engine

[trevor mc daid 0]

I have q 1990 16v which is using coolant at an alarming rate. Doesn't appear to be leaking. It is pressurising the hoses and when I unscrew the the header bottle when cold, it depressurises and forces more coolant out. The temp hand is not rising above cold(although the heater is reasonably warm, not the usual vw roasting). Do these symtoms suggest head gasket or might there be a simpler solution before I pull the cylinder head off. :?: :(

[roo 0]

My 1990 16V with 140,000 miles had the same symptoms as what you've described i.e losing loads of coolant, system pressurises normally and no apparent source of leaks.

In my case it was the head gasket that was leaking between the blocks water jacket and outside. Unfortunately though it was never obvious until the head gasket gave up and I could actually see a stream of water jetting out from the back of the block. It could be that your head gasket is leaking in a similar way. :(

[trevor mc daid 0]

thanks for that. Sounds like its the head gasket alright. Did you have to get the cylinder head skimmed.

[roo 0]

No. I was really lucky as I was only about 2 minutes from home when the head gasket finally went, consequently the engine never got sufficient time to really overheat and do any damage to the head. How many miles does yours have on the clock?

[RS VR6 0]

Sign of a blown headgasket is oil in the coolant.

[roo 0]

Thats true, but it really depends where the gasket has failed. Certainly in my case and possibly also in the case of Trevor here, there may not be any oil in the coolant system, due to the fact the gasket has only failed from the water jacket passages to the outside of the block.

[trevor mc daid 0]

Theres 120k miles on the clock but I couldn't verify it. No signs of oil in the water and no mayo on dipstick or filler cap. I had a corsa that gave similar symtoms with no oil mixing or water leaks and it was the gasket but apparently it very common for the opels/vauxhalls. Its the fact that the temp hand rises very little thats puzzling me, but then I have never checked whether there is actually a thermastat in the car. I have only been using the car a very short while and the temp hand never read normal (always cold) and the car always used coolant.

[RS VR6 0]

Haha...I've been having the same deal with the coolant loss for the past few days now. I switched over to the pink G12 coolant on friday, and I've been filling the coolant bottle every day.

[dr_mat 0]

I'm guessing you mean "G12+", since G12 is no longer available, and is not suitable for the VR engine either.. ;)

[RS VR6 0]

I'm guessing you mean "G12+", since G12 is no longer available, and is not suitable for the VR engine either.. ;)

 

From what I know...we are still using G12...since I picked it up from the dealer 4 days ago.

 

Why would G12 be not suitable for the VR engine? VW has been using it since 96/97 on all the engines here.

[roo 0]

Trevor, in my case the temperature gauge worked as normal and the readings made perfect sense in terms of relating to the loss of coolant, i.e. when i'd filled up the header tank and driven for a few miles the gauge read normally, but as you'd expect, as the coolant gradually leaked away the readings on the temperature gauge also increased.

 

I'd suggest that based on the fact you're losing coolant and the temperature gauge is not moving normally, that you also have a thermostat/temp sender/wiring related problem as well. :(

 

Either way, my head gasket finally gave up all of a sudden and my temp gauge was the only thing that was telling me something was seriously wrong, luckily though I was very close to home and managed to get back before any damage was done to the engine. At the very least, I wouldn't recommend driving anywhere in your C until the temp gauge was working properly.