S3 head gasket - raging!

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ian52

2000 a4 1.8tqs-yellow
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Went out in the s3 today and got the 3 beeps and the syimbol for low coolant. There is a slight leak from a joint so thought ill just top it up later. About a min later i noticed the temp getting high so slowed down and it dropped back down again but then started to climb again. I realised then that water was leaking from the bottom corner of the radiator so i got water from somebodys house and carefully made it home. I jacked the car up and the bottom hose had popped off the radiator,the clip wasnt on right! Only thing is that my temp may have been reading normal ish because there was no water in the system pretty much!!! I filled up with water at home and its running on 3,steam out the exhaust and the oil cap is going milky. Fantastic! Not sure if the gasket had gone making the hose pop or if it went getting the car home. Anyway i now have to get the head off so i can set about getting it fixed.
 
wouldn't surprise me if your head is warped......

when stuff like that happens you are best off not driving the car, you had a warning yet chose to ignore it lol, having no fluid in the system while driving the car would also have put a lot of pressure of the turbo

a blown gasket would not have mad the rad hose go loose, it's more like the other way around
 
As above really..

Ive had coolant issues before where ive removed the header tank cap so pressure couldnt build up. With careful slow driving this can get you home pretty well. However overheating with no cooling will certainly warp or crack the cylinder head. It may just need skimmed, but if bad then itll need replaced. And to second above there is obviously other issues like your turbo may be goosed, or oil pump strainer may clog up. Oil doesnt like to be ******, and if it does it sludges up and doesnt work.
 
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I wasnt ignoring the warning,i have also managed to get home carefully leaving the header tank cap loose like this before. I didnt know at the time that the hose has hanging off and dumping all the water,thought maybe a split hose or the radiator had cracked or something.I have half the hoses and crap out the way now ready for the head to get pulled. I took the plugs out and one of the cylinders has water sitting in it.
 
Sorry to hear about the bad news, hopefully the head is ok. Is there a valve on the header tank cap that stops pressure building up ?
 
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I drove about 4 miles on back roads keeping the rpm as low as possible so hopefully its not cracked. I also had a wattering can full of water to top it us as i went. The turbo feels good by hand so fingers crossed its ok too. The oil in it is less than 1000 miles old so hopefully that would help too but when i get it up and running ill give it a good flush and do the oil again. I get the feeling the turbo to manifold bolts are going to be a pain. At least i can just do the timing belt etc while im at it.
 
So you were topping the coolant up with cold water? Isnt that a bad idea? Kid i bought my collies off did that and ended up blowing the head gasket and cracking his head.
 
audi upgrades
Could be what i have done now too. Just need to get the head off and get it checked.
 
Hopefully I'll have the head off it after work tonight. I can see the turbo to manifold bolts being a pain. Going to do the timing belt,water pump,thermostat and all the gaskets etc while the head is off.
 
audi upgrades
Turbo bolts came out no prob with an impact gun. I for a poly drive bit for the head bolts but it's quite a tight fit so you have to tap it fully in with a hammer. That's just the head bolts to do tonight and remove the cams then I'll take the head to get checked on Friday.
 
Your right. Not sure what the differance is but it can't be much. It's m10 as well.
 
They seem to be the same thing. It just didn't seem to fit in as good as I think it should. Had to tap it in with a hammer. Not taken the bolts out yet. Are they tight to undo? Just don't want to risk rounding one off.
 
Never had to use a hammer to get a head bolt tool on... you sure you are using the right one?

I assume you will be replacing the bolts...

<tuffty/>
 
VAG tool number is T10070

Looks like this...
mn18t160.jpg


<tuffty/>
 
Dani_B19 said:
So you were topping the coolant up with cold water? Isnt that a bad idea? Kid i bought my collies off did that and ended up blowing the head gasket and cracking his head.
Click to expand...
.

This statement seems odd.. is the coolant not cold before the engine warms up to operating temperaure in everyday trips...?, So youd make sure your coolants warm before you run your engine ?.

- Sorry to hear about your troubles with your headgasket dude, i thought i was in a similar boat not long ago and i was gutted. If your doing it yourself Good LUCK - fingers crossed ! :)
 
Well the head is off and its not looking too good. Cracks from where the spark plugs come through and between a couple of valves. Im pretty sure that means its in the bin. Also the bore that the water was in has some scoring. Thinking i might be better cutting my losses and just getting a complete engine to swap in.
 
They normally crack between the two exhaust valves... if thats happened its pretty much toast...

<tuffty/>
 
Its toast then. With the scoring on one bore too it would at least need that piston pulled and the bore honed and new rings fitted but then might as well do all 4. With that and the cost of getting a decent head for it and the time involved with getting it all done i would prob be as well getting a complete working engine to swap in.
 
JonBoi21 said:
.

This statement seems odd.. is the coolant not cold before the engine warms up to operating temperaure in everyday trips...?, So youd make sure your coolants warm before you run your engine ?.

- Sorry to hear about your troubles with your headgasket dude, i thought i was in a similar boat not long ago and i was gutted. If your doing it yourself Good LUCK - fingers crossed ! :)
Click to expand...

Your not following the whole thing, he was topping up a boiling hot coolant system with cold water out of a water can, not a good idea. Yes when you first start a car up the coolant is cold but then it gradually builds up temperature, it isnt 10degrees one second then bang upto 90 degress next is it! Adding cold water to boiling water is going to cause it to cool far faster than if left over a period of time.
 
Unlcuky mate.

On the bright side though, it is the perfect oppurtunity to go large port and uprate the internals :).
 
There is a APY head for sale just now but then is it going to be ok? Who knows. Then how much is it going to cost once the block is looked at and fixed if need be? who knows. Or do i just bite the bullet and pay £900 for one from a breakers coplete. Proper pain in the tits this. If only i had realised at the time it wasnt just needing topped up due to the small leak and had actualy dumped all the water.
 
ian52 said:
There is a APY head for sale just now but then is it going to be ok? Who knows. Then how much is it going to cost once the block is looked at and fixed if need be? who knows. Or do i just bite the bullet and pay £900 for one from a breakers coplete. Proper pain in the tits this. If only i had realised at the time it wasnt just needing topped up due to the small leak and had actualy dumped all the water.
Click to expand...

TBH there is the possibility that the damage was done a while back... its not unknown for these heads to crack and there are a few other cases on here

<tuffty/>
 
I'm just wondering if the water I had been losing before was this way and what I thought was the leak was just some coolant that had dried ages ago. Now I know it's cracked not much point bothering with it. Just not sure about this bore. I'm no engine builder so not sure what you can get away with. I mean it ran fine before and for all I know that mark might have been there a while. It's not like a dep sharp score.
 
Hi mate,

Are you on ScottishVAG?, engines or at least cars breaking seem to pop up reasonably regular.

I bet if you stick up a wanted thread somebody will help out.

Chris
 
Yeah im on there. Might put something on later and see what comes up. What engine codes will do bearing in mind its an APY at the moment.
 
I was looking at the bore there and after a little scotch brite you can hardly feel anything. It may have been that way for a while. Its on this bore that when i changed the plugs this one was tight as **** to the point i thought it might snap. On the head this is the one that has the most cracks and it doesnt look pretty when you look up the thread. A bit of metle might have gon into the cylinder and down the side of the piston and been rubbing the bore? Seem resonable to me. I might just get a AMK head and put my cams etc in and see how it goes.
 
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