Mach 5

Yes. I took it to a shop and had them do a head gasket. When they had the head off, they discovered that it was very slightly warped, which may have also caused the leak. I was surprised to hear this, considering we have owned it since new and it has never overheated, or been exposed to anything that would cause warping. I guess it must have been a manufacturing defect. My wallet is $3300 lighter, but the car has been running great for over 6 mos, with no more oil in the coolant. Still cheaper than buying a new one.

Roger

Douglas61

got it, good to know they fixed it. How much work is required to get to the head gasket? Is that just take out the intake manifolds?

Mach 5

A head gasket requires pulling the head. Then you really should send the head out to a machine shop to look for cracks or other imperfections, like the warping. It really is a big job.

Roger

Douglas61

i see, thanks! I am not sure about what head you refer to here, the intake manifold? I did pull it out from my VW golf MK4, not very hard in that case though.

Mach 5

An engine is comprised of a block (where the crankshaft and pistons live), the cylinder head (where the valves, and in this case, the camshaft live), and then the intake and exhaust manifolds, which are attached to the head. To replace the head gasket, you must remove everything from the head (intake and exhaust manifolds, and ancillaries), and remove the head from the block. Big job, hence the big price tag.

Roger

Douglas61

Thanks Roger, a lot to learn for me. I just did a few spark plug and coil change jobs so far...