Polo 1.9 TDI gasket blown?

[INFIN8]

Hi.

I have a Polo 1.9 TDI which has been giving me problems for a while now. The coolant fluid seems to be disappearing without any signs and there is pressure build up in the water pipes. When driving the car slow, the coolant doesn't seem to be disappearing, but when driving at high speeds, it does. There are no other signs of a faulty head gasket (white smoke, milky residue, power issues etc). The pipe from the thermostat is getting hot as well as the pipe from the radiator. The fan doesn't turn on but it does work when you put the AC on.

I took it to a mechanic and they said it could be the head gasket or cracked cylinder head but I want a second opinion before doing this as it's costly.

Any ideas what this could be?

[Greenz]

Do a cylinder leakage test.

[Callum229]

Hi

Had the same symptoms, was a head gasket blown due to wrong coolant, ate away at the aluminum.

Got progressively worse. Can check on one of my posts for the symptoms and the tests I did.

Required a new head, can also weld but was not wanting to take a chance.

Cylinder leakage test and exhaust in coolant checks won't work as mines would only leak during high boost/high workload conditions, so idling it and revving it stationary did not yield any results.

Could also be a cracked cylinder head as that is what I originally suspected.

You won't have any symptoms besides loss of coolant as the exhaust is leaking into the coolant at high boost. When idling, etc, coolant will not go into the combustion chamber, but under high boost, exhaust gases will escape into the coolant, pressurizing it and causing the coolant to leak from the overflow cap.

[Ashveer03]

If the car is making close to 2bar of boost, replace the head gasket and Headbolts, use 12.9 or arp bolts on the head.

End of issue.

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

[INFIN8]

Apologies for taking so long to reply.

I got a mechanic to take the head off to check if it was the gasket. The gasket and head doesn't seem to have any issues. I took the head to engineers and they also said there's no issues with the head and no warping so there's no need to skim.

I'm replacing the water pump, thermostat, timing belt and fan belt but I can't find the same gasket anywhere.
The gasket looks like this:
mecatechnic.com/en-GB/cylinder-head-gas ... D82706.htm

Anyone know where I can get a gasket like that? (P.S it needs to have the exact same holes)

Can I put on a gasket that doesn't have the same holes like mine does?

[Ashveer03]

Seems like neither u nor the mechanic has any idea what url are doing. Recipe of disaster.

If u answered the questions asked, u would have saved all the engineering costs and downtime. And possibly prevent the same issue in future.

All pd 1.9tdi has the same holes with regards to head to block sealing and bolt holes.

The holes that u need to pay attention to determines the thickness of the head gasket. These are the small holes on the front of the gasket.

1 hole - stage 1
2 hole - stage 2
3 hole - stage 3

Again, if ur mechanic knew what hes doing, he would measure the piston protrusion and choose a gasket accordingly, not rely on what was previously fitted.

These gaskets can be bought from most parts stores if u tell them exactly what u looking for. All goldwagen stores will be able to supply any of these 3 gaskets.

Goodluck.

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

[INFIN8]

Isn't the point of these forums to get help because you don't know what's happening? Relax brother.

With regards to my question, I realised it's a stupid question because if the hole is not there you blocking off coolant.
It has 2 hole's on the front of the gasket. I went to Goldwagen, Masterparts, Alert and VW and non of them have the exact gasket. All of them are missing one hole hence my question.

[INFIN8]

Also, I went to multiple mechanics and read multiple forums and all came to the same conclusion, blown head gasket.
So there was no other way of finding the issue without taking the head off. The thermostat and water pump were both working.

[missioner]

Hi.

I have a Polo 1.9 TDI which has been giving me problems for a while now. The coolant fluid seems to be disappearing without any signs and there is pressure build up in the water pipes. When driving the car slow, the coolant doesn't seem to be disappearing, but when driving at high speeds, it does. There are no other signs of a faulty head gasket (white smoke, milky residue, power issues etc). The pipe from the thermostat is getting hot as well as the pipe from the radiator. The fan doesn't turn on but it does work when you put the AC on.

I took it to a mechanic and they said it could be the head gasket or cracked cylinder head but I want a second opinion before doing this as it's costly.

Any ideas what this could be?

You are very right to be cautious.

Turbo diesel cars are not for the feint of heart or penny pinchers. Expect to spend R35000 to R45000 once the head comes off. There is always unforseen damage and hidden costs.

Case in point, I had a Touran come in to the shop a few years back, it had broken the cambelt. No problem, whip off the head, replace the valves and guides, slap it back with a new gasket and all good, right?

Not an effing chance. Ended up doing a full engine rebuild with a new turbo and injector service, turned out that if the cambelt hadn't broke, the engine was on its way to fully self-destruct. Bores were scored, pistons were worn, turbo drank oil and smoked 2 packs a day. Basically once I got to see inside, it was a wreck.

TL;DR hope for the best, but expect the worst.

[INFIN8]

UPDATE:
So the issue was the head gasket. When removing the head and looking at the old gasket, it wasn't noticeable at first that the gasket was blown, however after looking closely, there were signs of the hasket being blow.
Replaced the head gasket (took forever to find the right gasket), waterpump, thermostat, head bolts, timing belt and fan belt. I struggled a bit with the timing but now everything is sorted and car is driving well. No more pressure in pipes and coolants stays where it should be.

However, I noticed that the temperature gauge goes up to 90 really quick, no overheating though and car drives fine. I drove the car hard and a bit long, and when i got home, I check the radiator hoses, and the top hose was hot and the bottom hose was cold. Is this normal?

[missioner]

UPDATE:
So the issue was the head gasket. When removing the head and looking at the old gasket, it wasn't noticeable at first that the gasket was blown, however after looking closely, there were signs of the hasket being blow.
Replaced the head gasket (took forever to find the right gasket), waterpump, thermostat, head bolts, timing belt and fan belt. I struggled a bit with the timing but now everything is sorted and car is driving well. No more pressure in pipes and coolants stays where it should be.

However, I noticed that the temperature gauge goes up to 90 really quick, no overheating though and car drives fine. I drove the car hard and a bit long, and when i got home, I check the radiator hoses, and the top hose was hot and the bottom hose was cold. Is this normal?

No the thermostat is not opening.

If one pipe is cold there is no circulation through the radiator. Not normal operation.

[INFIN8]

The bottom hose gets hot after idling for a few minutes, and then gets cold when you drive it.

[VAG Fan]

The fact that your temperature goes up to 90 quickly, is probably related to the new thermostat, and nothing to worry about. I've often noticed this after fitting a new thermostat. That's actually how a thermostat is supposed to operate. But old thermostats often tend not to close the radiator circuit completely, or to open a bit prematurely, so the engine takes longer to reach operating temperature. In some cases, they don't reach 90 at all, especially at cruising speeds.

If the bottom radiator hose gets hot after a couple of minutes of idling, then the thermostat is opening. So, as long as there are no indications of overheating, and if the radiator fan kicks in after some extra idling time, I wouldn't worry.