When I bought my car I got no service history whatsoever, and it had been running a bit funny. We had a look today and it seems that my head gasket is on the brink.

So I'm going to order a head gasket kit from eurocarparts, would it be wise to do the cambelt at the same time? Do I need to do the tensioners or will just the belt do?

I'm on a tight budget, but if it needs doing it needs doing.

It's just had new distributor, new cap and rotor arm and new spark plugs. Got a new air filter, fuel filter and oil filter ready to go on, but that's taking a back seat while the engine is waiting for the head gasket to be fixed.

With unknown service history, it would be more than wise to change the timing belt, the tensioner as well if funds will run to it - If these items let you down, they let you down big time, like the cost of an engine.

If you order a belt kit, you will get the tensioner as well, but if you prefer, you could give the old tensioner a spin, once you have the belt off, if it feels or sounds rough or if there is any 'shake' in the bearing, then you will have to change it.

What is it that makes you think that the head gasket is 'on the brink'?

Regards

I'll see if I can afford the tensioners. It adds about 40 quid on to the price, so I can hopefully manage it.

There was oil on the spark plug over cylinder one, water had got in to the plugs over two and three, and the plug over four was fine.

My go-to guy for mechanics said that was normally one of the first signs on the Saab's he owned, he owned a few Polo's over the years too.

The engine was shaking around quite a bit too. There was some gunk in one of the pipes that looked suspiciously creamy too.

Edit; There was also a fair amount of white smoke out of the exhaust which was dissipating fairly quickly.

Edited 10 November, 201411 yr by mbusby993

I thought I'd comment on this post rather than start a new thread.

I'm planning on getting the head gasket done, the timing belt and tensioners. Would it be wise to do the water pump too, or can I get by without that?

My main question, is has anybody used this head gasket set from Euro car parts before? Its cheap, so it's in the budget. But I'm worried it's too cheap?

http://www.eurocarparts.com/mobile/ecp/c/Volkswagen_Polo+Hatch_1.4_1999/p/car-parts/engine-parts/engine-parts1/car-gasket-seals/?362440780&1&6c0d37e11d8da9dbcf0d06a9f9a5d7f6f2758602&000174

When doing the head gasket you should also change the following

Timing belt

Water pump

Headbolts

With the set you're looking at you may as well do the rest of the gaskets and seals too.

As for the price it seams reasonable enough for a complete head gasket set.

Will you be getting the head skimmed too? I'd recommend it as I've tried doing a couple Polo head gaskets without skimming the head and I just ended up doing it again not long after.

Yeah, that kit plus a timing belt kit, head bolts and a water pump give me a basket total of about £95. Dayco timing belt kit? Heard anything? The prices seem good, I just hope they're value for money!

I plan on getting the head skimmed. It would be silly not too, given it's lack of service history. I might as well do it properly! I hope to get a good couple of years out of this Polo. :)

The price seams about right for all of that.

If you were getting a garage to do the work the price would go up by hundreds of pounds purely due to the labour involved.

Strip the head as much as you can before getting it skimmed. If you can, take all the valves out too. Otherwise you'll be paying some one else to do it.

Yeah, Labour alone would likely drive it to £5-700. If that seems about right for the price of parts that's reassuring. I'm confident in the guy I have doing the work. He's extended family, he works with car's for a living and he's been repairing his and families cars for 10 years.

I'll be learning from him while he does it so hopefully I'll be able to take something from it!

Hopefully once this is done the engine will be a lot smoother.

Thanks for your opinion, mate. :)

Edited 4 December, 201411 yr by mbusby993

No need to remove valves for the head skim

I guess it depends if they clean it, as it will allow the cleaning stuff they use to run through the ports, not pool up inside. And also if you are able to remove them or not, if your not then as above you will have to pay them to take them out, put the new seals in then refit.

I really wouldn't think about trying to skip the stem seals, I have seen people do it before, but it always comes back to bite them in the ass. Especially on these engines, it's one of the most common faults and many don't realise they are leaking, just assume the oil is leaking somewhere.

Also, are you getting new head bolts? If so I have found that most of the time the kits on eBay with the bolts are around £10-15 cheaper then ECP. Worth having a look. They are stretch bolts and really should be changed. You can sometimes use them again but it's not recommended, especially on yours as it sounds like it's never had them off before.

Also well worth taking the thermostat out and check the bridge inside the cover, as it has no doubt shot right through, and caused the engine to over heat. The design of the housing means that if the thermostat is stuck closed it doesn't always show as being too hot until it gets really hot and close to going bang. At least that's what I have noticed.

There's a set of head bolts on ECP for a couple of quid, would they not do the trick?

http://www.eurocarparts.com/mobile/ecp/c/Volkswagen_Polo+Hatch_1.4_1999/p/car-parts/engine-parts/engine-parts1/head-bolts/?300440300&1&8db19ab3468190de93461abef0c4df87247d6fea&000488

Although judging from that entry that's for one bolt and I'd need ten. I'll have a look on eBay for lots which have the head bolts. The kit from ECP has all the stem seals included. Would those bolts do the job if I can't find a kit with both seals and bolts?

I've not really had overheating problems yet, but I will check the thermostat anyway, it can't hurt to look. Most of my problems have revolved around water and oil getting into the spark plug housing, a slight knocking at the exhaust and some smoke from the exhaust.

My mechanic buddy is doing a compression test this weekend, and if what we basically already know is the case, I'll order parts and hopefully get on it soon.

Yeah that is price per bolt.

I have had a look and it seems there aren't any full sets on there, so perhaps the ones I saw where for the 16v as the bolts are cheaper.

It seams that is the right price for them, so expect around a £20 bill for them.

The size is (L)110mm Thread size is m11x1.5 pitch. The ones for the 16v are around 95mm so are way too short and the later ones aer m9so to small.

However the normal head set is on there for around £20 they come with everything and is the same set from ECP. So maybe you can justify buying the bolts this was, as the gaskets are cheaper?

Also, the timing belt may be a little cheaper too ebay item number 221624552317 and tensioner 300848751404 if needed.

Water pump is ebay item number 191036170361 or 190755111876

I did a search for head gasket's on eBay and they so came up with pictures including the seals. Might have a look on the website similar to ECP as a 7.5% discount works on there. Might save me pennies on the head bolts. Thanks for the part numbers! I'll give it a check. I thought my engine code was AEX but it's actually APQ. Aren't they more or less the same engine? What tells them apart?

Dayco belts are not bad tbh - have used in the past without problem.

I've just had a INA timing belt kit and water pump fitted and I'm more satisfied with it than the 'original' VW parts.

Good luck!

PoloD.

032103384 cheese head bolt

M11X110 / ADX,AEA,AEX, ANX,APQ,AEE, AHS,AKV

Cylinder head bolts

Dayco belts are not bad tbh - have used in the past without problem.

I've just had a INA timing belt kit and water pump fitted and I'm more satisfied with it than the 'original' VW parts.

Good luck!

PoloD.

Thank you, it's good to have some feedback from somebody who's used them.

They're the cheaper of the two, and I'm on a budget this time around so it'll have to do. :)

032103384 cheese head bolt

M11X110 / ADX,AEA,AEX, ANX,APQ,AEE, AHS,AKV

Cylinder head bolts

Thanks Nige, the Dansk bolts on ECP are cheaper so I'll probably go with those. It's nice to have a reference point though.

AEX and APQ are basically the same, right? Are they just a different year or something along those lines? Most things for APQ also list AEX in their compatibility.

Edited 5 December, 201411 yr by mbusby993

Going to drag this post up again, I had a driving lesson today and I am rusty. My test is booked for the 21st of January and I need a lot of practice to get back to a comfort zone.

How hard would it be to change the head gasket for someone who's never done one? Waiting for my mechanic buddy is going to take several more weeks and I need the car running again.

Is there a step-by-step that anyone can recommend as being accurate? Or any good advice for things that might frequently go wrong or be exceptionally inconvenient? I've got a good basic knowledge but I've never actually done anything like this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need the car sooner rather than later.

Thanks!

Edited 11 December, 201411 yr by mbusby993

At this time of year especially, there are always a few misdiagnosed head gaskets. What have been classes as failed HGs, have turned out to be nothing more than condensation.

You say that there is white smoke in the exhaust which dissipates quickly, this is a classic condensation problem - if the white smoke persists when the engine is hot, AND after a long enough run to dry out the exhaust system, then HG failure would be a likely cause.

Are you sure that the 'water' on plugs number three and four is in fact, coolant? does the coolant level actually go down? - OK, IF the head has gone banana shaped, then the 'worst' part will obviously be in the middle.

What I am getting at here, is that the most important thing to you at the moment, is to get some driving practice, so unless you are absolutely sure that the HG has failed, it might be better to change the timing belt for now and attend to the other points afterwards, hopefully, after passing your test.

I would be very much inclined to do a compression test before condemning the HG.

You could just find that the engine vibration is due to that oiled up number one plug - obviously still needing the head to come off, but you might be able to live with it for a few weeks.

At the end of the day, it is your decision, but in any case, good luck with the test.

Regards

I was having problems with a complete loss of power which we thought was the dizzy, but the problem with that is that I didn't get a chance to drive it and see before be reckoned it was the head gasket. I dont wanna drive it really, for fear of making anything worse. Damaging the cat or anything like that.

I'll see if I can get him over for the compression test. He was going to over the weekend but he's been ill. Can't be helped at this time of year!

As important as it is to get some driving practice, I'd rather not drive and make it worse, meaning I can't drive it away on the day if I do pass my test.

One way Or another, the gasket's not doing its job as oil got to the spark plugs. Not sure what to do from here. I want it running so I can practice, but I want it done properly.

I dont seen to have all the symptoms, is it possible that I've caught it before Its had a chance to go completely? If so I definitely dont want to chance it getting worse.

oily spark plugs could be other stuff - valve guide or bore wear

you can get a sniff test done on the coolant to say if its failed or not

I'm at a complete loss with this to be honest. From what people have said it might be the head gasket or it might not. I can't really afford to get it fixed and then I'm still having issues.

I hadn't had any over heating problems, I'd got no creamy mayo under the oil cap, my coolant hadn't seemed to be going down.

I'm tempted to Just get I'm it and go for a drive soon, to see how it runs.

I'm at a complete loss with this to be honest. From what people have said it might be the head gasket or it might not. I can't really afford to get it fixed and then I'm still having issues.

I hadn't had any over heating problems, I'd got no creamy mayo under the oil cap, my coolant hadn't seemed to be going down.

I'm tempted to Just get I'm it and go for a drive soon, to see how it runs.

doesnt sound like it then

take the plugs out and clean them up nice or replace if youre flush , take it out for a few drives and keep an eye on it

headgasket symtoms would be coolant loss /overheating /mayo /bursting coolant hoses

Yeah, I've not really got any of those symptoms to be honest.

The spark plugs are new, I was attempting to service it when I noticed the oil and water. Might put the engine back together on Sunday and take it out for a short trip. See how it goes. Need to get a compression tester. As nice as it is for the guy I've got to be helping me out, I need the car running to get practice in. If I pick up a tester I can at least find out what sort of state the cylinders are in.

Edited 11 December, 201411 yr by mbusby993

You mention the distributor - your model has something called a Hall sensor (or sender) inside it, these are a bit prone to cause problems, I'm not saying that this is so in your case, but as you mentioned it, I thought that I would just alert you to it.

When these things start to fail, you might be driving down the road and the engine just 'cuts out' - You leave it to 'rest' for a while (the 'while' may vary in length) and the engine will then allow you to start it.

There are, of course, other possible problems with the distributor, but any decent mechanic would be able to diagnose these.

From what you have said, you still haven't convinced me that the head gasket has failed. - Even if you do find 'mayo' under the oil filler cap, it is probably down to condensation in this cold weather.

I would tend to agree with you that, if you are pretty sure that everything else is OK, take it for a run, take some coolant mix with you 'just in case', and keep an eye on the temperature gauge.

Regards

PS As Stevo says, the sniffer test would be a good idea - this 'sniffs' out any combustion products in the coolant tank, if these are present, chances are that the head gasket HAS failed.

Edited 12 December, 201411 yr by caretakerplus

Are you sure the spark plugs are correct for the car, did you check the gaps on the plugs?

Did you do the lead, dizzy cap and rotor arm at the same time?

I'd get the car hooked up to a code reader and also do a compression test on it. A code reader and compression tester can both be had on eBay for very little money. Or borrow then if you know someone who has these.

The code reader will flag up any sensor issues and the compression tester will tell you how healthy your engine is. If all 4 readings come out roughly the same then mechanically your engine is fine so it may just be a sensor or electrical issue.

Really you want to consider doing the head gasket as a last resort as it is very time consuming and can be quite costly compared to any of the smaller fixes.