Car serviced by Audi last week now I have a suspected Head gasket failure! PLEASE HELP

[nevos]

Hi, had a quick read try this stuff here I hear at has worked for a lot head gasket problems, a trader put me on to it, he sold rovers and put some in them all.

[riget]

I'm no expert at all but I have a question - I thought this (above) was not always the case, and that HGF could cause overheating as the coolant is boiled away by the leaking of the head gasket, i.e. HGF can cause overheating rather than the other way round ?

 

It's both, I would say mainly I would do a head gasket because it has failed due to age, this causes the hot combustion gases to enter the cooling system and cause overheating.

However if you have say your radiator leaking, then as the water goes low if you continue to drive the cylinder head will get too hot and warp, causing the gasket to fail.

 

S.O.L any news from Audi?

[KTF]

Hello just popping in to help, when i was stuck between a dealer and the warranty company in a very similar situation to yourself neither which wanted to help , i got the SMMT UK: Motor Industry Sustainability, Competitiveness, Legislation, Technology, Globalisation, Retail Distribution, Education involved 0870 751 8270 they are only open 10-12 in the morning i found them very helpful , just a thought. good luck

[S.O.L]

It's both, I would say mainly I would do a head gasket because it has failed due to age, this causes the hot combustion gases to enter the cooling system and cause overheating.

However if you have say your radiator leaking, then as the water goes low if you continue to drive the cylinder head will get too hot and warp, causing the gasket to fail.

 

S.O.L any news from Audi?

 

Hi Riget,

 

thx for asking. I have decided to go down the warranty route and see what happens as Audi as expected are denying any liability. The car went in to my chosen specialist today......they will contact the warranty company (Tesco) to get approval for repairs once they have completed diagnostics. I will keep you posted.....just keeping my fingers crossed now that Tesco don't try and wriggle out of it!

[Conniff]

Tesco certainly wont be able to claim 'fair wear and tear'.

[S.O.L]

Tesco certainly wont be able to claim 'fair wear and tear'.

 

Can't really seeing them trying to go down that route on a car that's only 4 yrs old with less than 20k on the clock.

[S.O.L]

Had a call from the garage I elected for repairs (Sanspeed) this morning who have confirmed that one of the cylinder heads looks to have failed. They have been in touch with my warranty provider (Tesco) who have agreed in principle to pay for the repairs as long as I agree to cover the cost of labour of stripping the engine down should it not turn out to be the head gasket that needs fixing.

 

So basically what they will do is send an engineer out to assess the damage and confirm that it is indeed the head gasket in which case they will cover all costs for. If it turns out to be something else then I will have to pay for the cost of striping the engine down which is 5 to 6 hrs labour.

 

Sanspeed are fairly confident that it is the head gasket although they cannot discount a cracked cylinder head. I would imagine that this kind of damage will also be covered under the warranty

 

Ultimately Sanspeed seem fairly confident that this is a straightforward warranty job. I really do hope so!!!

[Nemesis_Drake]

Sounds like a good and fair result!

 

With a decent garage (unscrupulous maybe ) "everything" is warranty lol

[patdavies]

5 or 6 hours to lift a head. Somebody's having a laugh.

[S.O.L]

5 or 6 hours to lift a head. Somebody's having a laugh.

 

I too questioned it straight away but was told that my V6 Engine was more involved than a normal engine?!?!.....they seem fairly honest and confident about my claim.

[Nemesis_Drake]

5 or 6 hours to lift a head. Somebody's having a laugh.

Only the jokers who know not what they speak of.

[riget]

I hope it turns out ok for you, my experience with warranty claims were never very good, I've not worked for a few years so maybe they've improved.

I'm surprised Audi never offered anything considering the low age and mileage, and recent service.

I hope the garage swing it for you with tesco, the engineer will be looking for any way out.

[S.O.L]

I hope it turns out ok for you, my experience with warranty claims were never very good, I've not worked for a few years so maybe they've improved.

I'm surprised Audi never offered anything considering the low age and mileage, and recent service.

I hope the garage swing it for you with tesco, the engineer will be looking for any way out.

 

Touche....I am keeping my fingers crossed!

[S.O.L]

Just had a call from the garage saying that the engineer Tesco sent out is claiming that because one of the cylinders is so clean and I have only driven the car less than 200 miles since taking out the warranty that they will not cover it. His assumption is that the problem must have existed before the warranty was taken out.

 

I had feared this is what they would say......But the mechanic at the garage has said that it could easily have happened (got that clean) in less than 10 miles if you were driving at high speed and that he doesn't go along with what the Tesco engineer is claiming.

 

What a nightmare!

[riget]

I looked last night a the tesco T&T and very nearly posted that bit up.

My experience with these warranties is not worth the paper.

Did the garage give any reason for the gasket failure?

[S.O.L]

I looked last night a the tesco T&T and very nearly posted that bit up.

My experience with these warranties is not worth the paper.

Did the garage give any reason for the gasket failure?

 

No they did not give me a reason. I am obviously disappointed with what they are trying to do but I did half expect it......they make you pay to have the engine stripped down (£350) then turn up and say 'NO' giving you some lame excuse that the garage have advised me to challenge seriously as they don't buy what the engineer is saying at all.

[markie76]

I read this rather detailed thread with interest and thought only fair I add to it.

 

Firstly, don't understand why so much time was spent going through what ifs, buts and general crystal balling. With cars and engines the first thing to do is get your hands dirty and find out the exact problem.

 

Secondly, as with all mass produced goods regardless of manufacturer reputation (and the ads telling you how good they are) there is always going to be a % rate of failure against the norm and SOL sounds like you got the 0.5% car which suffered an abnormal failure.

 

In my experience as a car enthusiast the general rule is don't trust a garage UNTIL you know they do good work to a high standard. In the past I have had cars come back with bolts lying around the engine bay, cable dangling out the bottom and on one occassion a mechanic telling me they didn't refit a part as its an optional extra.

 

My opinion on services is that they consist of 75% of things anyone not afraid of lifting the bonnet can do. For Example, check condition of windscreen wipers & condition/operation of lights, c'mon please.

 

SOL - where you said the car started heating up to 90 degrees after the service? did you notice any unplugged connectors in the engine bay or hanging from below?

 

Again in my experience with cars;

1 - I drove a mk1 Golf for 2 weeks without a radiator cap because I had lost it after forgetting to screw it back on. I had to wait 2 weeks for the new part to arrive which meant stopping every 20 mins or so to top up the emptying cooling system and I was in effect cooking it each day (London driving). No Head gasket failure.

2 - Same golf oil pump failure, driven 3-4 times for a couple of miles, with lights flashing and buzzers going off. No damage.

3 - Clio, radiator removed awaiting part - driven multiple short journeys (1-2 miles) with no cooling system. No failure of anything.

 

I admit these are not comparable to todays 'modern' engines which require £100 oils and decide to stop working because you drive over a pothole. I wouldn't recommend any kamikazee practises on anything fancy. I would also advise against products in a can which promise to 'fix' a head gasket. There are no substitutes for a real part in a can/tube.

 

IMO Tesco (and the like) is for buying spuds and bread not for warranties, and as such resellers of policies underwritten these elsewhere, they tighten up the t&c's to make a quick profit. Again IMO car (and most other) warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on once you have read the t&c's. Better to put the money in the bank and take a chance.

 

SOL I hope you get your Audi sorted, if not get yourself an older car, a haynes manual, a toolkit and you'll start to question what the purpose of mechanics and garages actually is for!

 

Thanks,

 

Mark.

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by patdavies

5 or 6 hours to lift a head. Somebody's having a laugh.

 

Only the jokers who know not what they speak of.

 

5 or 6 hours to replace the head gasket I can accept; but not just to remove a cylinder head - less than half the work.

[S.O.L]

5 or 6 hours to replace the head gasket I can accept; but not just to remove a cylinder head - less than half the work.

 

They have quoted £1350 to do the repairs!

[Conniff]

Just had a call from the garage saying that the engineer Tesco sent out is claiming that because one of the cylinders is so clean and I have only driven the car less than 200 miles since taking out the warranty that they will not cover it. His assumption is that the problem must have existed before the warranty was taken out.

 

I had feared this is what they would say......But the mechanic at the garage has said that it could easily have happened (got that clean) in less than 10 miles if you were driving at high speed and that he doesn't go along with what the Tesco engineer is claiming.

 

What a nightmare!

 

I take it from the 'clean pot' remark that the head has been lifted?

[S.O.L]

I take it from the 'clean pot' remark that the head has been lifted?

 

yes it has!

[TaxedAndConfused]

Just had a call from the garage saying that the engineer Tesco sent out is claiming that because one of the cylinders is so clean and I have only driven the car less than 200 miles since taking out the warranty that they will not cover it. His assumption is that the problem must have existed before the warranty was taken out.

 

Eh ? Did Tesco come out and clean the cylinders for you as part of taking out the warranty ? I thought you had bought this car used ?

 

What about the other two cylinders (assuming this is a V6) ?

 

...

Again in my experience with cars;

1 - I drove a mk1 Golf for 2 weeks without a radiator cap because I had lost it after forgetting to screw it back on. I had to wait 2 weeks for the new part to arrive which meant stopping every 20 mins or so to top up the emptying cooling system and I was in effect cooking it each day (London driving). No Head gasket failure.

2 - Same golf oil pump failure, driven 3-4 times for a couple of miles, with lights flashing and buzzers going off. No damage.

3 - Clio, radiator removed awaiting part - driven multiple short journeys (1-2 miles) with no cooling system. No failure of anything.

...

 

My experience is similar to this - I have had overheating caused by a gasket failure and other things like water pumps failing - I miss the old Minis - but not gasket failure by overheating. Which is why I wondered if it is automatically the cause.

 

I had a chat with my own spannerers the other evening (Mrs T&C's car in for a service) and they thought HGF could be for a number of reasons including (mostly) a manufacturing fault in the gasket or the head. Normally if it happens in the period of the mfrs warranty then it would be covered.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes I have worked on A4s and A6s.

Water pump failure cannot be discounted.These are normally changed when the cam belt is done but not everyone knows about it.

The impelar on the pumps are made of plastic and perish.There are at least 2 temperature transmitters in the cooling system which should have alerted warning lights.

Also I know that its usual to run the engine even on a basic service and wait for the fan to come in to check operation is within limits because all Audis and Volkswagens have thermo controlled fans.

The ECU check using the diagnostics would not pick up component wear obviously.

Insofar as repairs go-If Audi were to do this job they would quote for head gasket set and probably advise on doing the cambelt and tensioner at the same time.

Then there is consumables-dont forget the longlife oil now is not cheap- maybe this alone would cost over £50 Lets not forget either-access to the head removal requires taking off the front end (bumper lights etc)...not like the old days.

There is no need for a head skim-it can be done simply by a rubbing block and fine emery to remove any excess gasket.

There was another fault on these models too-in the chambers where the manifold goes they have some little plastic flaps-I recall one customer who needed a full top end overhaul because two of the flaps had broken and jammed the valves.

Audi were not interested..but strangely enough it was found that the new ones had been modified-even having new part numbers.Engine type is the FSI....if anyone has one beware !!!

[TaxedAndConfused]

I think this A4 will not have had a cambelt yet - it had 16K on it in march according to the OP.

 

Similar to the local garage near me replacing Skoda Octavia's dual mass flywheels with single mass ones for taxi (i.e. high mileage) use. If the DMF has no problems then why ?

[MARTIN3030]

DMF were a big problem for VW and same engine fitted in the Ford Galaxy.Cost of that job was around £1100 -and the DMF is an exchange part too.