Blown head gasket? ??

[abbeyhouse]

Hi hope you can help,

About 2 months ago I had a new head, valves etc fitted to my 1996 1.8 n/a A4, the car as always drives like a dream, no loss of power etc.

On my way home from work today ( around 1500 miles after new parts) i slowly crept upto around 100mph ( with out realising it of course! ), the top left red light on the dash started flashing ( think its a water temp light) when i looked further the oil temp guage which always sits tight at 60 had risen to around 90 oc and the water temp had risen from the normal 90 to 120 oc.

I turned the heater full up and practaly glided the rest home.

Upon cooling the car down i opend the coolant header tank and found grey/white mush (oil?) on the filler cap and and closer inspection around the brim and top sides of the expansion tank.

Does any one have any ideas what this could mean? Is it the head gasket (already) as I cannot see water in the oil when removing the oil filler?

any suggestions helpful before I approach the garage on Monday

Many thanks for your help

[layerz]

Sounds like a head gasket gone, make sure the garage find the cause also!

[abbeyhouse]

what could be the possible cause after all this extensive work recently undertaken?

ps i have just checked the oil and there does not appear to be any water in the oil...

[mastertech]

Check the oil cooler above the oil filter--they are known to fail pumping oil into yhe coolant--HEAD GASKET FAILURE IS VERY RARE.

[layerz]

Sometimes there wont be. I am not good enough yet to say what could of caused it but sounds like a definate head gasket blown.

But the problem that caused the issue needs tackling also unless it was just wear and tear on the gasket.

Edit:

I did not know wheather or not to suggest the oil cooler on a 1.8 n/a but that is what went on my 1.9 tdi to cause all my current issues you may see in my other thread.

[abbeyhouse]

Thanks guys,

How could i rule out the head gasket before taking the car to the garage, i don't want to seem a idiot presuming the work they carried out was of poor quality and then finding out it is just another thing gone wrong!!

How would I check the oil cooler?

[mastertech]

Disconnect the coolant pipes from the cooler and bridge together with a piece of pipe--flush out the system/radiator etc , a weak mix of floor degreaser works well to flush with.---Run the engine if the cooler is at fault you should get some oil coming from the open coolant connections of the cooler .May take some time-as the leak is usually quite small. The oil level may be low if the cooler is faulty.
The reason you get oil in the water and not water in the oil is because the oil pressure is higher than the coolant pressure.
The head gasket should be new if you,ve just had a new head/valves etc?
What quality of gasket/bolts were used?
What was the reason for the head works in the first place?
Is the thermostat opening?
Hope this helps--John