Possible Head Gasket Failure!

[AxlFoley 5]

Hello

 

My VR has been running poorly for the past few weeks, mainly missing and cutt ing out, but only when its raining, i was on a long drive the other night and it was really running rough, cutting out regurlaly, I pulled over to check what may have been causing the problem, i couldent see anything obvius, but when I checked the oil, ther was a lot of mayo on the cap, he car has been using a lot of water over the past few months, but the mayo on the cap is new, I was putting the water usage down to a water leak somwhere.

 

I am going to do a compression test today, but I was wondering if there could be any other causes of mayo on the cap? can water get into the oil from any other places other than the head gasket ?

 

Thanks

 

in advance

 

Mark

 

p.s. these are the codes VAG COM has trown up

 

Address 01     -------------------------------------------------------

   Controller: 021 906 256    

   Component: MOTRONIC M3.8.1  HS V04

   Coding: 00000

   Shop #: WSC 01317

4 Faults Found:

00668 - Supply Voltage Terminal 30

            07-10 - Signal to Low - Intermittent

00522 - Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (G62)

            27-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

00553 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70)

            28-10 - Short to B+ - Intermittent

00561 - Mixture Adaptation

            12-10 - Adaptation Limit (Mul) Exceeded - Intermittent

Readiness: N/A

[Lukey. 381]

first off spray your coilpack with a fine mist of water in the dark and look for arcing, it sounds like this could be your missing and cutting, also check the leads and plugs, arcing out anywhere from coilpack to plugs is fairly common.

 

As for water leaking have you stuck a clean piece of card under your car when its left and seen if there's any witness marks on it? This would pinpoint where you need to look if there's a leak. Also check every hose and join and clip for pink powder, the coolant does this to indicate there is a leak and also to try and seal it up if its only small, if you find any at a clip and they're still the spring clips, replace with a proper jubilee clip.

 

The weakest part of the gasket where the water goes is the channel on the left side of the block towards the back, check here for weeping too.

 

Do you only do short journeys? If so the mayo on the cap could just be condensation and a good long drive to get it really hot and all the condensation boiled off, then have a look and monitor it every day after to see if it comes back.

 

As for the codes, first you need to check the wiring and connections on the maf and blue temp sensor, if they are all ok and no breaks etc you could do with a new maf and blue temp sensor, unplugging the maf and see if it runs worse is also a good test for the maf, if it runs the same the maf is gone, the first one usually pops up if you have disconnected the battery.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Lukey.

[AxlFoley 5]

Awesome thanks, I hve changed the maf and blue temp sensor i had with spares, cleared the codes and they came back, I also changed the coil with a spare, but they could be just as bad as the originls, I have had a look for arcking from the leeds in the dark and havent seen anything, the fine mist on the coil pack sounds like a good idea, the leads were ebay specials, that are about a year old, so i dont have much faith in them.

 

can leads be ckecked with a continuity test?

 

Just off to the garage, i'll be back with updates later.

 

Thanks Mark

[Surreyvr6 199]

I had problem with my old bora and mayo on the cap during the colder months and doing shorter journeys. Is your motor over heating at all?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AxlFoley 5]

OK, I checked the compression, I had results ranging from 10 to 11 bar, on all six cylinders, which I believe is fine, so where is the water getting in? unless its not gone between the cylinders, I haven't checked the rear left of the engine yet, I'll do that later.

 

Also i check the leads and they are arking like mad! so I'll get a new set from TPS tomorrow. fingers crossed that will solve the poor running.

[AxlFoley 5]

not overheating at all, there is quite a bit of mayo.

 

its worth mentioning that the car has an LPG conversion, im not sure if that would cause the mayo, but it may contribute to the water loss.

[craggsy 91]

It'll be as lukey says. Short journeys and cold damp days/nights

[AxlFoley 5]

Ok, well it's due an oil change so I'll do that and see how it goes.

Thanks

[UnitedMotorsport 55]

Oil cooler failure causing the water in the oil.

 

Temp sensor and MAF causing the lambda/running fault.

[AxlFoley 5]

Ok, that's worth a look. Is there water in the oil cooler?

[VR6Pete 1,455]

I was going to suggest the oil cooler but united motorsport has already suggested it.

it's not uncommon for it to go, it has coolant running through a chamber to cool the oil.

the oil cooler is reasonably cheap to replace, also get the 2 seals also as they go hard after a while, but be careful replacing as the "crack" pipe is easily damaged that the hose from the oil cooler connect too.....

so yes worth replacing and see how you get on, naturally you will need to flush fluids etc...

[Lukey. 381]

I thought oil cooler but condensation is the first most likely thing

[AxlFoley 5]

Looks like trip to TPS tomorrow then, new leads, hopefully that will get it running a bit better, oil, oil filter and an oil cooler.

Can an oil cooler be tested? I have a spare somewhere from an old vr I stripped.

Thanks

Mark

[Lukey. 381]

when mine went i put it in a bucket of water and blew in one tube while plugging the other, bubbles ensued.

[AxlFoley 5]

Lol that sounds like a good way to test one. Thanks

[AxlFoley 5]

Small update, I changed the ignition leads, that cleared all the error codes on vag com, I also found that the clip holding the air box closed was broken, this couples with a missing arch liner was allowing spray from the tyre to enter the air box above the air filter! The air box was soaking. This has now been fixed, I'm not sure if this would allow water into the oil, so I'll be changing the oil cooler when I change the oil.

It's running a lot better, but not 100% So still got things to sort out, but I'm getting there.