Help! Head Gasket?

[yanto 0]

Hi all just got back in a 205 gti 1.9 after 9yrs apart-worse thing i done was to sell it!

 

Anyway i've bought a 1992 1.9 gti which need a little work but im not sure if the head gasket is gone or not, the collant light on the dash comes on now and again only when the revs are between 3-4K. it did go for a few days but it come back on tonight!

I dont think im losing any coolant and theres no cream in the dipstick-oil filler cap is a bit cream but thats normal isn't it? Whats the tell tale signs of head gasket and are they hard to do?

 

Cheers in advance J

[Arahan 4]

Its a 1992 as you say so im guessing the expansion tank will be of the black variety? Very common for interference from your leads to make the light come on on the dash. Have a search its pretty common!

[yanto 0]

Its a 1992 as you say so im guessing the expansion tank will be of the black variety? Very common for interference from your leads to make the light come on on the dash. Have a search its pretty common!

 

Thanks for reply but its not a black coolant bottle. What did you mean-(interference from your leads) wires from the bottle or the leads from the dash?

 

Dont know how to do a search this is my first post!

[Arahan 4]

i meant your ignition leads causing interference with the bottle and its sensor, but i thought you'd have a black coolant bottle being a late car?

 

search is on the top right of the page, if you click on it in the xu maintenance section you can choose to just search that section, then just try afew different words and see what you can find! like "coolant light" or something!

[large 33]

look atthe top right of your screen and you will see the word "search" then type in what you want.

Ignition leads on the later cars (ph2) can cause interference and bring the coolent light on.

 

What colour is your dash?

 

Black= ph2

Grey=ph1+1.5

Your car should be a ph2 and should have a black coolent tank

 

and welcome to the fourm

[yanto 0]

look atthe top right of your screen and you will see the word "search" then type in what you want.

Ignition leads on the later cars (ph2) can cause interference and bring the coolent light on.

 

What colour is your dash?

 

Black= ph2

Grey=ph1+1.5

Your car should be a ph2 and should have a black coolent tank

 

and welcome to the fourm

 

The dash is black. The guy before me has changed the coolant cap so perhaps he thought he had a problem.But i think you guys are right,gonna give the sensor a clean and put some insulation tape round it to stop it happening?

Cheers boys and thanks for the welcome!Proving to be a great site with helpful ppl!

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

The actual sensor inside the tank does get well covered in limescale, worth while cleaning it up, gets rid of the flikering light in my experience. It just unscrews from the bottom if its a phase2.

[Alfie 6]

The dash is black. The guy before me has changed the coolant cap so perhaps he thought he had a problem.But i think you guys are right,gonna give the sensor a clean and put some insulation tape round it to stop it happening?

Cheers boys and thanks for the welcome!Proving to be a great site with helpful ppl!

Hi all, I got a problem too with my motor Not sure whats up tho! Short trip in the week an'the old girl got her steam up? After letting it all cool down, right down, I topped up the coolant. Since then ,I've put in a flushing agent. drained down, and refilled with Anti freeze and not had the bo--icks to recheck yet? but I have done a search, so in the morning, I'll get a sniffer test if i can, and replace the Expansion tank cap. I really can't be doing a "head-off" job at the moment so here goes, wih me luck!

[yanto 0]

Hi all, I got a problem too with my motor Not sure whats up tho! Short trip in the week an'the old girl got her steam up? After letting it all cool down, right down, I topped up the coolant. Since then ,I've put in a flushing agent. drained down, and refilled with Anti freeze and not had the bo--icks to recheck yet? but I have done a search, so in the morning, I'll get a sniffer test if i can, and replace the Expansion tank cap. I really can't be doing a "head-off" job at the moment so here goes, wih me luck!

 

Where did you get one of them sniffer test from alfie? They would handy to get!

[dcc 855]

just go to a local garage and ask them to check the water for signs of oil, as you suspect it might be a blowing headgasket. they will use a mixture of chemicals to check.

[Alfie 6]

just go to a local garage and ask them to check the water for signs of oil, as you suspect it might be a blowing headgasket. they will use a mixture of chemicals to check.

Ok,so off i go to my local garage ,nice chap, known him for years now. He doesn't use his kit anymore,no chemicals. but he did say he found them unreliable?. Undeterred, I bought a new rad'cap. Bled it all again but I wanted to know how much coolant I would loose so I fixed up a plastic can by the bulkhead and ran a tube from the expansion tank. I then drove the car, gently at first for a mile or so, checked the can and no coolant overflow, now give it some welly and it came up to working temperature as one would expect. Did about 10-12 miles and back home, checked the can again, a few cc's of coolant! . Needless to say I'm elated! I'm obviously going to watch things closely for a while, but, all the worry ,and a rad'cap fixed it so it seems. hope my findings will be of use to you guys.