ross.taylor 0 Posted January 5, 2003 My head gasket has gone, don't know why, but I'm assured by my reliable local VW mech that thats the case. Car has done 127000 miles. Symptom = constant overheat after 20-30 min driving. (Yes I have checked water/oil!) Water level barely drops after an overheat. Have noticed a slight drop in power, esp. at the top end. Apparently my hoses have gone hard and its a nightmare to get water cap off. Also previous owners have run the car on standard unleaded, causing probable (or so I'm told) damage to valve guides and seats etc. I'm wondering whether it's worth me getting the thing ported and skimmed; generally cleaned up at the same time as getting the head gasket done. Local mech says he has a machine shop who can do it. Quoted £200 for basic gasket work and a probable £400 for the whole lot. It's a 1.8 16V, how does this sound. Is there anything specific that I should be asking for to get the most for my money. I've read on some sites that it is possible to get as much as 55bhp increase from head work! If this seemingly amazing increase is possible - how?? Surely work theis extreme would effect fuel ecconemy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe M 0 Posted January 5, 2003 Dont know about that much of an increase but id imagine thats with a different camshaft as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joby 0 Posted January 5, 2003 Hi Ross ive just had a load of trouble with my 1.816v overheating it was a knightmare totaly unreliable the maindealer told me it was the headgasket but i checked all the usual suspects, ie. themostat, blead the system countless times new antifreeze, lots of head scratching i was told the heater valves could cause it to overheat, after 2 weeks i finally tried a expansion cap, and that was it, but the heater still wont work and now the rad has blown ! so get a second oppinion and then another oppinion, because dealers can be wrong, as regards unleaded causing a problem i dont believe that ive been running my 16v on it and ive had no problems, i think £400, sounds. try a specialist there usually cheaper and better Good Luck ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted January 5, 2003 Lemme try clear this up.. what petrol are you sposed to be running the 16v on? I was using optimax for a while but ended up swapping back to regular 95RON unleaded - I have been told that is perfectly acceptable for the 16v. It gets even more confusing because some people I have talked to said they didnt think you could run the 16v engine on Optimax. So what are you supposed to do!! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe M 0 Posted January 5, 2003 With u having a 2.0 16v the same as me then u dont worry about it, use optimax if u want but its not neccessary. I think the only problems were with some 1.8's that can pink on normal unleaded but most are ok. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6storm 0 Posted January 5, 2003 i think all 2.0 16v's are safe enough to use 95-ron u/l its only all the 1.8 16v's that really/ideally need super u/l or optimax....i'm pretty sure thats the main reason why vw dropped the 1.8 16v and replaced it with the cat-equipped eco-friendly 2.0 16v btw some 1.8 16v's actually work alright with 95-ron and others will pink like theres no tomorrow Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveo29 0 Posted January 5, 2003 that bull that the garage said unleaded will cause valve seat probs.....vw's havent needed lead in years...but low octane will cause poor performance/pinking Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted January 5, 2003 I would continually run my car on Optimax, but the only shell garages near to me are at 15 minute drive and Optimax does cost that little bit more.. I use it whenever I am feeling wealthy.. so not too often ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dazzyvr6 0 Posted January 5, 2003 im sure i seen some where that the valves on 16v's have got magnesium seats on them,but im not 100% sure though Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ross.taylor 0 Posted January 5, 2003 OK, OK, we're not convinced about the fuel issue; doesn't really matter, I now only use Optimax or High Octane. Either way the valves are definitly rattly. An oil change a while ago helped this, but it's still definitly not right. What do we think about the porting and skimming?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W3RKD 0 Posted January 5, 2003 we undertake all head work call us for advice on you problem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted January 24, 2003 OK, OK, we're not convinced about the fuel issue; doesn't really matter, I now only use Optimax or High Octane. Either way the valves are definitly rattly. An oil change a while ago helped this, but it's still definitly not right. What do we think about the porting and skimming?? Quality headwork can obtain 15-20 bhp on the 16v, but this will be at the top end and can affect low end torque slightly, it does improve the 1.8 but for improved flexibility a capacity increase is the best option. Skimming is not really possible as the compression is high already (98 RON fuel required) and the head can't really accomodate much metal being removed anyway. In short it's worth it if you need a head re-build anyway, but is costly in terms of bhp/dosh. 16v's are not cheap to improve performance on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robch 0 Posted January 24, 2003 Before you get any work done on your engine, get the water pump checked as this is regularly confused for a blown head gasket by VW maindealers. They did it with a freind of mines mk2 16v and then again to the same bloke on his corrado a year later, but this time he knew! Water pump is a hell of a lot cheaper! HTH Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sefton 0 Posted January 24, 2003 I have a 1.8 16v Corrado I've had tons of problems with water, hose, oil leaks etc I had loads of oily shit in my expansion tank, so we changed the oil cooler and it did'nt get any better so I thought the head had gone! so I took it to a VW specialist and they said it was'nt my head it was just all the shit left stuck in my hose's etc, so he flushed all the shit with a fuel cleaner and that sorted that! but I was losing water so I thought my head must of deffinatly gone but that ended up being my expansion cap it had a fault in it and leaked water! i had two oil leaks my sump gasket and my cylinder head which ment a head gasket! I paid £230 and he said it would cost a extra £130 for a skim etc!! Money Money Money all the time!!!! (Good job I love the car)! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scott 0 Posted January 26, 2003 i think all 2.0 16v's are safe enough to use 95-ron u/l its only all the 1.8 16v's that really/ideally need super u/l or optimax....i'm pretty sure thats the main reason why vw dropped the 1.8 16v and replaced it with the cat-equipped eco-friendly 2.0 16v btw some 1.8 16v's actually work alright with 95-ron and others will pink like theres no tomorrow All Corrados except 1.8 16V's are fine to run on unleaded although I know the VR6's and G60's do prefer super.... The reason 1.8 16v's need decent quality petrol is as stated they 'pink' under load (reducing throttle opening can reduce the pinking) - some 1.8's are seemingly fine to run on unleaded - mine was until it got to circa 80k miles then started to pink so maybe as a result of carbon build up in the cylinder head? If your 1.8 (K JET) does pink then you need to retard the timing with something like SAMS / K-STAR which will set you in £400-500 all in or run it on super or even optimax.... 1.8's have no provision for advancing or retarding the timing unlike VR6's, etc Scott Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck 0 Posted January 26, 2003 Mines an early 16V. When I got it it was pinking badly. A new timing belt/sparks and it was OK. It only pinks when it gets hot now. A lower temp thermoswitch sees that it no longer gets hot - so pinking gone. I run std unleaded (95 RON) btw. These cars are supposed to use 98 RON, but even super is only 97 RON. Might try super with an octane booster sometime to see if it makes a difference - hardly a bank-balance-friendly solution for an everyday car though!! Quote Scott "...mine was until it got to circa 80k miles then started to pink so maybe as a result of carbon build up in the cylinder head? ..." Took a wee trip to Halfords today - there are a lot of products that claim to clean valves and injectors by adding to fuel tank, and some that you spray into air inlets to clean other bits. They all say that their product will make a significant difference to engine response and economy - some even say there will be a power increase! Anybody know if any of these actually work? Would all 100,000++ mile cars benefit from this. Or is it just a load of marketing bull? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dazzyvr6 0 Posted January 26, 2003 10k boost spray seems to have had some good results on other forums,not cheap though at around 20 quid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jims corrado 0 Posted January 26, 2003 just use optimax, i do. this works fine in my 1.8 16v. jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joby 0 Posted January 26, 2003 Ive had 2 16vs 1 with a 120000 and this one with 60000 and both have run fine on unleaded, when i got this one the guy had been using leaded, it ran like shite it took me weeks to get it right ihad to fiddle with the timing to get some power because they had retarded it too much but now it seems to fly if driven right these 1.816vs realy do go well.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
