Coolant in cylinders- white smoke show

1432 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Steve in Chicago, Jul 6, 2015

Mike DIY

Discussion Starter · Jul 6, 2015

2001 1.8T Passat- 140K

Low oil pressure light came on. Skreeching sound from passenger side front engine. Changed oil pick up tube and oil pan. The tube was cloaked with dipstick fragments and other debris. Pain looked surprisingly clean. This resolved the oil pressure problem. Started car and it sounded great on idle, but puffy white smoke coming from exhaust. Pulled the head and there was coolant in the cylinders. Put on all new gaskets and still have the same issue. The head gasket looked good, but I replaced it anyway. Is there a way to check for a cracked cylinder or would it be more of a warped head or some other issue? Trying not to spend a lot of money due to age and miles of vehicle.

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Steve in Chicago

· #13 · Jul 6, 2015

Mike DIY said:
Pulled the head and there was coolant in the cylinders.

I don't know if this is what happened to you, but sometimes you'll see that because there are pockets of coolant left in the head even after draining the block. Then when you break the seal at the head gasket, that coolant drains down into the open cylinders.

Mike DIY said:
The head gasket looked good, but I replaced it anyway.

If you think you can reuse a head gasket, you're not qualified to R&R a head. There is a specific procedure that needs to be followed when torquing down a replacement head. If you don't follow the procedure, you're likely to have leak problems and potentially warp the head. The head bolts on these engines are one-time-use stretch bolts. When you replace a head, you also need a new set of bolts. I've swapped countless heads on all kinds of engines and I still look up the procedure and specs for the specific engine I'm working on. It's that critical of a deal if you want it to work and last.

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