head gasket


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Old 10-19-10, 06:44 AM
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head gasket

Back again guys. Does anyone know how hard it is to change a head gasket in general, and also more specifically on an 03 jetta 2.0 gls? Also any good sites for aftermarket mods for said jetta?
 
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Old 10-19-10, 07:56 AM
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"In general" it's plenty time-consuming, but for the most part it's not rocket science; 4 bangers easier than a V6 of course. Don't know if VW's are particularly difficult.
 
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Old 10-19-10, 08:42 AM
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Anything i should be looking for when i have the block apart other than the obvious gasket problem?
 
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Old 10-19-10, 10:09 AM
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It’s a pretty straight forward walk in the park as far as gasket swaps go. Note, that you may be putting the cart before the horse here. Before you spend time and money on changing a (gasket and other parts) that my not be defective, tell us exactly what the problem is, and how it was determined that the head gasket was found to be at fault? What sort of modifications are you looking to do?
 
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Old 10-19-10, 11:05 AM
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As soon as i start my car and i reaches idle speed (under 2 mins) the engine temp gauge pegs at 260 in the red and my engine temp light comes. After i let it run yesterday i looked at the dip stick and the back of the oil cap. On the back of the cap was the milky white residue that you see from a blown head gasket.
 
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Old 10-19-10, 11:12 AM
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As for mods right now im looking to do cosmetic to start nice rims tires lights then get into performance with suspension and engine like cai or srai and possibly a turbo for the car. 2.0 are kinda lacking in the power department
 
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Old 10-19-10, 12:14 PM
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Here’s a simple and inexpensive test you can do yourself to confirm a blown head gasket. For the modifications, click on the links at the bottom.

Remove all the spark plugs. Get a cooling system pressure tester and pressurize the cooling system to about 20 PSI. Leave the system pressurized for several hours. Now lay down some clean paper towel along the cylinder heads where the spark plugs were. Crank the engine over for a few seconds. Since the spark plugs are not in place any antifreeze that leaked into the cylinder will be blown out onto the clean paper towel. Examine the paper towel for the telltale signs of antifreeze and you will be able to tell which the guilty cylinder as well.

VW Jetta Body Kits, Jetta Body Kit

1999-2004 Volkswagen Jetta VT-R Body Kits

Body kits| Car body kits| Car Accessories -Lowest Prices!


(Quote) kinda lacking in the power department

It should be lacking in the power department. It's not a race car. I can turn into one for you, but I doubt your pockets are deep enough.
 
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Old 10-19-10, 08:49 PM
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oh them VW-s.
my daughter in law has a newer jetta. my son and i, we do not like that car, but she drools all over it.
guess what - has oil filler cap full of oil emulsion (the white stuff you saw) and VW dealership said it's "normal" and nothing to worry about.
1st thing i told my son, when i saw that cap - Jetta has blown head gasket. well, it was a year ago, and she still drives fine. and the filler cap is still full of emulsion.
so, it being a German car, who knows.

here's my suggestion for you. if it boils from exhaust leak INTO the coolant, do this. cuz that's about the only thing that can overheat coolant so fast. hot exhaust.
1. open your radiator cap
2. leave cap off radiator and start engine.
3. pick inside radiator; do you see something like a beer foam coming up in coolant? if yes, then you do have exhaust coming into coolant, and possibly, from blown had gasket. i say - possibly, as they now run coolant lines all over everywhere, this one to warm up gas for easier starts, this one to cool exhaust for lower emissions, and so on. so, leaks into coolant can be anywhere.

let's do this. let's assume that it is NORMAL for VW product to have oil emulsion in the filler cap. i think, dealership told my son that it's created by air turbulence inside the valve cover, or some like that.

so, otherwise, there is a ton of reasons that can cause quick overheats. what i do know about exhaust leak into coolant is that - and i have been through this personally - it will heavily increase coolant volume, due to added gas volume. that results in almost catastrophic coolant expulsion out of expansion canister, aka overflow canister. virtually blows coolant out of it.

have you observed any of that? if not - troubleshoot overheating, before spending several hundred bucks on all the gaskets you will have to buy, and possibly damaging something else along the way, or ending in leaks all over. older cars don't like to be touched, you touch it - it leaks thereafter. been there either.
 
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Old 10-20-10, 04:38 AM
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So ukrbyk what you're saying is I should talk to a VW dealership first. That and with you're daughter in law's car you never replaced the head gasket? Also when I started it up the first time, there was moisture coming out of the exhaust pipe and you could notice it on the ground as well. I can't really remember if it was a hot exhaust or if it was cooler. Could a vacuum leak be a cause as well? And you said that if I start the car with the radiator cap off it will cool it down? Well, say I do that and the car is still overheating would that be a sign of a blown head gasket? Thanks for the info so far guys.
 
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Old 10-20-10, 09:12 AM
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jettaguy2414,

The test I posted yesterday (still waiting to see or hear results) will either rule in (or out) a blown head gasket. So will the information below.

Note that the information pertains to image.

Combustion Leak Detector - Engine Block, Test Tools Inc

Test for Cracked Blocks, Leaky Gaskets, Cracked or Warped Heads

Part # BK 7001006

Product Line Balkamp

Features and Benefits. Locates Combustion Leaks w/o Guess Work, Test in Seconds, Removes Guess Work from Job

Attributes Manufacturer

Test Tools Inc.

Product Application Test For Cracked Blocks, Leaky Gaskets, Cracked or Warped Heads

Contents Aspirator Bulb w/ Valve, Large Engine Adapter & Leak Test Fluid.




To further remove guess work from job, post the results of a;

Compression test.
Cylinder leak down test (or both)
 
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Old 10-20-10, 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by jettaguy2414
As soon as i start my car and i reaches idle speed (under 2 mins) the engine temp gauge pegs at 260 in the red and my engine temp light comes. After i let it run yesterday i looked at the dip stick and the back of the oil cap. On the back of the cap was the milky white residue that you see from a blown head gasket.
I don't think you ever said anything about checking your coolant level - if it was down from normal, or if a radiator fan comes on or not in that 2 minutes.
 
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Old 10-20-10, 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by jettaguy2414
So ukrbyk what you're saying is I should talk to a VW dealership first. That and with you're daughter in law's car you never replaced the head gasket? Also when I started it up the first time, there was moisture coming out of the exhaust pipe and you could notice it on the ground as well. I can't really remember if it was a hot exhaust or if it was cooler. Could a vacuum leak be a cause as well? And you said that if I start the car with the radiator cap off it will cool it down? Well, say I do that and the car is still overheating would that be a sign of a blown head gasket? Thanks for the info so far guys.
nope. not what i'm saying. what i'm saying is - she has couple years difference between her jetta and yours hers is 2005 i think. so, we have already done legwork for you - my son took it to dealership for some battery issue, and showed them that emulsion. and i told you what they said.
when i saw that emulsion, or foam, for simplicity, i scoped several jetta forums. turned out to be a common issue on VWs. moisture, oil, high temperature, whatever else, milkshakes that foam there.

i am not aware of any car with catalytic converter that will not drip water. that's what cats do - reduce pollution by disintegrating exhaust and part of the resulting emission is water. plus, water is normal result of combustion anyway. my Silverado pees like crazy. trust me, if it's COOLANT leaking into exhaust pipes, you would have known. gray steam and very particular smell. let me refresh my memory, and others will correct me. gray steam under acceleration - leaking coolant, blue smoke - leaking oil, black smoke - unburnt gas. am i right, folks?

no, reason to have radiator cap off is to, actually, look INTO THE COOLANT. if exhaust is blown into coolant via pin holes in gasket, it starts looking like miriad of bubbles, then it all starts foaming like beer foam in shaken beer bottle, and then just geysers out of it.
i had 2 cars with this problem, 84 buick century and 87 ford taurus. so i am QUITE FAMILIAR with what it looks like. also, i bought a 94 LRV from a redneck in TN, and we started car talk. he had overheating pickup truck, and he already wasted a ton of money on parts replaced on guess. so, we popped that radiator cap open, he started the engine - sure enough, in few minutes he had that foam spitting out. called me later, told me he replaced head gasket, and that was it.

but no, it will not cool it down. coolant should have no bubbles in it, not that i am aware of. and i looked inside of many radiators with engines running.

you may have many reasons for engine overheat. sensors, thermostat, bad fan, fuses, many. no need to hop onto headgasket replacement, unless everything else is ruled out.
 
 

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