Overheating And Rocker Cover Gasket

[Wallis22]

Hey. Havn't been on here in a while, which is usally a sign that my car's running ok... lol

Well, i've just brought a new Mk2 and the b*stard overheated and cut out on me last night while driving it home. The guy knowlingly sold me a car that was leaking coolant and the temp gauge didn't work, it was constantly in the middle of the dial. No warning lights came on either!

It was driving fine on the motorway, then when i exited i stoped at the traffic lights, the lights went green, i went to pull away, the car cut out and loads of smoke came out from under the bonnet...

Anyway, the AA towed me off the road and took the top engine cover off to get a good look at the engine. He said there's an oil leak coming from the Rocker Cover Gasket and it' needs replacing, or re-tightening. He also said this was a seperate issue so i take it the overheating didn't cause this?

The top hose housing has gone and i need a new one, but, i was wondering, did the overheating blow the housing? Maybe there was a small leak there, then when the car overheated it found this weak point and blew it even further?? The car now looses a full expansion tank of water in about 2 minutes...

Basically, my main questions are these...

1. Is there another name for the Rocker Cover Gasket as i can't find anything about it in my Haynes. Oh, and has anyone had to buy one of these? ie does anyone know how much they are, and how much a garage would charge to fit it, and/ or if it's a simple enough job for a diy mechanic who services their own cars?

2. When your car overheats to the point where there's smoke coming out of the engine and the engine cuts out, what damage will this do to the engine? The AA performed a sniffer test and said the head gasket should be fine, but would it have damaged something else?

3. If i replace the top hose housing and the rocker cover gasket, the car's ok to drive isn't it? (Bit of a weird question, i know, but i'm not sure what u have to do to a car when it overheats to the point of smoke coming out of the engine and the engine cutting out.)

I should point out that the engine runs and drives, it's just leaking coolant really fast now...

Wow, sorry for such a long post... It's much longer than i expected...

Many thanks in advance for any help offered.

Shaun.

 

[lcjay]

sorry to here about your new car
a rocker cover gasket,shouldnt cost to much at all and is easy enough to fit for someone that can service a car.
as for the overheating,this is your main problem that id get sorted asap.
id say as you were driving on the motorway,the air was cooloing the engine and thats why it didnt overheat until you were stopped at lights.
start off buy replacing the top hose if its split or if its not,just make sure you secure it back on tightly.
you may have a air lock in the system so may be best to drain the system and flush the radiator at the same time as this could be bloked causing the over heating.also make sure the fan is cutting in on your rad (if not check the fuse/wiring etc)
i would also check your dash clocks and make sure the owner didnt take the temp bulb out as you should have had a warning.
if the temp gauge only moved to half,you could also have a problem with your temp sensor or thermostat.
your best bet would be to start with putting the hose back on and topping the water back up and id go from there to start with.
if it overheats again you need to start checking through different things.
when its full up and the hose is back on feel the top and bottom hoses on the rad (be carefull as the will be very hot) and make sure there is water circulating the rad.(keep your hands and clothing away frow the fan incase it gets caught up in the fan)
head gaskets can cause overheating but im sure the aa man would have spotted the signs eg oilin water or water in oil (which would look like mayo on the dipstick or when you take the oil cap off)
like i say,start with the basics and go from there to start

 

[rich.h44]

Sorry 2 hear that,what ****** that guy must be,and as lcjay said cheak all that,but id cheak the head gasket and head!if its got tha hot and cut out id say your head may be warped an will,need skimming! May get it polished an ported at the same time!hope you get it sorted

 

[Wallis22]

Thanks for the kind words and advice. I'm gonna take the dash out tomorrow and see if any bulbs have been taken out.

 

[rich.h44]

Im not sure if they came with it mine didnt but i put 1 in and it worked when i found owt when my thermostat got stuck closed

 

[Wallis22]

ok, got the rocker cover gasket fixed and the overheating kinda fixed...

At the expense of sounding dumb, when your cooling system is working properly, is the bottom hose meant to be hot? If so i have a problem. The bottom hose is cold and stays cold.

I can make the bottom hose hot by removing the expansion tank cap and raising the revs, holding it there for a few seconds and doing that a couple of times. If i leave the expansion tank cap off the bottom hose stays hot. However, if i put the cap back on again the bottom hose cools down... That's not right is it?

Any ideas of what the problem is? I'm going to try and flush the rad as that seems the easiest option, but if that doesn't work and there's an air lock in the system, how do i get it out? I'm sure you remove an air lock by removing the cap and holding the revs up, as above, but it keeps coming back... Any ideas why?

Lastly, there's an orangy/ brown deposit on the expansion tank cap, i've heard of this but can't remember what it means... Is it just a sign of overheating? Or somehting else?

Many thanks in advance to anyone and everyone who can help.

 

[rich.h44]

Your getting ridof the air right!the only other thing i kan think of is your thermostat is stuck shut!as 4 the brown/orange stuff its probley the coolant not been changed 4a long time!

 

[Pedro]

Sounds like either the thermostat or water pump aren't working, take the former out and run the car without, quickest way to see if it's the problem or not.

 

[Wallis22]

Thanks for the advice. Quick question though...

Where is the thermostat on a 1.9TDI? Is it near where the bottom hose connects to? ie do u have to remove the bottom hose to get to it, or is it a different hose you have to remove? (Sorry for being dumb, i've never had to touch a thermostat before in my life!)

Once again, thanks for the advice.

 

[rich.h44]

Mines in the water pump housing on the top hose!but mines a 1.6petrol!

 

[Dolly_Gti]

forgive me because i cant remember the technical names...

VAG ... being SEAT use pink antifreeze...
i work for BMW and they use blue antifreeze..

both available from halfrauds... when the 2 get mixed the turn into a crapy brown mixture and clogs up the coolant system.. hope u havent mixed the 2? if its not that then its just a case of trying to get rid of the air lock

 

[Wallis22]

Hey Dolly. I havn't mixed the two types of antifreeze, but it's possible that the previous owner was running the car on blue antifreeze, but then again i was running it on just water for a day or so and the water constantly needed topping up as it was draining through so if they did use blue antifreeze it should have flushed it out...

I'll try draining and flushing the system tomorrow. If that doesn't help then i'll check the thermostat.

Many thanks for the replies guys - i can always count on you for helpful advice!