vanishing water and white smoke

[damongrounsell]

I lost about 1 litre of coolent in 70 miles today and I noticed a brief and slight sight of white smoke, maybe steam from the exhaust. I am guessing the head gasket is letting coolent into the engine. Is there anything else it could be, I've pressure tested the coolent system and it seems to be all fine.
1.6jtd jx

how much will a new head gasket cost to get done (approx) . This is so I can ease he bad news to the wife and console her that the moose is not ready for the scrap heap yet and just a hopefully small investment will have her reving for christmas. There is no chance I could do the job, is I might have the inclination but certainly not the time or means.
thanks damon

[..lee..]

is the water system pressurising as well. if it is then more than likley head issue, gasket / crack ?

if its not over pressurising check the water aint getting inducted through inlet system.

[damongrounsell]

How can water get inducted through inlet system?
it doesn't seem to be over pressurising
I think this since when you take the darlek cap off after driving there doesn't seem to be excess pressure, just a short hiss and no quick pressure gain.

[..lee..]

depends if the inlet manifold has water heating or not. i`ve seen manifolds fail in the past to give a very similar effect to head gasket failure. i`ve also seen the inlet port on a head go porus once. that was a "bar-steward" to find. just dont want you to jump in and pull the head off with out thinking. i`d agree gasket failure is the most common cause of this symptom but it always shocks me when experianced mechanics see water being burnt and tell the customer that the gasket has gone with out actually examining the gasket.in these cases untill the head is off you cant be sure it is gasket failure.

hope you get it sorted. lee.

[72BUG]

Check your oil. If it's milky then there's water in it and it looks like it's a new head gasket job.

[toomanytoys]

Simply changing the head gasket may well not cure it as its could be a cracked head, which is common.. investigate the items as suggested..

[damongrounsell]

well no water in the oil and no oil in the water. I would have thought if it was the cyclinder head gasket that one or both of these should be true. Does this suggest it is one of the other reasons is the cause. Can water leak into the turbo ? etc....
Also there doesn't seem to be much steam coming out of the exhaust I can only see a whiff now and then. I really can't work this out as yet.
My mate says K seal will sort it out but I've have concerns about this, could it be a knight in shining armour?

[camper]

Its a long shot but could it be the oil cooler ?

[ttcharlie]

Your engine is showing exactly the same symptoms as mine was.

I didn't have oil and water mixing, passed pressure test etc etc

It turned out to be a completely knackered head that had 9 cracks that leaked water into the cylinders. It was all bit of a nightmare to be honest....

You will be lucky to just get away with just a gaskett.

Wishing you luck though.

Cheers

ttcharlie

[damongrounsell]

Can you still get new cyclinder heads or are they a scrap heap find task, looks like I'll try the k seal, hope it lasts a few months to allow me to save up for a new head, save first fix later
thanks but I fear the worst

[..lee..]

if the turbo is water cooled it could be that. it`s pretty easy to disconnect the water to it and with it disconnected you should notice a big differance with the smoke / steam produced.

[damongrounsell]

Well prophets of doom were correct on the cylinder head, the local VW specialist garage, (bloke in a brick shed with a sign outside that mentions VW) took of the cylinder head and it is covered in cracks aound the injection area and between the valves. This seems a likely source of the mystery of a the vanishing coolent that has plagued us the half year or so we've owned the moose.
On the down side the mechanic is a real prophet of gloom himself warning us that placing a new head can lead to additional stress on the block causing oil burning etc.....as oil is forced around the seals with the extra compression. This sounds sence but I trust the collective hive mind of the club more than than any mechanic.

More importantly replacment heads, I would rather go with a recondidtioned head (rather than one pulled from someones old nackered engine). where can you get one from? what are peoples experience of VEGE cyclinder heads the bloke there said a replacement reconditioned head would cost me 420 including VAT.
I have to order tommorow so any advice recommndations would be great.

Thanks all in advance

[CovKid]

I think, given the same scenario, a reasonable S/H engine might be easier although I've said for a long while that if my engine does go, I'll be changing engine types for something more readily available and possibly cheaper to run. I've ruled out a scooby for various reasons.