Head gasket, Whirring, etc etc HELP!! Please

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Hi All

 

Not really posted that much before but I would really appreciate your help as my car seems to be suffering at the moment. I think I'm getting there, and I don't mind spending the money to get it sorted by someone decent but would appreciate your thoughts on what's related and what's not and anything I haven't considered in the list of problems below.....here goes...:

 

- Drinking about a litre of coolant a day (in a total of around 45 mins driving).

- Has been pressure tested but no leaks

(though this was a while ago when the car was getting through coolant at 1.5L's per 2 weeks)

- Expansion tank checked for exhaust fumes at the same juncture - was normal

- There are still no obvious external leaks now.

- Expansion tank and cap changed but no improvement

- Once running there is a bubbling sound emminating from behind the centre of the dash

- When I leave the car after a run it steams up from back window forwards

- There is a whirring sound accompanying the engine note - this really started with the damp / cold towards the end of last year

- Also (related to above point I think) when it's very cold there is an extra loud whirring accompanying the engine note as I drive off for the first minute.

- Starting to misfire from cold (has only been doing this in the past week)

- Still pulls superbly even with the leak (although haven't tried since the misfire)

- No 'mayo' under oil cap

- Some steam / white smoke from exhaust

- Water temp

- Also, I noticed yesterday that if the key is turned to the first postion in the ignition (not really warmed up though) I can hear a bubbling coming from the engine bay behind the dash (and if I hold the pipe marked A, I can feel it too). At the same time I can also hear a buzzing emminanting from the area marked B and if I hold another pipe around here again I can feel a 'bubbling'.

- New Symptom this morning - some steam coming from radiator region (well, under front lip in engine bay)

- Fuel consumption seems to have taken a dive - 18-19 MPG? Then again this could just be a red herring and be a result of never getting above 40.

 

From the advice I've sought and from what I've seen on here it sounds like Headgasket (coolant use, misfire, exhaust steam), possibly heater matrix (steamy windows), maybe water pump (whirring).

There are lots of symptoms which probably need seperating here but they all seem to have happened at the same time and there could possibly be a relationship from my basic understanding so I thought I would list them all in case it helps.

 

The next thing I am planning (tomorrow) is to have the coolant system flushed and then the use of a K gel type liquid (it's called Car go Liquid metal or something like that) overnight then flushing and refilling with regular coolant.

 

It has come recommended by one of the garages I have been using and at £10 I thought it was worth a shot - promises to seal cracks / head gaskets permanently).

 

Also, am I doing the car any harm by using it for my 8 mile commute each day while I get to the route of this?? I always keep the coolant level up with the correct mix (I am getting through G12plus at a bottle a week).

 

Apologies for any dumbness in any of the above...

 

Thanks in advance for any useful thoughts you might have......

 

 

:?: :?: :?:

[vr6storm 0]

aux water pump is making the noise............its possibly leaking,tho i'd imagine it would have shown up during a pressure test,other places to look for leaks are the thermostat housing(on the front of the engine roughly down from the C in DOHC),the missfire could be the coilpack getting wet from a pin-prick leak spraying on to it

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Thanks for the quick response vr6storm.

 

What sort of price to sort a replacement aux water pump do you think (fitted)? Sounds like it must be quite a common thing with you making such a positive ID from my description - I worry slightly that the VW "specialist" I am taking it to currently didn't diagnose that!

 

FYI I'm on a distributor BTW.

 

I'll look for a leak arounf the thermo housing.

[ben16v 0]

heater matrix gone at some point and leaking?? are your carpets dry

[coolrado 0]

pull the black plastic cover off that sits over the expansion tank reservoir mounting bolts and have a look for obvious signs of coolant being blown out of the pressure relief hole.

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Hi

 

I haven't noticed wet carpets - I will check though.

 

The reason I changed the expansion tank was that there was always a bit of liquid resting on the ledge half way down the outside of the tank - thought it might be leaking. The garage who changed it showed me the old one and there was a trail from the hole in the side (presumably the pressure relief?) so it was clearly some coming from here. The new tank is always dry on the outside :) but the car is still supping coolant at the same rate :(

 

Cheers

[craigowl 0]

Car windows steaming up excessively is always due to water/coolant getting into the car in my experience.

 

Noise when ignition is turned on to position one when engine is warm is aux coolant pump. - as vr6storm says.

 

Replacement on my 1995 VR6 in August 2006 cost about £70 from ECP - good make - Bosch.

I was able to fit it myself but am retired with plenty of time - should not cost more than a couple of hours labour to change, but you will have to pay for more G12+ to refill.

 

Cant be sure that will be all car needs as coolant is possibly getting into car if rainwater is not the culprit for the steaming up.

 

You must have wet carpets to get copious condensation inside car. Sometimes you cannot identify wetness in carpets with only a quick feel :lol: . I found that four rubber mats in place in the car can show which bit of the floor is wet - condensation is trapped under the rubber mat after a few hours at the wet bit and is easily spotted.

 

Good luck with your investigation.

Iain

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Thanks Iain - I'll try leaving something on the floor which is more likely to show up any damp.

 

I don't think it's rainwater as the seals all seem pretty good and it happens in the cold / dry.

 

Sounds like definitely need a new Aux coolant pump then...I'll get onto it.

 

Cheers

[vr6storm 0]

Thanks for the quick response vr6storm.

 

What sort of price to sort a replacement aux water pump do you think (fitted)? Sounds like it must be quite a common thing with you making such a positive ID from my description - I worry slightly that the VW "specialist" I am taking it to currently didn't diagnose that!

 

FYI I'm on a distributor BTW.

 

.

 

 

when mine went,it was leaking on to the top of the g/box as opposed to being too noisy............it was approx £140 for the part,luckily I still had the used-car warranty in effect when I noticed it,anyway the aux water pumps have come down in price as craigowl sourced one cheaper as he's mentioned above.

 

d'oh should have noticed the dizzy :oops: ...............anyway have you replaced the plug leads recently?,if no,its possibly just co-incidence that they have ended their life just as you are having these coolant problems

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

I was assuming a plug was getting doused with coolant but will keep in mind about the leads - is this a common thing on earlier models?

 

Cheers

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

FYI New secdondary water pump from VW (no discount) is £92 inc.

 

Paul

[craigowl 0]

Buying from ECP should save you some significant money, but if you cant collect yourself and have to pay postage, IMO it is probably worth just getting one from VAG.

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Ok...not good news.

 

Just spoke to the garage and the gunk didn't work. They pulled out the plug from cylinder #1 and said it looks like it's starting to be steam cleaned which indicates coolant going into the cylinder, so it looks like the head definitely needs looking at. All according to the garage.

 

I asked if I should driving and they said not as I could cause significant further damage (not over heating currently I don't believe).

 

The garage is happy for me to leave it with them, but to be honest with this type of work I would really like to get the car to Stealth (who see a lot more VR6 Corrado's than your average VW specialist I suspect). But I am in South Manchester - sounds like it wouldn't be wise to drive 100 miles?

 

Any thoughts? Low loader to Stealth £?

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[MoonlightBlueVR6 0]

Ok. I spoke to Vince at Stealth and he reckons it should be ok to drive down as long as the temperature stays reasonable.

 

Booked in for a week of TLC down there in 10 days time.

 

Headgasket etc.

 

Paul

[swindon-corrado 0]

Moonlight. This is a very simple job to do? Just out of curiousity what have you been quoted ?