, 2004 Maybe I should take the long version... Coolant lamp showed one day and there was no coolant in the car. Drove to Vw (in another car) and bought more coolant, filled up and drove home (3miles). Just before I got home the coolant lamp flashed again and the car overheated. Had about 100m left so drove home and stopped the car. Looked under the bonnet and found a hose with a small split and also what appeared to be a leak at the base of the circulation pump. Removed the pump and (tried) to apply pressure - no leak. OK must be the hose I thought. Put the car back together and drove for a test run. Overheated again and so parked and rang for a tow truck. Car went to VW and they told me the engine needed replacing!! One spark plug was completely clogged. They looked for leaks (apaprently under pressure) and found none. 2 days later I Ddrove the car 150km and came back and parked at work. In the evening coolant all over the parking house floor running from around the area of the cat. Towed the car to VW and they said the heat exchanger was broken. Bypassed the exchanger and drove with the car without a problem until the circulation pump starting leaking again. Suspected that there must be high pressure in the system and drove immediately to another garage (Porsche, BMW, Audi specialist). Here I was told that the head gasket had gone, that one should always skim the head on a Vr6 if the gasket was gone and that the heat exchanger/circulation pump needed replacing. Car is now back on the road but still with original problem I had in June of using lots of oil. There is smoke in the mornings, but no more than condensation in the cat(?). Compression test shows cylinders functioning OK. Valves/Stem seals not done. That's the long version..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted November 30, 2004 I bet it was plug number 6 that was clogged - and clogged with oil? A bit of smoke in the mornings is normally indicative of guide wear but try and differeniate from steam and smoke though as all cars give off steam during the winter as the condensation in the exhaust heats up. I'm surprised they didn't do the guides when the head was off. Start with a decent head rebuild and see if that cures it. If not, suspect bore wear on number 6 as that's usually the first to let go after prolonged bouts of overheating. VR6s *hate* overheating.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted November 30, 2004 Usually the first coolant failure on VR6s is the hose that connects to the heater matrix, just by the kink where it leaves the cylinder head. And it's usually caused by a weak gearbox engine mount. This would quite possibly have resulted in water running down the exhaust manifolds, and also looking like it had made a mess near the heater matrix. It wouldn't explain the fouling on the plug though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rpmayne 0 Posted November 30, 2004 You could get a compression test done to indicate whether its the guides (which wouldn't affect the compression would it?) or the bottom end. 1 and 6 on mine were fecked, spark plugs came out soaked in oil. Rebore was required. The machine shop which did the head work on mine didn't skim it, said it was flat so there was no need, although there was alot of corrosion around the coolant channels. Would have required about 1mm skim to get rid of that though. 10'000ish later and things appear to be ok. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mannik 0 Posted November 30, 2004 Yeah the hose that went was the hose that came out of the cylinder head and to the heater matrix... Not sure which plug it was since VW never told me but will contact them tomorrow. Any experience with AMD Tecknik in Bicester? Are they any good? (Thanks again) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted November 30, 2004 They're ok, but pricey. (Though pleasantly cheap compared to VW!) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
