More technical anxiety!!

[Jonni]

Sorry, to keep going on everyone. I posted a couple of times in the past week about my distributor and the kangoaroo behaviour of my van.

I noticed there's white smoke coming out of the exhaust. Suspect the head gasket is blown on the right bank, was forewarned by a VW specialist last year about this. Anyway, I was wondering how this might affect performance other than a loss of power.

Finally, is it worth getting the head replaced or should I go for a new engine? Where's the best place to get a new engine from?

[kevtherev]

is it using a lot of coolant or oil?

[Jonni]

No

[kevtherev]

then the head gasket is surely not a suspect then!

the water seal must be OK as must the oil seal as boxers don't have head gaskets in the true sense of the word

has the timing been checked?
has the mixture been checked
has the advance mechanism been checked?
is there water in the fuel?
or diesel?

[Jonni]

Kev,

Thanks for the advice. I got it going and took it to a garage. They've tested it and can't find anything wrong with it. Last time it had a service (July 2006 at a different garage) they said the vacuum unit on the distributor was 'weak'. Could it be this I'm wondering? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to replace it anyway. Btw is the advance mechanism related to the vacuum unit on the distributor?

[T'Onion]

i would say its the oil ring

[kevtherev]

Yes it is... and they are cheap too

check the Brake servo hose for leaks (get it off and fill it with water and blow into it)

Mine leaked like a watering can affecting the left hand side of the engine by weakening the mixture
the vac unit didn't work
and the vac pipes were a joke too

[T'Onion]

whip out the plugs on the bank you think is at fault , if one is a little oily then its more than likely the oil ring

[Jonni]

Thanks very much guys. I'll have a good look at the weekend.

Cheers

Jonni