Is my car dead? :(

[shaunyb23]

Hello,
I own a 99 a3 (8L) 1.6 sport with 90k
Car drive spot on apart from slight misfire (But lets say thats spark plugs,because i dont think they ever been changed)
Anyway....

Was driving around normaly today as i usaly do,and then the red coolant warning came up on the dash.Luckly was by a petrol station so pulled up and went to get water until i could go get coolant...
However the tank as filled upto normal markings? But i did noticed i tiny bit of crap on the cap,so got some tissue and wiped it and drive home.
All the way home (Car temp going from about 80 to 90 max) drove fine,just had the red warning coming on then going then coming on.

Pulled up at home,took cap off when it cooled down a little,and nothing on the cap just little water droplets.So looked in the tank to see if any water had gone,but it was still the same but looked abit glossy looking,so got some tissue an dipped it in the water and it came out looking like baby do-dos - Am i right (hopefuly not) by saying this is the head gasket?

I have owned the car about 3 weeks,and done about 1200 miles in it.
I do alot of cold driving,but when i drive it for a while or in traffic the car has never gone over 90 even in this wonderful british sun shine with the air on cold.Also there is no `mayo on dip stick or engine cap`

P.S - Heaters blow hot on hot and cold on cold.


Please make me happy *fingers crossed*

 

[Paradox1]

Could be head gasket.

Im guess you have no idea when the coolant was last changed??

 

[JudderMan]

Duff connections in the expansion tank making it think the level is low? Is it definitely the coolant warning and not oil/something else?

Get a sniff test on the coolant in case it is HG as he says above. (a garage did this for free as it takes 1 minute to do)

 

[shaunyb23]

No but to be honest i doubt he would of put collant in it,proberly used tap water lol. When i changed the air filter,there was no filter in there and the pollon filter fell apart in my hand near enough. Is the head gasket repair worth more than the car? lol


And its deff the coolant light as its the same pic as the temp gauge (the F like thing with waves )

 

[Paradox1]

Doesnt sound like its been looked after well. first thing to do is get a garage to test the coolant. Head gasket is expensive if you take it to a garage as its a lot of hours.
1 step at a time though.

 

[shaunyb23]

Ok ill get the garage do have alook tomorrow,do i just ask them todo a sniff test? OR a compression test (I know my mates got a compersion tool thing lol)

 

[Essflee]

This is usually a common fault when the car is started on cold mornings, it's the metal prong that sits in the coolant, take the cap off and give the prong a clean with some fine wet and dry, might solve your issue, though this was like I said usually a cold morning fix.

 

[vfr800]

Ditto to checking the level sensor prongs. Open the coolant cap and look in. Can you see two metal prongs? They should be shiny.

try scraping them with something sharp to remove the lime scale and crud.

a new coolant expansion tank is only £15 so you could always just change it.

Liam

 

[Danno57]

I bought a head gasket leak detection kit to check if mine had gone once, it wasn't the problem in the end though. The kit consists of a test tube which you place on top of the expansion tank and some blue chemical reactive liquid, if the liquid turns yellow after sucking up air into the tube you've got a leak and there's combustion gases in the system. Just search for 'block leak tester'.

 

[shaunyb23]

I took the car to a garage to get a `sniff test` done for £10.But they said it wernt the head gasket but have no clue what it could be?
(Pretty good for a garage uh)
I was just thinking of using that `steel seal ` stuff you buy for £30, Do you think that would solve my problem? As the car has never over heated and no smoke etc.. i only noticed the water was poo like colour becuase the dash light came up

 

[Paradox1]

now might be a good time to change your coolant and either expansion tank....

easy job

 

[hades-]

also could be the cts for temp up an down

 

[Paradox1]

That usually brings up a engine light

 

[hades-]

the CTS very raley puts the EML on
usaly noticed by the temp gauge acting strange
iv never in my time of audis had the light on for a CTS

 

[Paradox1]

the CTS very raley puts the EML on
usaly noticed by the temp gauge acting strange
iv never in my time of audis had the light on for a CTS

wana fight about that

Joking lol

I had this when I first got my golf. maybe not a common thing though