Emergency! Help with Polo: Coolant / Condensor / Oil / Water??

rinnin

My sis is starting to have probs with her '00 Polo.
The engine oil is grand, no dirt or anything we saw some crap leaking from the coolant.
We then opened it and a load of brown crap splurged out.
Some local mechanics said it could be a cylinder head gasket thats gone but we're not very mechanical in our house.
Is this a big job to get fixed?
(See attached image for the goo)

rinnin

We started to empty some of this crap out now and are about to wash it out with water from the kettle.
Then gonna put some fresh coolant in it. Its the proper G12 stuff (purple) and the old stuff was pink G12. Does anyone think by doing this it might feck things up even more?

245

It probably won't make any difference really. You'd have to drain the entire cooling system, not just clean out the header tank. It'll need to be flushed thoroughly, probably several times so ordinary water would make more economic sense for flushing purposes (although corrosion inhibitors in coolant are very important over the medium/long term). The problem is that you won't have fixed the source of the problem which looks like oil is getting into the coolant. I assume that its a petrol engine so its most likely to be the cylinder head gasket. Its a job for a professional and the longer you leave it, the more expensive its likely to be as the head will warp if its overheating.

Get a recommended independent mechanic to diagnose and fix it - its not worth paying main dealer labour rates on a car of that age and value.

Anan1

As 245 said. Just top the coolant up with water, make sure there's enough oil in the engine, and don't drive the car until you've had it repaired. If there's water in the oil too then driving it at all will do damage. A trademark of water in oil is a mayonnaise-type residue on the inside of the oil filler cap.

rinnin

Thanks Guys. Just used up 2 bog rolls trynna remove the brown crap from the coolant head but there doesnt seem to be an end to it. 245 you're absolutely right. Looks like they'll have to drain the entire cooling system as the gunk keeps flowing back into it. I looks like there's petrol in it so I pity my poor sis. She's still making repayments on it and was hoping to get a newer car in Jan 09.
Anan1 theres no mayonnaise-type residue on the inside of the oil filler cap so at least thats a bit of good news.

Dirty_Diesel

The handiest way to clean out the coolant system is to remove the thermostat (so the system is open) and remove one of the two small water pipes going through the bulkehead (for heater matric). Open the bottom hose of the rad also. Stick a garden hose into the small pipe and turn it on. When there is only clean water flowing from the rad, put the garden hose on the other small pipe to clean out the other side of the coolant system.

I doubt that the head gasket is gone, but check for bubbling in the expansion bottle and the top hose to the rad getting very hard, indicating air pressure in the system.

245

I'd suspect the head gasket myself - the gunge is being caused by an oil source and on a petrol car there aren't many places that it can contaminate the coolant other than via the head gasket.

I've heard of diesel injector cleaner mixed with water being used to flush bad cases of gunge - its at your own risk but it'll shift the stubborn bits that seem to appear randomly for ever more. A full bottle along with a cooling system full of water and then plenty of flushing afterwards (once the original problem is fixed of course...)

itarumaa

I think that it is a bit too soon to say that its a head gasket. Firstly why there is no sign of leak in the oil, that should look like water-oil mix as well.

Also there are some cars, Renault for instance, that has a special coolant. And if you mix that special one with normal stuff, you get ugly results like you can see in the picture.

So what I would do is first get the system completely cleaned up and put new Vw approved coolant in the system.

Then see does it change worst or not.

rinnin

I'm 99% sure it is oil thats getting into the coolant mix - judging by the way it floated on top of the water and the smell.
Anyway, car is in local mechanics for a cleanout and the gasket head to be removed and "skimmed" - I think thats what they said anyway.
Should be a couple of days.

Dirty_Diesel

Unless it building pressure in the water pipe to the rad or bubbling in the expansion tank then the head does not need to be skimmed and the gasket changed. All it needs is a good flush out and a new thermostat, would cost €15 for DIY :eek:

rinnin

Dirty_Diesel wrote: »

Unless it building pressure in the water pipe to the rad or bubbling in the expansion tank then the head does not need to be skimmed and the gasket changed. All it needs is a good flush out and a new thermostat, would cost €15 for DIY :eek:

Oh Jaysus, dont say that!
Ah no. Pretty sure there was bubbling in the expansion tank.
And sure how else would oil get into the coolant system if there wasn't a leak in the head gasket?
Should hear tomorrow what the story is with it.

Darragh29

rinnin wrote: »

We started to empty some of this crap out now and are about to wash it out with water from the kettle.
Then gonna put some fresh coolant in it. Its the proper G12 stuff (purple) and the old stuff was pink G12. Does anyone think by doing this it might feck things up even more?

Forget this. You most likely need to get the head gasket done. Fannying around with this will only add to your bill.

rinnin

Well feck that. Got the head gasket done. Brought it home and now the coolant is disappearing. Keep having to top it up after every journey. :mad:
Gonna have to bring it back again now. Where the feck is it disappearing to now?
Thought I heard bubbling sounds over 300 rpm as I drove it back from garage

Nonoperational

Is there one of those oil coolers in the polo engine? Can fail causing oil to leak into the colant.

rinnin

gpf101 wrote: »

Is there one of those oil coolers in the polo engine? ...

Havent a bloody clue. Its even losing fluid after standing cold for 5h.
Sucks.

skyhighflyer

We had the exact same problem a few weeks ago with our Saxo, a fairly beat up 2000 model that's been passed through the family and now has 90,000 miles on the clock. The coolant tank was full of yellow / brown crap and could hear bubbling and dripping while driving. My first thought (along with some so-called 'mechanics' I asked) was the head gasket as well, but turned out not to be.

Brought it down to a local Citroen specialist who actually knew his stuff, turned out that someone (most likely me when I was driving it a couple of years ago) had topped up with the wrong coolant. Two years later it had turned yellow and frothy and sufficiently gunked up the radiator to need a new one and caused a leak in a pipe. Had a new radiator installed, a coolant flush, new pipe and header tank and fully drained the system. Think the bill was around €200 or so...

If your car is losing coolant while sitting there there must be a leak somezhere, either the rad or a pipe. It sounds eerily similar to what happened to our car so maybe the head gasket wasn't necessary at all.

crosstownk

Darragh29 wrote: »

Forget this. You most likely need to get the head gasket done. Fannying around with this will only add to your bill.

+1.

I don't think a 2000 Polo has an oil cooler - I could be wrong.

What size engine is it?

Darragh29

skyhighflyer wrote: »

We had the exact same problem a few weeks ago with our Saxo, a fairly beat up 2000 model that's been passed through the family and now has 90,000 miles on the clock. The coolant tank was full of yellow / brown crap and could hear bubbling and dripping while driving. My first thought (along with some so-called 'mechanics' I asked) was the head gasket as well, but turned out not to be.

Brought it down to a local Citroen specialist who actually knew his stuff, turned out that someone (most likely me when I was driving it a couple of years ago) had topped up with the wrong coolant. Two years later it had turned yellow and frothy and sufficiently gunked up the radiator to need a new one and caused a leak in a pipe. Had a new radiator installed, a coolant flush, new pipe and header tank and fully drained the system. Think the bill was around €200 or so...

If your car is losing coolant while sitting there there must be a leak somezhere, either the rad or a pipe. It sounds eerily similar to what happened to our car so maybe the head gasket wasn't necessary at all.

There are several different tests to check if a head gasket is gone. The oil in the coolant is just one test. Is there evidence of coolant in the oil??? Check coolant hoses for too much pressure, a garage would usually do a "sniffer test", to check for hydrocarbons in the coolant expansion bottle.

rinnin

Darragh29 wrote: »

There are several different tests to check if a head gasket is gone. The oil in the coolant is just one test. Is there evidence of coolant in the oil??? Check coolant hoses for too much pressure, a garage would usually do a "sniffer test", to check for hydrocarbons in the coolant expansion bottle.

Well they did the sniff test, there was a lot of pressure in the coolant hoses (very rubbery & flimsy now) and when we siphoned out the coolant reservoir into a bucket there was obvious oil floating on top. DUnno about coolant in the oil.
Will hopefully find out tomorrow what the craid is with it.

itarumaa

Just to point out, that when my car had a problems with pressure in the system, it was not a head gasket problem, it was a expansion tank cap issue,

And yes all the people were saying that it is a head gasket, "it cannot be anything else"

So dont believe the first opinion you hear:)