Tdi 130 asz head gasket

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
Ok so if anyone could help me out here it would be appreciated....
My car recently started blowing cold air through the heater, so after checking the coolant the level was a bit low, I topped up the coolant approx 1.5 litres and the heaters started working ok again .... At no point did the temp gauge rise above 90•c, the next day I searched for leaks and no leaks could be seen anywhere.... Apart from around the header tank ... I topped it up again to the fill line when cold and drove the car pretty hard for a few miles and after parking up there was a trail down my street .... Around the filler cap was wet

Tonight I carefully removed the spanny cap and ran the car
When ticking over the coolant (mainly water now) is re circulating but frothy
When revving the car with cap off the re circulating coolant is frothy and as soon as the revs drop the bottle overflows a small amount with very frothy water

Now I'm fairly certain that the head gasket needs replacing as even when car is stone cold there's enough pressure to spill a small amount of coolant out.....
Has anyone managed to just get away with head gasket / bolts to fix similar problems ?
I have also heard about people going to remove the head to find loose head bolts probably causing the gasket to blow in the first place .....
I didn't really want to skim the head if I could see obviously on the gasket face a blow past mark or finding slightly loose bolts .... and I really don't want to spend another £80 quid +vat for the head skim on top of the price of all the other parts I'm going to have to replace
Forgot to add there is no oil in water and vice versa just some pressure in the water
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
You will just have to get the head off and take it from there, especially as you seem to be continuing to use and drive hard this car!
Guessing is for mugs, just get that head off and check it for flatness as much as you can with a straight edge, if you want to minimise rework I'd get it skimmed, they should only take off what it needs, which could be nothing more than cleaning up the surface.

Edit:- a general clean up around the port areas might even be good for it!
 
Last edited:

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
You will just have to get the head off and take it from there, especially as you seem to be continuing to use and drive hard this car!
Guessing is for mugs, just get that head off and check it for flatness as much as you can with a straight edge, if you want to minimise rework I'd get it skimmed, they should only take off what it needs, which could be nothing more than cleaning up the surface.

Edit:- a general clean up around the port areas might even be good for it!

The car hasn't done more than ten miles since the first overflow bud.... And driven very gingerly, if the worst case scenario is it is left stood over the next few months then I'll just have to leave it with no water in until I get the cash to strip it, buy the parts and get all the work completed.....
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it as always
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
i had same issue with mine once a long time ago. under boost, the pressure would escape into the header tank and explode. happened about 6 times. eventually i discovered all the headbolts were loose. tightened and problem solved.

Worth a shot, try undo 1 bolt and see how much tension was on it. if its extremely tight, most likely headgasket
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
i had same issue with mine once a long time ago. under boost, the pressure would escape into the header tank and explode. happened about 6 times. eventually i discovered all the headbolts were loose. tightened and problem solved.

Worth a shot, try undo 1 bolt and see how much tension was on it. if its extremely tight, most likely headgasket

Thanks for your reply mate it has got to be worth a try hasn't it ? I have read on several other forums that others had the same issue when going in to replace the gasket but no others had actually tried re torqing the bolts, I,ll go out now and get a spline tool and check them all mate and report back .... Did you just re torque them as specified ? Or just 1/4 of a turn on the bolts ?
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
Check them with a torque wrench.

Ha yes mate I will, but when does the stretch occur ? Or if they're already over stretched I could end up snapping one. These need angle tightening as well don't they, I read it the other night I think you torque em up to 40 nm then 60 then angle torque em another 90 degrees, then another 90 degrees ? I'll check Elsa win beforehand....
I phoned darkside developments this morning with a question about skimming amounts and gaskets because there's only 0.2 of a mm between the thee gaskets available and there is no way you could skim 0.005mm off to re finish a head, it would just give a rough finish.... He just said replace like for like with gaskets regardless of amount skimmed, and always check for warping first if still in spec don't skim it, and if you have to skim it take the least possible material off it
 

R3k1355

Active Member
Oct 30, 2014
1,778
247
Yorkshire
I read it the other night I think you torque em up to 40 nm then 60 then angle torque em another 90 degrees, then another 90 degrees ?


If so you might be buggered and risk snapping or stripping the thread if the bolts aren't loose.
You'd end up over tightening them twice the recommended amount.
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
If so you might be buggered and risk snapping or stripping the thread if the bolts aren't loose.
You'd end up over tightening them twice the recommended amount.

Good point there I,ll just try em see if any are loose, if so I'll re torque to 60 and order some 150 head bolts, just out buying a spline set because either way I'm going to need one, thanks btw
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
Just loosen one mate. if its tight, you will get like 3-4 bangs as your un doing it. if its loose, it will undo normally like a 10mm bolt.

dont tighten one thats already tightened. it will snap.

if its tight. try another one further away. make sure you re tighten the loosened one first.

good luck!
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
also, the gasket used in these engines are metal. very rarely have i seen them go. whats the mileage on your car?
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
I have a good idea..... If I mark the position with a paint marker then try each one obvs one at a time and just return the tight ones back to the marked position it should be cool..... Thanks by the way bud going to whip the cover off now
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
no don't do that. stretch bolts! doubt youl be able to get it spot on how it was. just start with one and let me know how it goes
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
Well went out and realised that the asv and egr need to come off so you can get one hidden bolt out of the rocker cover, then the bad weather started rolling in, the wind was trying to rip the bonnet off so packed up the gear in the boot for tonight.
What did you fo then when realising that the bolts had lifted ? Just go and get another set ?
Absolutely no chance of me getting that rocker cover off tonight. I live on the top of a hill and the wind is probably about 40 mph and just about to hoy it down
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
I have a good idea..... If I mark the position with a paint marker then try each one obvs one at a time and just return the tight ones back to the marked position it should be cool..... Thanks by the way bud going to whip the cover off now

Surely if the bolt is tight and it has already stretched if I mark the head of the bolt and a corresponding dot lined up before loosening, then re nipping to line up again should be ok because the same stretch is going back into the bolt ? It's not like I'm torqing then angle tightening is it ?
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
you should not need to remove them. the rocker cover should come off with no problem. it may be a squeeze but im 100% sure i have done it without removing those

When i saw the bolts were loose i went for a set of stronger ones from a different engine

Part number: 038103384C

they are of a PD150 and have higher tolerance. i used them on my car since its been heavily modified and needed it.

if you find them loose mate just leave the car as it is until you get new bolts. if their tight. dont remove more than 2. chances are theyl all be ok. maybe the car had a head gasket done before you owned it and old bolts were used?
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
you should not need to remove them. the rocker cover should come off with no problem. it may be a squeeze but im 100% sure i have done it without removing those

When i saw the bolts were loose i went for a set of stronger ones from a different engine

Part number: 038103384C

they are of a PD150 and have higher tolerance. i used them on my car since its been heavily modified and needed it.

if you find them loose mate just leave the car as it is until you get new bolts. if their tight. dont remove more than 2. chances are theyl all be ok. maybe the car had a head gasket done before you owned it and old bolts were used?

I have so far just un clipped the ic pipe and took the asv off didn't get a chance to see if I could get onto the screw.... It's the only one I couldn't get on with a 1/4 " bit and an wobbling extension bar (one of those ones that has a ball on the end and the socket pivots if you just half click it on ) funny you should mention the head bolts I have just stuck a set of arl150 bolts in watching on ebay.... It's been miserable here today I have ended up decorating the hallway and I'm in no rush to panic and snap all those bolts... Knowing my luck they'll all be tight anyway..... This car is definitely mapped but I'm unsure exactly what to ....
 

turbod

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
157
0
North East
Right, I have been out and tried the bolts and they're all as tight as I would expect them to be,
I used a 1/2 ratchet and tried loosening them and got a slight crack but no noticeable movement on em it would take a breaker bar to get them going, so I have just left the cover loosely on and come back in the house in a huff ..... So I fear the head is almost certainly warped or worse .... Next step is order all the bits as I can afford them then strip the head off and get it skimmed..... Still got my bike to use so all is not lost I suppose.....
Thanks to all who have commented so far and watch this space
 

leo5566

Active Member
May 24, 2017
34
0
i am actually very disappointed. was hoping they would be loose!

who ever skims the head, make sure you tell them a VERY VERY light layer.

get everything from darkside development. they will sell you almost everything you need much cheaper than dealer. thats where i got all my bits from

i got my head acid dipped and removed the EGR same time to stop all the carbon build up
 
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