Head gasket, head or block?

[bigbroony 0]

This is a problem with my wife's Golf ( mk 2 GTi ) but hey they're all part of the same family.Late this afternoon, after she'd gone shopping my son noticed a wet patch on the drive. As I 've recently changed the oil this had to be the primary suspect.

 

When she returned I had a look with a torch and discovered it was a coffee coloured liquid oozing out of the header tank; out of a small square hole in the wing-side of it to be precise.This suggests to me oil in the water brought about by excess pressure due to ( if I'm lucky ) a split head gasket.

 

The oil's gone from max to min on the dipstick, though I'd better check that when the engine's cooled down to be sure. There's no water in the oil and the car's never overheated and runs perfectly normally.

 

What's the opinion of you knowledgeable gents. Is it going to be a head off job to find out and what sort of time would you think it would take a professional to do the job.

 

Why do these things always happen on a Saturday night?

 

 

 

Alan.

[Supercharged 2]

2 places oil and water can meet - headgasket and heat exchanger...

 

Check the heatexchanger first!

 

Was the coolant clean before?? - could also be just thermostat stuck closed...

[bigbroony 0]

God I hope it's one of those two. The coolant was discoulered a couple of months ago, but without the leaking problem.It became cleaner with the addition of fresh coolant but today was back to a coffee coloured gloop.

Where is the heat exchanger , what does it do, and most importantly can I get one from ECP .Also, how do I check it? Will it be obvious if it's U/S.

Was I correct in thinking that the hole the coolant's leaking from is some sort of pressure release valve?

 

 

Oh and of course thanks for the speedy reply.

 

Alan.

[Supercharged 2]

Ok, AFAIK the heat exchanger will be between the oil filter and the block, I think all mk2's had them but you may not if it's a very early one...

 

I think they are about £30 new from GSF so ECP should do them, I think you can take them apart and even change the gasket so you should be able so tell is it's knack'd...

 

It's function is to pre-heat the cooling system I think but they're not regarded as being very efficient, The other option is to buy the 2 water hoses from a mk1 to bypass this (what most G60 owners end up doing to make oil changes easier)

[VEEDUBBED 0]

First thing is to iliminate that useless oil warmer and fit a normal oil cooler,the O/E cooler is prone to letting the oil and coolant mix when it gets corroded inside,have you checked your car's expansion bottle's return pipe?,remove the return pipe that's connected to the plastic pipe near the bottle's filler cap and check if it's blocked with silt/muck,quite common and will give those symtoms of over pressurising and water loss,also make sure that the expansion bottle cap's o-ring is not damaged or kinked.

[Supercharged 2]

Oh and the tank - the later round ones and a pressure release valve in the cap ( can also cause problems and new ones a less than a fiver from VW)

 

I assume you have an early one and they must have the valve in the tank and the caps are just small screw on jobbys?

[bigbroony 0]

Wow, so many places to look and so little time.The car is actually a late model(1990 big bumper ) so it has a plaintwist off cap and what seems to be two square holes on the side nearest the wing, normally covered by a black push on cover.

Do I understand correctly that it may be the exchanger gasket and not the actual device. I've had a look in Haynes and it involves much interior plastic removal. It's got my arms aching just reading it.

I also gather from the other replies that the exchanger is a more likely culprit than the head or gasket.Would that be right?

Thanks once more lads.

Alan.

 

PS I've just been out and checked and I've definately lost oil.

[Supercharged 2]

Ah - the haynes manual is refering to the Heater Matrix (the interior radiator)

 

Me and VEEDUBBED are talking about the OE heat exchanger, small box shaped object that the oil filter goes onto...

[bigbroony 0]

Ah indeed, at least I can actually visualise the bit you're on about.Is it easy to remove?Do I have to get the filter off first? If so...........bu@@er; its only been on about 6 weeks. Still if thats the fault I suppose I shouldn't complain.

Thanks very much for your help. I'll have a look in the cold( and I mean cold ) light of day. That's enough about German cars I' m off to have some more German beer ( Lowenbrau ).

Alan.

[bigbroony 0]

I'm just going out to look at removing the oil cooler jobby. If this is U/S will it give me the symptoms I described; oil in the water but not the other way round,and what seems to be a higher pressure in the cooling system.

I can't understand how there's oil in the water but not water in the oil.

Cheers Alan

[bigbroony 0]

I've had a look at the cooler and can't see any retaining nut.Is it only obvious when the oil filter is removed?

VEEDUBBED; the return pipe looks ok and so does the cap.

[Supercharged 2]

Yep, it's a big un... hold on a min and i'll post a pic...

[Supercharged 2]

Here you go... also note that if you do away with the H/E you'll also need the part i've highlighted along with the 2 mk1 water hoses...