Corey Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Ok, is this two different problems, burning coolant, and leaky primary injector? or is my injector fine and its has to do only with the coolant? Heres my symptoms. 1. Car runs ROUGH at first start up, ESPECIALLY when cold. It cleans up within 30 seconds to a minute id say. 2. Car "Hiccups" when cruising, and has developed it under boost recently as well. 3. Car burns coolant, quite a decent amount, However, no coolant in oil, AT ALL. Oil looked normal for three oil changes now. 4. I switched turbos, b/c my last one burnt oil, and hoped that would cure my coolant burn as well, thinking bad seal maybe. Nope. New turbo is great though! 5. 99xxx miles on car, and motor. 6. Zero mods, besides gutted cat's. Problems existed before i gutted those though. Gutted pre-cat is a GREAT mod by the way. 7. I thought it was a leaky primary, however im starting to wonder if it isnt a co-existing problem. How is coolant getting into the exhaust? But not through the headgasket into the oil? 8. Do you think my rough initial idle/hiccup everyonce in awhile while cruising is a leaking primary, and the coolant is another problem? 9. Car always idles rough, slight misfire. 9. Let me know your input, im open to any thing, the more Inexpensive the better, and i have a decent amount of auto knowledge. Car is a 1989 Conquest TSI SHP, btw. Edited July 22, 2009 by Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technology Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 find a way to do a leak-down test. That will tell you. Or compare spark plugs, if there's one that is way cleaner than the others, you might be getting coolant in that hole. Most likely a cracked head, but the intake manifold gasket could be leaking to the #1 port, or maybe back between 3 and 4. Leakdown test is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 googling if i can make my own leak down tester right now. Anyone else have any input, opinions, ect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 bumpity help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie88TSi Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Intake or throttle body gasket will cause coolant burning without mixing with the oil. A headgasket/cracked head may or may not mix coolant with oil. A bad timing cover gasket can cause mixing of coolant and oil with no coolant burning (I know, opposite of your problem, just throwing this out as general knowledge). Don't forget a combustion gas checker is a simple and cheap way to help with the diagnois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 i have a tb rebuild kit, maybe i should go ahead and do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie88TSi Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Get a better idea of what's actually going on before you do the throttle body rebuild. Otherwise you're just introducing the possibility of more problems onto your original problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 About the rebuild? Ive read the HOW TO on it through and through numerous times, hopefully that will help. Or about the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie88TSi Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 What I'm getting at is diagnois the problem, instead of just throwing fixes/parts at it hoping that it'll work. If you do the just "throwing fixes/parts" idea, then you run the risk of causing more issues, which will further muddy your diagnois. About the rebuild? Ive read the HOW TO on it through and through numerous times, hopefully that will help. Or about the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 I would also compare spark plugs as a possible method to diagnose. IF you have coolant in one cylinder it could cause the startup symptoms and ought to show up as a really clean plug when compared to others. As was stated a headgasket or head can display as a number of different things - coolant in oil, oil in coolant, coolant in cyl, etc you get the idea. If your primary is dripping fuel and pooling until startup then the smoke should be blackish, not white like coolant. My car burned small amounts of coolant since the day it came off the showroom floor, I swear it. Not that it's ok or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 Ill check plugs, and i get where you guys are coming from. Dont go and make more problems trying to fix it. Ill make sure and figure out whats wrong before i go away trying to fix stuff. I want to do the tb rebuild soon though, just as a precautionary measure, trying to prevent a fire. Ha. Im going to make a leak down tester thursday, hopefully i can track down the problem then. I have a question though. If its a 1) Headgasket or cracked head or 2) TB gasket or 3) intake mani gasket, when i do the leak down test, and get into the leaking cylinder, wont it bubble through the coolant and then out through the radiator? So how will i go about finding which of the three it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 combustion chamber pressure will only get into the rad if theres a leak between the comp and the coolant system,, gaskets such as the inj houseing base gasket never see's comp pressure so it will not show up as a leak durring a cyl comp or leak down test,,same for a frt cover gasket ,, both will show up when doing a coolant system pressure test along with the comp chamber leaking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 So doing a leak down lest will only tell me if its either 1)A head gasket 2)Cracked head Correct? If i pressurize the TB, would that tell me if it was a tb or intake mani gasket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie88TSi Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Basically it's a process of elimination. If you're not getting combustion gases in the cooling system, it's in the head gasket or cracked head. Either way, head has to come off. If you've got tons of coolant in the oil but not burning it, it's usually the timing cover leaking coolant into the oil. If you're burning it, but it's not at all or very little coolant is entering the oil, then you're looking at the intake gasket or the TB. So doing a leak down lest will only tell me if its either 1)A head gasket 2)Cracked head Correct? If i pressurize the TB, would that tell me if it was a tb or intake mani gasket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXLARGE Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) So doing a leak down lest will only tell me if its either 1)A head gasket 2)Cracked head Correct? If i pressurize the TB, would that tell me if it was a tb or intake mani gasket? Hello, I had that problem last week. My problem was the gasket for the throttle body. Make sure you have the gasket with the sealant already on the gasket. I had the exact same problems you had. This gasket cleared up the harsh idle at start up and the burning of coolant. You may have other leaks but I know for sure that this procedure can help some of your issues. Edited July 22, 2009 by XXLARGE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 (edited) the best way to go about replaceing the inj houseing gasket is to buy the carb kit for it,, and replace the rest of the gaskets and seals while your at it,,esp the lemon shape'd one at the mid houseing joint , this is the most common air leak where you can't seem to find the cause but smell gas after boosting this may help http://starquest.i-x.net/viewtopic.php?t=2599 Edited July 22, 2009 by Shelby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elconquestador Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...MS_966054667___ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Pulled the head tonight. Cracked head in between valves on cylinders 2 and 3. time to find a new head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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