richandhazel's Golf VR6

[Rhyso]

I feel a bit nervous for you now.... again... fingers crossed. 

Me too.  Not sure if the next update is going to be great news or 

Lets hope its the former    Positive thinking and all that

[richandhazel]

Well.......no problem with turning it over by hand and once I realised that it had an immobiliser that needed disarming, no problem with starting

The electrics are all acting up a bit but I think that is probably where it has been sat around for so long and getting damp. For example the windows seem to have a mind of their own

Car seems to run fine but was rather surprised to see the cooling fan running almost straight away. Disconnected the sensor connector and soon found out why:-







Hmmmm.........at least it was running all the time, better that than the other way around. So few bits to tinker with and also where the sensors go into the thermostat housing the blank is leaking through the middle very odd. Guess I can get a replacement blank or simply another sensor

Difficult to tell if there is a problem with the head gasket, there was lots of water vapour from the exhaust but no more than I would expect from a vehicle that has been sat around so long. The system pressurised fine and other than the leak from the blanking plug seems OK right up to normal operating temperature.

Off to work now so more tomorrow, weather permitting.................

[AudiA8Quattro]

By the way Corin, that's a great bit of kit, thanks for letting me borrow it

No problem mate.
Its worth its weight in gold  
So no more leaks then? if anything leaks then that kit will find it.
I will come and have a look at the car, there never seems to be enough time  

[AudiA8Quattro]

If the water level is holding ok, and there is nothing coming out of the expansion cap, then your luck should be in with the head 

[SoundillusioN]

Things are looking up! 

Have fun with the electrics, I hope there aren't too many nasty surprises to fix.

[richandhazel]

Really not sure

Popped over to GSF in Farnham and picked up a new fan thermotime switch and blank:-



Cleaned up the plug having pulled the old terminal out:-



All fitted and another start up done today.

Ran the car for half an hour and no noticeable drop in the  level in the reservoir. To be honest I expected some, as you would expect some air in the system somewhere to bleed out but..........no it didn't drop, noticeably Everything seems to work as advertised. The fans didn't come on straight away, the radiator was cold to start with. Thermostat opened, radiator got hot, temperature gauge reached normal and then fans cut in. Everything worked and no noticeable loss of 'coolant', water in this case.

However........every now then the engine burbles, for want of a better word. Its like a minor misfire and pretty much unnoticeable if you're not listening for it. Every time it does it there is a puff off white 'steam' from the exhaust........I think that a small amount of coolant is being drawn into a cylinder on the induction stroke. This was not noticeable until it reached full temperature/pressure. I'm maybe looking for a problem that isn't there, I don't know, your thoughts would be appreciated.

If my prognosis is right then if I run the car tomorrow with the cap off the reservoir then it shouldn't happen?

Also, if my prognosis proves to be correct then I think this is a very small leak............what are the opinions on my being able to cure, if only temporarily, the problem with a product such as radweld........I'm certain there is a better and more expensive product that would be suited to the purpose That, I would be happy to try if it saved me taking the head off................I really would value the forums experience and opinions here as personally I'm not a great believer in these 'chemical' fixes

[NYSoul]

I used Rad-Weld in Escorts and Mini's 20 odd years ago and it just makes a mess.

Have used K-Seal on a VW T4 last year and was shocked at how good it was, I was losing 1/2 pint of water every month and it cured that 

[AudiA8Quattro]

It won't matter if the cap is off, the coolant will still be drawn into the cylinder.
From my experience my vr6, the opposite happened, cylinder no.1 had a small leak to the water jacket, this pressurised the coolant system until the expansion tank cap let off pressure.
I would run VAG com on it to make sure there isn't any other problems.
K-seal is the product to use if you have a leak.

[richandhazel]

It won't matter if the cap is off, the coolant will still be drawn into the cylinder.
From my experience my vr6, the opposite happened, cylinder no.1 had a small leak to the water jacket, this pressurised the coolant system until the expansion tank cap let off pressure.
I would run VAG com on it to make sure there isn't any other problems.
K-seal is the product to use if you have a leak.

Coolant system itself seems to be fine now. Maybe I am looking for a problem that isn't there.........I hope so. I'll do some more 'tinkering' tomorrow and feedback will ensue. Hopefully I'll be putting the whole lot back together following tinkering tomorrow

[Wayne]

It might clear itself in time, with it being sat around etc.