mk2 gti first day dramas

[Gipson]

Hey all bought myself a mk2 this morning, she needed a few things but was cheap enough to take a bargain on so i picked her up, got half way down the kwinana freeway and she starts smoking up and spewing out water... turns out one of the pipes just under the oil cooler has blown and its dropped all its water....

managed to bypass the oil cooler and get some water back into it but there was an awful tappet noise and the idles very out, and she heated up again on the way back. managed to crawl it back to a mates place where its cooling down and ill see waht its like in the morning.

probability that its blown the head gasket??

[WABIT]

hey mate,

check the oilcap to see if the water has gone into the head, if the oil is milky-ish then a headgasket it will be!

dom

[Mischa]

think of it as a blessing in disguise, mk2's are great fun to work on

[Gipson]

hey mate,

check the oilcap to see if the water has gone into the head, if the oil is milky-ish then a headgasket it will be!

dom

cheers will check that when i get it back this afternoon, would a compression test show anything up also?
how big a job is the head gasket on these, might be easier to source another motor if its gone?

[WABIT]

as i say with every new v dubber....

congratulations you are now officially broke!

dom

[Gipson]

one happy chappy

went to pick her up today and she drove back fine, engine was running a little rough and the temperature was gradualy working its way up, but no major engine noises or problems. found out when i got back the fan hasnt been working as the fuse was blown so that explains the temperature.

I think i'll take it down to wade during the week and just get him to check it over as its idling a bit low still and i want to get the suspension checked out so ill see what they think

[noogs]

just focus on what's broken then wait, she'll let you know what needs fixin

[moto]

Mk2 failures are usually very little things pretending to be big things. Mk 2 overheating can also be caused by the thermo fan switch at the bottom near side of the radiator. The switch itself can fail but more usually it is the connections on the switch that fail. The battery is just above the switch and acid vapour floats down to corrode the wires at the switch connection. It can save a lot of heatache to inspect them from time to time and repair if necessary.

[Gipson]

cheers moto the gaskets definately gone as the oil started getting milky and its over heating fairly quickly so its booked in to be done next week, but i will have to check out that fan wiring as it still wouldnt come on, and i tested the fan and it was fine so yeah ill check it over. any subtle head mods i should consider while theyve got the head off? preferably nothing too heavy on the wallet

[velly_16v_cab]

the gasket is easy to change.
mk2 gti's are so much fun to drive, i have a photo somewhere of a mk2 gti off the speedo and we was 4 up in her

[Mischa]

cheers moto the gaskets definately gone as the oil started getting milky and its over heating fairly quickly so its booked in to be done next week, but i will have to check out that fan wiring as it still wouldnt come on, and i tested the fan and it was fine so yeah ill check it over. any subtle head mods i should consider while theyve got the head off? preferably nothing too heavy on the wallet

may as well stick a cam on it while the head is off. if you can find one second hand it wont cost you much at all. also, get an mk3 downpipe on there beyond that, dont bother.

[Gipson]

alright cheers ill have a ring around about a cam, and i've heard about changing it over to the bigger downpipe, are the euro spec downpipes still constrictive or is it just the aussie ones, its an 87 south af car

cheers
Dan

[Golf Loon]

87 South African car should have the good downpipe and probably a good cam.

And incidentally a big valve head

[Mischa]

oh right i assumed it was an aussie spec.

[benough]

So are you doing the head yourself?

I had never worked on a car before and I did this exact job for my first go.

Mine runs very sweet now.