vr6 boiled over...

[cняis]

hmmm well this is turning into a bit of a money pit...

93 OBD1 vr6 engine mk2 golf, with all the cooling bits from the mk3 donor car.

there was plenty of coolant in the expansion bottle this morning. but about 2 miles from work i noticed the water temp gauge rising (and rising!) to beyond normal levels but the heaters in the car kept blowing ice cold 

it then boiled over at which point i switched it off straight away

what do you reckon... head gasket or thermostat? head gasket was done by a VAG dealership 18 months ago (15,000 miles) costing over £2k 

[Adam]

thermostat.

Any other headgasket symptoms

[Shady Pioneer]

If it's your thermostat you might find it a b!tch to get to, considering the power steering pump has to be moved out the way to get to it, and if like my car, you'll have a persistent bolt that will just not come off. In which case you decide to leave it and have a fecked thermostat for the remainder of the time you keep the car. 

[Mikester]

If it's your thermostat you might find it a b!tch to get to, considering the power steering pump has to be moved out the way to get to it, and if like my car, you'll have a persistent bolt that will just not come off. In which case you decide to leave it and have a fecked thermostat for the remainder of the time you keep the car. 

The power steering pump has to be moved on the 8v.

On the VR6 engine it doesnt need to be moved as the thermostat is below the coilpack on the gearbox side of the engine. Still not easy to get too, but not as bad.

[cняis]

thermostat.

Any other headgasket symptoms

no oil in water, nor any water in oil.

only lost water as boiled over

a bit annoyed now as im spending a bit more on it than anticipated

[Shady Pioneer]

If it's your thermostat you might find it a b!tch to get to, considering the power steering pump has to be moved out the way to get to it, and if like my car, you'll have a persistent bolt that will just not come off. In which case you decide to leave it and have a fecked thermostat for the remainder of the time you keep the car. 

The power steering pump has to be moved on the 8v.

On the VR6 engine it doesnt need to be moved as the thermostat is below the coilpack on the gearbox side of the engine. Still not easy to get too, but not as bad.

Ahh fair enough. I didn't do try mine, Adam did, but the bolt beat him.

[Wayne]

Airlock

[VWstevo]

Airlock

Yeh sounds like airlock, plus worth getting it pressure tested save you alot of dosh in the long run matey. Have you tried to take the small hose of the expansion tank to see if you are getting any water through if not you might have a blocked hose somewhere. Also you may have a lazy water pump. Have you tried Rad flush too.

[cняis]

tis in the workshop over the weekend so wont know any answers til next week... all i can do is HOPE its not HGF 

it seems something goes wrong every week 

from what you guys say though, im really hoping its something simple i.e. airlock, especially as the HG was done at a main dealers 15k miles ago

[rubjonny]

run it from cold witht he cap off, if yu rev the engine you should see a stream of coolant out of the small hose to the top of the header tank. if not either the hose is blocked or the waterpump is faulty