Head gasket has gone:(

Sandip

Sandip

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Got my car checked today and unfortunatly my head gasket or head has gone, expansion tank is being pressurised by exhaust gases causing foaming and i'm losing coolant through my exhaust. The first start in the morning is always a struggle but the general running of the car is still ok and boosts well.

Now i have some options before i decide on my final decision.

I'm thinking of getting the HG done along with a turbo rebuild (similar to DJTroopa) as it would make sense to do the turbo whilst the head is off, new oil feed pipe to the turbo and the sump removed and cleaned. The rods won't be being touched.

The other idea i had was an R32 engine, has anyone looked into the cost of putting this engine into the S3 (Jase), i know that it isn't as tuneable as the 1.8t, 240bhp is more than enough for me lol

What should i do? By the way i haven't got a endless pot of cash:)

Thanks
 
Bad news mate. To be honest apart from the sound I don't know what more you would be getting from the r32 lump. I don't know how the extra weight might then affect handling etc. Hope you get it sorted though bud.
 
I looked at it as a mate was going to fit and supply,but the weight on an already heavy car and the money it would cost to get good power out of it seemed non productive with whats in their now,ideally I would of rotrexed it to get big power gains.
http://www.stormdevelopments.co.uk/mk4-golf-r32-2004.html
Good Luck:icon_thumright:
 
nice bit of head tweaking and a hybrid, some new oil lines, oil pump and TBH for the extra time it would take i would also change the rods. A decent map( Bill) and 300 BHP daily drivable car is yours
 
Thanks for all the suggestions people, the only reason why i don't want to do the rods is the price, the last thing i want is to buy the rods then when the job is being done find out the head is cracked. I just took the car out for a drive and noticed the flywheel is a little noisier than usual too.

I think the R32 engine is out of the window though lol

I think i may just have to get the HG sorted and get the turbo done as and when i decides to pop, especially now that my clutch is making funny sounds :(
 
Bad luck mate.... R32 engine is going to be a bit of a pig tbh... a 3.2 TT would be a better doner maybe (although most of the parts are the same)..

I did consider this type of transplant as you can get over 500bhp with not much effort (by all accounts) but its not going to be an easy or potentially reliable upgrade and you would be better off doing what Speedy Steve did tbh...

When the heads off I would advise getting the exhaust valve guides replaced (not the inlets unless they turn out to be shot too)... you may have warped the head too and so you will need a skim but have as light a skim as you can get away with as the 20v turbo engines are already higher compression than most turbo cars...

With all the bits you have I reckon a hybrid K04 and rods will see you right mate... less hassle, more saleable

<tuffty/>
 
i agree matey... personally if it had happened to me id be going hybrid route to save the hassle of the next step..... custom everything :)

and i would defo be changing the rods as a minimum whilst its in bits.... they arent that expensive are they? £300 IIRC, although my memories shot :)
 
Thanks for helping people, greatly appreciated!

Paul/Tim > I think rods are quite expensive aren't they?

Dave > Yeah i could well have been the smoke, i'm losing coolant at an alarming rate so i won't be driving it for a while now:(

Really wasn't ready for this decision lol
 
Rods are 'around' £350 (or less) depending on exchange rate... pm Bill for some prices as I think he has some in...

Piece of mind regardless as high milers are throwing rods now it would appear

<tuffty/>
 
rods are around £300 iirc, but the labour is huge normally, but as you will have the head and sump off anyway its only a little bit of extra work.

Then if you plan on stuffing a hybrid on at some point the engine will be able to take it
 
Byzan A4 said:
rods are around £300 iirc, but the labour is huge normally, but as you will have the head and sump off anyway its only a little bit of extra work.

Then if you plan on stuffing a hybrid on at some point the engine will be able to take it
Click to expand...

Fair point Mark, i'll keep that in mind, can the turbo be done without the head being taken off?

Paul > I'll PM Bill for some prices, cheers

Jo > Yeah i suppose i could get a B5 S4 ENGINE;) lol
 
Gutted for you Sandip, nice looking car too !!

Is it a high miler, I thought the 20vt lump was pretty much bullet proof, you on a standard map to aren't ya ??

Hope yo get it sorted and it's not to hard on the pocket !
 
Thanks leggy, i think the gasket has been dodgy for a while, been losing coolant on and off over the last few years. Might take a while but it will be back much stronger and quicker:sly:
 
I'll tell you what, out of the goodness of my heart I'll buy your wheels and brakes off you to help fund the repair :)
 
Ha ha! Selling the wheels did cross my mind lol Not sure yet though, it all depends how far i want to go on power :)
 
I'm in the same boat here. Head gasket is going...I'm losing about 1L of oil per 1000miles (it's leaking out the back of the engine), and exhaust fumes are getting into the coolant, strangely enough though I've never lost any coolant...but I do get a good bit of smoke out the exhaust on start-up the odd time.

I recently replaced my turbo and I'm on stage one CustomCode. I've no plans for adding anymore power, so would my current rods be OK to stick with when getting the head done...or should I look at replacing the rods?

I suppose while getting the head done it makes sense to replace the timing belt, v-ribbed, tensioner, waterpump, thermostat?
 
Andrew@A.L.D said:
Less than £80 a rod, Bargin

There are other rods out there and there £180+ a rod
Click to expand...

I agree, rip Bill's arms off :)

metricspaces said:
I'm in the same boat here. Head gasket is going...I'm losing about 1L of oil per 1000miles (it's leaking out the back of the engine), and exhaust fumes are getting into the coolant, strangely enough though I've never lost any coolant...but I do get a good bit of smoke out the exhaust on start-up the odd time.

I recently replaced my turbo and I'm on stage one CustomCode. I've no plans for adding anymore power, so would my current rods be OK to stick with when getting the head done...or should I look at replacing the rods?

I suppose while getting the head done it makes sense to replace the timing belt, v-ribbed, tensioner, waterpump, thermostat?
Click to expand...

yes replace all of those items whilst its stripped...... and you only need to change the rods ideally if your going further than stage 1 - generally everyone says that if your going over 300bhp then change the rods and you aint gonna break 300 with a standard KO4 by all accounts ;)

although id have it checked, thats quite high oil consumption - the smoke on start up is pretty normal for the S3
 
sorry to hear bout the car mate.after all the problem you've had with map on your car.
 
Thanks Ash, i'm pricing up the hybrid along with rods and also the R32 engine conversion, i want to do something different
 
cant wait to see what your going to do.at least if you go hybrid you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone and sort your map out.which ever way you look at it, its going cost alot.y not spend that little bit more now and it will save labour costs in the long run.it would be rude not to lol
 
Hi Sandip sorry to hear about your head gasket if I were you I wouldn't bother with an engine out of an R32 Just get your turbo and engine fixed it could work out better by having better performance with the turbo being rebuilt.
 
Thanks Scott, i'll make the final decision soon lol

Beginning to wonder now, all these S3's with dodgy starting issues could possibly be the HG :faint:
 
your car is so lovely looking it would be nice to see something special in it.....bills rods are a steal, just gone through my paperwork and mine cost £450 from america.......
 
Unlucky sandip. I had similar symptoms about six months ago. Turned out to be a cracked head got, an off the shelf replacement. Pistons needed cleaning up aswell. The bill came to £1200 in the end! I enquired about rods, but as iv not got much planned past stage 1 it would have been a waste of money for me. Hope you get it sorted without to much bother.
 
Thanks barters3, Andrew if the head is cracked i'll definitely be letting you know, the had will get checked, the last thing i want is the gasket done and it starts drinking coolant lol

Just hope it ain't cracked so i can spend more on other bits
 
I did quite a bit of work on my S3 last months, cambelt snapped. I was talking to a guy who had a low miler R32 engine for sale for £1k and £1.5 with a Rotex supercharger and everything to fit it. I had all intentions of getting the R32 + supercharger but after looking at it realistically, it was going to cost alot of money. When you think of all the other things needed it will take alot of time and money if your going to do it yours, if not then labour will be nuts.

My advice would be to take the head off, send it away to a professional to inspect it and repair what ever needs doing then put it back in, changed all the components on the cambelt side and leave it at that, see how it runs for a few thousand miles then go for a hybrid if you really want to. The turbo is alot easier to change when the heads off but you will end up changing things for the sake of it because everything is easy to do, then all off a sudden you have spent loads of money on your car on stuff which you just changed for the sake of it.

Nathan
 
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