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Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: GTI_16V on 04 May 2005, 17:34
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Hi,
Got my GTI 16v home tonight and decided to take a look at the coolant - it was brown, but didn't look oily at all. I've looked at some of the other posts about Head Gaskets etc and many of you talk about chocolate milkshake! Does this sound like a Head Gasket then? There is no mayo on the oil cap and the car runs fine. My temp gauge doesn't work, but the oil temp is ok.
Any advice?!
Cheers!
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i'd flush it out and put new coolant in. see from then.
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its probably just rust, do what he says and flush it out. you put some additive in it then run it for a while then flush it all out with a hose and roberts your mothers brother.
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....Alan's probably right, it sounds as if it has'nt been changed for a few years.
Drain the old stuff away by undoing the bottom hose on the Radiator and refill with clean water (make sure your heater control is in the HOT position when refilling to prevent airlocks. Use the car for a week as normal and then drain again, this has probably turned brown too but to a lesser extent.
Refill with clean water and the recommended mixture of Anti-Freeze/Coolant to prevent it happening again.
Jim. :wink:
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Thanks for the advice. Just been out for my nightly 'fiddle' with the golf and managed to get the temp gauge working, took her for a spin and temp/fan etc is ok. Everything is fine - apart from the brown water!!
Looks like tomorrow nights 'fiddle' will involve changing the coolant!!
I think i just sh!t myself after reading all the recent posts on here about head gaskets etc!!
Will post a progress report later!
Cheers
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I would invest in a bottle of rad weld, just incase!
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I think i just sh!t myself after reading all the recent posts on here about head gaskets etc!!
try owning a rover! my ringpeice was in a constant state of flux :shocked:
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I would invest in a bottle of rad weld, just incase!
yeah but don't use it!!! put it somewhere to remind you that it can do more harm than good!!!!!
seriously a flush will do the trick. basiclly you have an iron block which is gonna rust with water swishing around it, anti freeze/coolant has stuff in it that holds it off which is one of the reasons why it should be changed to keep things clean. your may not have been changed for a while so has stopped being as effective as it should be. also your expansion tank will probably be stained so if it bothers you that much buy a new one. only about a fiver or something from gsf. oh and get a new cap as well, make sure it is blue and that should be all your problems sorted!
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if you want take you expansion tank off and fill it with bleach n water mix and leave it overnight, this will lift all the scum on the inside
also, buy your expansion cap from VAG, the seals i found in the GSF items where not as good
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I would invest in a bottle of rad weld, just incase!
yeah but don't use it!!! put it somewhere to remind you that it can do more harm than good!!!!!
I agree with you on that one!
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Another vote to not use radweld, I used it and it fixed my radiator but buggered up my heater matrix! That wasn't a nice job :cry:
My rad started leaking again after a few months so I still had to change it. Steer clear!
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My dad was down today visiting and he knows alot more about engines (especially older ones) than i do. He said that it looked like the water hadn't been changed for a while and as everything else seemed ok not to worry about it. Like you guys he said i should change the coolant and that should sort it out.
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Yeah, the way I did it was to remove the hoses from the radiator, block, header tank and heater matrix and shove a hosepipe in there. Give it a blast one way and then the other untill the water runs clear! Then fill it back up with G12+ antifreeze from VW and distilled water, mine has been fine since November :)
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It could well be your oil cooler leaking!
If there is a sort of toffee like deposit inside your expansion cap then this is what it is.
If it's just muddy looking water then it's just rusty and neads a good clear out.
If it is your oil cooler then this will need replaced, obviously an oil change should be done at the same time.
Either way your coolant system will need flushed out.
A good way to do this is if there is oily deposits in there is to drain the system, then refill with water mixed with a good degreasant
then run it up to temp, let it cool a bit then drain off. Repeat several times until clear. This will not damage the system.
Once you are happy then refill with antifreeze/coolant with the correct mixture of water.
Oh and NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT USING RADWELD It's evil stuff :evil:
I blame losing one of my engines on that stuff. The head gasket blew and the piston over heated and seized the engine. And when I took the head off, the gasket had blown by some blocked cooling holes in the block, guess what had blocked the cooling holes? That's right it was Radweld.
So don't use it!!! It blocks up where you don't want it to. And you'll find you need to replace a radiator soon after anyway.
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fairly liquid is a good degreasent :wink:
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try owning a rover! my ringpeice was in a constant state of flux :shocked:
Relax, It's a rover! LOL :wink:
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Nothing wrong with using radweld, just make sure your heater is set to hot, its not hard :laugh:
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Why would that help on a MK2? Its the MK1 which has the taps to cut off coolant flow to the matrix ;)
I agree with action al, when I took the head off my driver allmost all the coolant channels in the gasket were clogged up with radweld, nasty stuff :(
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Nothing wrong with using radweld, just make sure your heater is set to hot, its not hard :laugh:
Setting the heater to hot would only direct the air over the matrix. :rolleyes:
There is a constant flow of water circulating around the mk2 heater matrix!
It's evil stuff I tell you :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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You can use radweld but take the thermostat out and have heater on full, if you dont you're asking for trouble. I used it about 8 months ago to do a temporary (Very) repair on my mates head gasket. It was filling a cylinder with water! Put rad weld in and ran engine for 15 mins with the affected cylinders spark plug removed and injector disconnected. Then re-fitted everything and it ran fine. Gave him enough time to save for repair bill, two months later it was still ok!!!