Blown 1.6S Head Gasket?

[dirtbiker]

Hi all,

Well, got a new problem with my Leon 1.6s (16v - AZD engine) now - it seems to drive fine as long as the revs are kept below about 3k but going any higher than that results in a buzzing noise from the engine compartment and a major loss of power. I've not noticed any loss of coolant but there was a lot of steam from the exhaust when I started it up this morning. There's a little bit of "mayo" on the underside of the oil cap but it's not been driven much recently and not done any long trips.

I've got a couple of warning lights on in the instrument cluster:

Am I right in thinking this is looking like a head gasket failure?

I've done head gaskets before, this is the list of parts I needed for my Mk2 Ibiza, do I need anything else for the Leon?

* Head Gasket
* Cylinder Head Bolts
* Engine Oil and Filter
* Antifreeze
* Auxillary Drive Belt
* Timing Belt and Tensioner
* Inlet manifold gasket
* Exhaust manifold gasket
* Rocker cover gasket
* Water pump

Also, has anyone had experience ordering Leon parts from Eurocarparts (I used them last time).

Thanks for any thoughts...

 

[Phillc]

Have you got an oily slick in the coolant, or the mayo on the dip stick, if you have then yes it probebly is the head gasket, if not then it must me something else it could be coil packs, maff......

 

[AndyHazza]

Its probably best to have a look at what fault codes have been thrown up before going into all the head work.

 

[dirtbiker]

This is what the underside of the oil cap looks like:

There's no "mayo" on the dipstick and no sign of oil in the coolant reservoir.

Is it possible to diagnose MAF or coil pack failure without VAG-COM?

Thanks

 

[Phillc]

Mine looks like that, is because of the condensation caused by short journeys. like awsome andy says you need to see what fault codes are being shown.

 

[andycupra]

the steam may not be steam, but condensation from the exhaust. You get alot of this at this time of year when its cold.

As you say you do lots of short journies, which can lead to the mayo effect seen.

However, id not drive it if you can help it and get fault codes read.
It may be something simple.

 

[AndyHazza]

Does it feel like it has a misfire? or just feels down on power?

 

[dirtbiker]

Just down on power, seems to be firing ok.

The buzzing noise is something that I had when my mini blew it's head gasket so that's my main reasoning.

Guess I'll have to try and get the fault codes read and go from there...

Thanks for all the thoughts

 

[airfilter]

Did you get any further with this?

 

[dirtbiker]

Using the fault code reader I bought (http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GDVAG.html) the following codes seem to be logged:

• 16684 Random Misfire Any Cylinder or Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire P0300
• 16685 Cylinder 1 misfire detected P0301
• 16687 Cylinder 4 misfire detected P0303
• 16688 Cylinder 4 Misfire detected
• 17961 Barometric/Manifold Pressure Signals Impausible Correlation p1553
• 16708 Knock regulation Malfunction P0324
• 17912 Intake Ais System Bypass Air determined or Intake Air system leak detected p1504

and under ATS dtc02

• 01314 control module in instrement panel on Comfort CAN (J285) twice

I've posted these in the VAG COM section too but thought I'd add them to this thread just incase someone can shed some light on what the fault codes mean...

 

[airfilter]

Coilpack?

 

[dirtbiker]

Have done some reading up on coilpack failures and it's looking like that could well be the case. Could also be down to the spark plugs so I'm thinking that it might be worth replacing all four coilpacks and plugs and going from there?

Hopefully someone in the VAG COM section will have a definitve answer but that's looking like the most likely cause at the moment...

 

[airfilter]

My coilpack went just after christmas and I am pretty sure the garage mentioned the Random Misfire fault. I was down to 2 cylinders in the end.

 

[dirtbiker]

Hmm, the more I look into it the more it seems that the coilpacks could be the problem. The spark plugs were changed about 10k miles ago so I think they should be OK, will take them out and check the gap and the condition though.

One thing that I've just thought is that I had some water come into the driver's footwell recently while melting ice off the windscreen with the car parked at an angle on the drive. This could have come into contact with the electrics for the throttle pedal which, I've read, sometimes causes problems with the ECU. Has anyone come across this before?

Cheers for the thoughts!

 

[creedy]

check your cambelt tensioners cause they are made of plastic and break

 

[dirtbiker]

Thanks for that, I'll pop the cover off and make sure that things are as they should be!

To those people who've done coilpacks before, is it worth buying four new ones (~£25 a pop) or just getting one/two for the cylinders that are missfiring?

Cheers

 

[airfilter]

Thanks for that, I'll pop the cover off and make sure that things are as they should be!

To those people who've done coilpacks before, is it worth buying four new ones (~£25 a pop) or just getting one/two for the cylinders that are missfiring?

Cheers

You need to change all 4.

However, when the local garage fixed my car, he said my 1.6 didn't have 4 coilpacks. Just 1 which was placed on the side of the engine block (no idea if that's the correct terminology).

The part was about 70 quid inc VAT.

 

[dirtbiker]

Hmm, that's interesting, do you know what your engine code is?

Mine's an AZD and has four coilpacks along the top of the cylinder head under the engine cover.

 

[hillbill1]

Hi, i have the same car and the same problem, iv had all coil packs changed a whole new exhaust new lambard sensors and a crank shaft sensor and its still not working properly so if you have any luck let me know

 

[dirtbiker]

Do you know what fault codes your car has hillbill1?

I'm really hoping that the coilpacks will solve the problem, we shall see on Saturday!