is it worth changing the head gasket?? ('89 mk2)

[julian]

I've got an '89 mk2 with the valve cover which has 3 bolts holding it down (don't know if this makes any difference!) and am unsure of the best thing to do.

Basically it has a crack in the head gasket and has done for a while, In an eight mile journey I lose nearly an inch of water in the resevoir, any idea where exactly it goes?

This means that all the 'oil' on the dipstick is now the white gunk. Also when I take the oil cap off the valve cover I can see loads of the white gunk (what's the real name?) inside. Also strangly enough the air filter is full of the stuff, I'll post a picture later or tomorrow.

It has been running like this for a while, will it just go pop soon and break down completely?

My main question is what to do? A mate and I were going to do the head gasket change with our friend mr haynes, knowing we'd have to change a number of things like the oil filter etc at the same time, but is it worth it with all the white gunk in the engine. Would a garage charge too much to do this?

Shall I just keep driving it until it breaks?

Is it possible just to buy a new engine and fit it in?? How much would this cost?

Could I strip down the car and sell parts on eBay? Or shall I just sell it to the local scrapyard, I think he pays out £50 for a car.

I really like the car, it is my first after all, brakes were changed last december and seem to be working better than ever (my dad has had it for the past 7/8 years before I took it). It only has 74k on the clock and most things seem to be going ok.

Opinions please

[omicron]

The longer you leave it, the more work it's going to need.

What could be a new head gasket at the minute, could end up as a knackered head.

[julian]

exactly, i was trying to ask if it would actually be worth having it down now or if it would be such a job now that it isn't worth it.

if it is changed does it matter that the head is full of the 'white gunk' or will that just start going once the gasket and the oil changed?

[WildChild]

I'm unsure as to what the white gunk is, if you ask me if you're head gaskets gone and you're loosing all that water in your resevoir it would suggest that you've got a bad waterpump. The reason i say this is that when your engine overheats (whatever the cause) eventually past a certain time & temperature your head gasket will take the brunt of the damage, often this happens all at once. I personally had it happen to me on my old MK1, my waterpump broke (the breather valve became blocked stopping any water transfering round the engine and therefore overheating).

The problem was that since it overheated, i ran out of any resevoir fluid to cool the engine down, luckily i was only doing a short 12 mile journey and i had engine oil all over my air filter and inside my air filter, all around the spark plugs, what happens past this point is the head gasket usually blows - costly. but mine didnt, so i replaced the waterpump and it was fine.

It sounds likely that your waterpump has gone, (there is one on ebay at this very moment for £5 + P&P), this is likely as you've experienced oil and "white gunk" in your air filter (the pressure backfires and forces it the wrong way).

As for the white gunk, i have no idea what this is but it certainly doesnt sound good.

However, the problem you face is that without getting a qualified mechanic or someone who knows what they are doing to have alook at it for free to give you a "what it'll cost" you face a large and almost certain heavy risk & cost.

To be perfectly honest, it sounds like you've got alot of possible damage, even if the new head gasket fits it, fitting a new head gasket is going to cost you £80 + your time, and then on top of that you face the more than likely chance that you may have damaged something else in the mean time - more cost.

For £200-£300 you can pickup a MK2 with a reasonable mileage (if not less than your 74K) and any parts needed for it you can strip off your current MK2 and then scrap it (save the tyres / steelies and other useful bits).

I personally think you're looking at a new waterpump / head gasket and then sorting out what ever that bloody white gunk is.

hope this helps, sorry for the long post.

[hypojam]

Your head-gasket is broken which is allowing water to get mixed with the oil causing mayonnaise (white gunk)!

Change the head-gasket, and then the oil and filter and take it for a long motorway journey and everything will be ok!

Although the longer you leave it the more damage you could be causing due to the fact the oil isn't lubricating the internal parts as well because of the high quantities of water in the engine.

[hypojam]

I'm unsure as to what the white gunk is, if you ask me if you're head gaskets gone and you're loosing all that water in your resevoir it would suggest that you've got a bad waterpump. The reason i say this is that when your engine overheats (whatever the cause) eventually past a certain time & temperature your head gasket will take the brunt of the damage, often this happens all at once. I personally had it happen to me on my old MK1, my waterpump broke (the breather valve became blocked stopping any water transfering round the engine and therefore overheating).

The problem was that since it overheated, i ran out of any resevoir fluid to cool the engine down, luckily i was only doing a short 12 mile journey and i had engine oil all over my air filter and inside my air filter, all around the spark plugs, what happens past this point is the head gasket usually blows - costly. but mine didnt, so i replaced the waterpump and it was fine.

It sounds likely that your waterpump has gone, (there is one on ebay at this very moment for £5 + P&P), this is likely as you've experienced oil and "white gunk" in your air filter (the pressure backfires and forces it the wrong way).

As for the white gunk, i have no idea what this is but it certainly doesnt sound good.

However, the problem you face is that without getting a qualified mechanic or someone who knows what they are doing to have alook at it for free to give you a "what it'll cost" you face a large and almost certain heavy risk & cost.

To be perfectly honest, it sounds like you've got alot of possible damage, even if the new head gasket fits it, fitting a new head gasket is going to cost you £80 + your time, and then on top of that you face the more than likely chance that you may have damaged something else in the mean time - more cost.

For £200-£300 you can pickup a MK2 with a reasonable mileage (if not less than your 74K) and any parts needed for it you can strip off your current MK2 and then scrap it (save the tyres / steelies and other useful bits).

I personally think you're looking at a new waterpump / head gasket and then sorting out what ever that bloody white gunk is.

hope this helps, sorry for the long post.

Try not to give advice if you don't have a clue what your talking about

[Polo Paul]

As said the gunk is a result of the water going into the oil, change the gasket fast, its going to die if you dont. If you and your friend are competent with a spanner and a haynes go for it, its going to be way less than getting a new car, which may have its own problems.

An engine swap for a 1.3 or 1.0 out of a mk2 or 3 polo shouldnt be too hard. the best option is to do the gasket though and makesure you fully flush it out before putting new oil in.

[WildChild]

Apologies for my post, genuinelly thought i was being helpful.

[tupac2makaveli71]

was reading wild childs post and i convinced my self i was wrong!, im right though yeah that mayo stuff is just proof that your head gasket is gone, try not to drive it too far and change it asap!, ( hypojam your interiors looking well!)

[omicron]

Some interesting stuff in this thread, most of it pure bull**it.

The white crud is oil mixed with water (try it in an old baked bean tin, 50/50 oil and water, heat and stir).

You need to clean the head out, a scrub with some petrol and a blast through with an air line will get rid of the worst of it.

Check the head isn't buckled (steel ruler and a good eye) and if it is, or you're not sure, get it skimmed. Ditto for the top of the block.

Reassemble, fresh antifreeze, oil and filter, 500 miles of taking it gently (or a good blast up the motorway if you want to be repeating the process next weekend). Keep checking for oil in the water or vice versa. Then flush oil and coolant and change again.

[julian]

i've had some advice from a mechanic and he says it isn't worth changing the gasket myself as i'll probably screw something else up and the ening will need to be skimmed so it's just gonna get too expensive.

he suggested something like what he called 'engine weld'. after flushing the water system thoroughly a number of times put it in and it will hopefully seal something! thought of this as it could just be a crack in a cylinder or cylinder head. i have been running it for a very long time and wouldn't the gasket have completly gone by now if it was that?

is that water pump suggestion any good? is it worth getting it?

thanks for all your help

[Polo Paul]

i dont think its the water pump if the water pump fails the car will overheat, but water shouldnt be getting into the oil through water pump failure

[mulletdan]

Hey julian

I dont know much about the headgasket mechanics but ive had mine done recently and it cost me about £186 thats with the cambelt, if you do choose to have your waterpump done, then I dont think it will cost that much more labour wise becuase the head will already be off because of the headgasket. Just a case of how much you want to spend on the car.

Dan

[julian]

ok, thanks dan, i am trying a product called wonderweld, just going to flush the coolant system now to prepare for it and i'll see how that goes.

cheers for the help guys

[steveo3002]

just do the gasket mate...its cheap and fairly easy..i done ours one afternoon

those sealer things rarley work