MK4 Golf TDI water coolant leak+power loss

[lall90 0]

Hi,

 

I have a MK4 Golf PD 130 86000 miles regular vw parts service and have had the water puump cam belt service carried out summer 2008- service on long life. Now im loosing water from the water coolant tank (where you put antifreeze in) when im driving on the motorway for more than 30mins at a speed of 80-90mph. When accelerating when driving through the town the engine makes a churning noise (like a clicking noise). I've taken the vehicle to a VW/Audi Specialist and the following test have been done along with the results have been found:

 

1)Pressure test to coolant system = slowly loosing pressure.

2)Clamped off heater matrix = which reduced loss of pressure.

3)Carried out cylinder block test=failed - this meant carbon monoxide from the engine is entering the cooling system, possible head gasket, cracked block/cylinder head or oil cooler.

 

Further i have been told after these tests were carried out and the results found that the following needs to be carried out:

 

1) Requires Stripping for investigation

2 Recheck heater matrix once engine passes block test.

 

And also a couple of months ago i put radwell in the coolant tank as i was told it could be a leak in the radiator, but this only messed things up more. Now i have to carry a bottle of water around with me just in case if the car needs a top up of water + antifreeze.

 

ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHAT THE PROBLEM COULD BE, PLEASE HELP.

 

 

THANKS

[VR6 0]

You joined up to ask about a Mk4 Golf .... you do know this is a Corrado forum? :scratch:

 

:shrug:

 

Anyway, we have a ton of people who know their stuff on here so no doubt one of them will be able to help with your query.

 

Welcome to the forum :salute:

[lall90 0]

Hi,

 

I'm aware about this being a corrado forum but someone had highly recommended me to post the car problem on here due to the highly experienced people on this forum along with the vast amount of knowledge they have also have.

 

Kind regards

[davidwort 0]

I think (3) pretty much answers you question, if it's pressurising the coolant system from a headgasket leak/crack in head then you'll lose coolant pretty quick.

Red/purple VW coolant additive (antifreeze) is pretty easy to trace, it gives nice clear coloured crystals where it dries so if you can see where the coolant is coming from, which you say is header tank, and there's nothing wrong with the tank and cap, then I'd say it's doing it's job and acting as a pressure relief to the system.

It's worth checking out the cheaper components before taking the head off though, so having the water pump out might be a good idea, does sound like a head or head gasket problem though :(

[Slimg60 0]

The clicking noise from the engine could be the tappets, it's common on the PD engine.

I have the 150TDi and one of my tappets exploded at about the same mileage. Initially I thought head gasket but the VW place I took mine to has never heard of the gaskets failing on these engines.

Not sure about the coolant loss. Is there any evidence of it in the oil?