Blown head gasket? VW Jetta

Rank Amateur · 02-14-2006, 10:21 AM

Come home from work to find my stepdaughters car in the driveway. Had it towed home to the "mechanic". Said it was over heating. I start it up and it idles and reaches 190 degrees and stays there. Took it for a drive and the gauge burys right away. Let it cool off, start it up and idles at 190, drive 200 feet and it heats up. Top radiator hose very hot, bottom one cold.

No water in the oil. I took the surge tank cap off and added more antifreeze and then started it up, while leaving the cap off. The coolant surges in the tank and spewes out, lots of big bubbles coming out. I mean a lot! My guess is a head gasket. Any other ideas?????

Stepdaughter has said she has added water on several occasions, but I have never seen a leak, while changing her oil, on the shop floor. The exhaust seems to have excess moisture, I think this is where it is going.

Anybody done a head job on gas, 2000 VW Jetta coupe? What kind of costs. Will either do it myself or a relative that is a mechanic.

EULACHON · 02-14-2006, 10:31 AM

sounds like a plugged radiator to me

YaHoeeFishOn · 02-14-2006, 10:37 AM

I'd do a thermastat. Sound like waters not circulating.

Rank Amateur · 02-14-2006, 10:47 AM

I think with the thermostat the top hose would not heat up. Yes, I think no circulation, I was thinking water pump at first, but the large amount of bubbles coming out of the system, makes me think the head water is getting displaced and that will cause the water not to circulate.

I just can not think why I would be seeing such violent bubbling coming out of the surge tank, other than a head gasket.

This is happening at 190 degrees, so it is not a boiling off type of situation.

1pump · 02-14-2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

I think with the thermostat the top hose would not heat up.

Not always true. If it were me, I'd pull the thermostat out and trying running it without one and see what happens. Cheap test.
If you get the same result, a combustion gas tester that checks for combustion in the coolant is pretty cheap and easy to use.
It's pretty common for aluminum heads to blow gaskets, but it's unusual not see to see water in the oil or a lot of steam out the exhaust. Plugged radiator wouldn't be too surprising, either.
As far as the water pump, usually they just leak or eat a shaft bearing. They don't just stop working, but I have seen a few where corrosion has eaten the impeller blades down to nubs.

broncos0707 · 02-14-2006, 01:00 PM

bad news

vw have a horiable head problem. You probley have a bad head. the worst thing you can do is overehat a alum. engine.

Goodnews

If the bottom hose is cold and the top is hot that is a t-stat. On that same not if a huge amount of bubbles are coming out the radiator it most lickly is exhaust. smell the tail pipe and see if it smells sweat. I have seen vws go a very long time with a blown head gasket. 4 cyl. heads are not bad to do at all but I wont touch a v6. and I am not afraid of much. You usaly dont get waterin the oil on these because it goes into the cylinder and burns it.

Rank Amateur · 02-14-2006, 08:20 PM

Thanks guys, just doing a little self confirmation. Yeah, might be worth the trouble to pull the thermostat, but I really think with all the air (exhaust) coming out of the surge tank, we have a gasket/head problem.

I will start it up from cold and see if I get all the air, that would rule out any type of boil over symptoms.

I did a taste of the exhaust, not sweet, but seemed abnormal too me and like I say, she has been adding some water without an apparent leak, so it is going somewhere.

fish_on · 02-15-2006, 07:43 PM

Go get a gas test kit. You can check the coolant for combustion gasses, no use tearing anything apart when a simple test will let you know if it's a head or not.

SuperPanga · 02-15-2006, 09:29 PM

You probably have a blown head gasket. On VW 4cyl you will usually not find any coolant in the oil. They seem to leak into the combustion chambers. Hope you did not warp the head. My daughters VW diesel once blew a head gasket. It did not warp the head. I just replaced the gasket, at that time about $45. I am not a mechanic but it only took me about 4hrs total time. Was an easy job, gasoline motor may take longer because of all the hoses in the way.

Rank Amateur · 02-17-2006, 09:24 PM

Well, put in a new thermostat, after I found out they put it in the block instead of the head (cuss, cuss)and it made no difference. Warms up to 190 and stops, drive it one city block and it buries the gauge! So it's head gasket time. I have talked to several people who have said that VW has a bad problem, castiron block and aluminum heads.

baltz526 · 02-18-2006, 06:48 AM

some manufacturers require a particular type of antifreeze, in a correct mix. just adding water, may have killed the head.a simple failure of a radiator cap, will vent all the water steam, cause a spike in head temp, blow the gasket or warp the head.

Rank Amateur · 02-18-2006, 07:00 PM

I had a high opinion of the car up to this point, seemed very nicely engineered, but boy they ain't like an old ford!