somebody make my life better!

[grom 0]

so your loseing water' date=' changed the water housing as they leak all the time, the orings on the crack pipe are rubish and most of the water housing ant very good, i still need to fix mine, and surly if your going to do a test for the HG its the sniff test you want to do.

[/quote']

Its the thermostat housing thats leaking, it needs a new thermostat aswell. just hope thermostat hasnt been taken out for some reason, (as in overheating).

still suspect hg tho aswell.

whats the sniff test? sniffing the coolant res?

[chazvr 1]

I had similar problems within a couple of weeks buying mine. Losing coolant and overheating, also water bubbling out of the expansion tank, but the fans still kicked in. Went through the same headgasket worries lol but no other signs such as oil and water mixing. Anyway Got the thermostat and housing changed...leaking and overheating sorted, turned out the thermostat was stuck closed which would explain the overheating. As for the coolant coming out of the expansion tank I ordered a new cap and has been fine ever since. A visual inspection of the old cap showed nothing obvious so is always a good place to start as its less than a tenner from vw.

[Knightrider 1]

If the HG has gone (combustion chamber to water jacket) it is likely that you'd be getting bubbles and serious pressurisation in the water system and bubbles in the expansion tank pretty much immediately, as soon as you start the engine, even when it is still cold. It has just happened on a mates Jap car. There is no oil in the water or water in the oil. The pressure in the rad is IMMENSE after about a minute of running (it has a rad cap AND an expansion tank with cap) and the water is streaming bubbles. Top end pipes to rad red hot, bottom pipes still cold, top of rad steaming.

VRs do run bleeding hot - my heater is working within a mile or so. But those cunning Germans spent a lot of time and engineering to keep it sorted, like the electric aux water pump mentioned above. Therefore quite a small misfunction (thermostat?) can have a suprisingly large impact.

The AA have a test kit that tells them if cumbustion gases have entered the water - they used it in front of me on my son's classic Mini Cooper as he thought he had a blown HG. The HG was fine, but it needed a new thermostat - not opening. Must be able to buy such a test kit somewhere if they have them??? Yes sniff test is just that, sniff the water. But a proper test kit would be more scientific!!

[grom 0]

forgot to give you an update.

pressure tested, no sign of hg. thermostat and housing changed on the cheap thanks to dman-vrts link. £28!!!

bargain. no coolant lossed so far.

everything seems ok.

thanks everyone for advice.

this site is awesome, think its time to become a premium member.

[andynick69 0]

wots the link m8?

[Apollo 0]

Link for parts http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220505500573&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2186wt_690