ive got a 1300 mk2 polo, same engine as 1300 golf anyway a while back i noticed it was weeping a little oil from the front corner of the headgasket, a comon prob im told, so i fitted a new gasket ..cleaned it up real nice n all and the leak went away now i find its leaking alot from the front center of the gasket are these cars tricky to make em seal?? ive done several gaskets and never had a prob anyone know if the oil gallery is pressurised or a drain in that area
didnt skim it..wasnt bad and wasnt even leaking from where it is now, it was just damp in the corner where they all go getting fed up with it now. recon its worth nipping the bolts up??
Bad practice I know but I nipped the bolts up on one of mine last week and its stopped leaking..... I couldnt possibly recomend it though.
just been and nipped em the center 2 budged a fraction the seemed tight enough thing is its a 150k mk2 polo, runs great and has been 100% trusty but its just not worth spending any money on im beginging to wonder if the ecp gaskets are poor quality, everthing else i buy from them seems to let me down btw mr unknown...how much did you nip your bolts
ermmm just 'till they cracked and shifted a couple of degrees. I have done one where I just wound it up as hard as my puny limbs would let me and that was fine as well but it was basically a scrapper.
The HG's just gone on my 152k Mk2 Polo too, it's only a runabout 'til I get my G40 gearbox rebuilt - but it's looking like I'm gonna have to spend on it. From what people keep telling me it looks like I might have to go for a VAG gasket too. Dammit. Clutch is bol1ocksed as well, but got given a spare when I bought the car.
GSF should do an Elring/Victor Reinz head gasket which is just the same as what you would get from VW. About 25+VAT for the gasket set and a tenner for the bolts. I'd have thought the ECP one should be good enough quality really. The front left hand side above the alternator is a known weak point on the small block head design, leading to oil leaks (but not head gasket failure as such). Pigbladder, I don't mean to insult your intelligence but was everything done right when you fitted the new gasket? Head and block thoroughly cleaned and degreased, head bolt holes cleaned, decent torque wrench, correct tightening procedure, etc?
greg..yeah i done a particularly good job in my opinion(obviously not good enough) but yeah i cleaned it squeaky clean ,then carb cleaned it all off new bolts and used a calibrated torque wrench...its lasted like 5 weeks ive done about 4-5 other headgasket and never had a prob at all i just wonder if ecp gaskets were naff? ive had a few other suspect items from them latley i'll prob go with a vag gasket a skim
Do you remember who the gasket was made by? I suspect it was Elring or Victor Reinz, both of which are perfectly good quality. They may do a cheaper one though - I use GSF, not ECP. Did you check the head for warping?
cant remeber the brand to be honest..as it was a mild weep from the corner i didnt think the head was needing skimming i havent realy got anything to accuratly check it with anyway why do they all leak in that bottom corner then?? wish id left it alone its worse now and yeah..i think i might stick to gsf from now i think their quality has gone down hill
I just use GSF because it's nearer but their head gaskets etc are good quality. I think it's just something to do with the head design that causes that leak. Someone else will know better than me - I'm just repeating what I've been told by various people. As long as you keep your oil topped up and your alternator wiped clean it's not really a problem but it is annoying. Even if you don't have the head skimmed it's worth checking to be sure so you can avoid having to do the job twice. It's not definitely the cause of your problem but for the sake of a few quid spent on a decent steel rule and a set of feeler gauges it's not worth the hassle.
I'd a 1.3 that used to leak the same - but like Jake's, it was a heap, so I nipped the bolts right up. Stopped the leak, but didn't stop me running it into a wall about a month later.....
