faulty head gasket

Yes it can. Price depends on the damage done and how good the garage=20 is. Costs from about =A350 DIY to a few hundred =A3=A3.

--=20 Conor

Opinions personal, facts suspect.

Absolutely, it's usually the first sign that most drivers notice.

And on one of those it's 100% that'll be the fault.

As Conor says, about £50 to do it yourself, or usually up to about £350 if you pay a garage. Try not to let them skim the head if you do use a garage, these don't run well after a head skim.

Thanks to both of you for getting back to me.

Many thanks

Is it easy for anyone to change a gasket or is it best left to the proffesionals?

If you have a decent tool set and can follow the instructions in the Haynes b.o.l. it's not a difficult job.

Si

No this can't happen. I've stripped down many VW Beetle engines and can find no correlation between head gasket failure and "coolant" loss.

What about new Beetles? :)

Si

I'm sure they never break down. After all, since about the mid 90's there's nothing in life so reliable as a Volkswagen - or so they tell us.

Last few days i lost water and over heated, i couldnt find anything wrong until i looked unde the hood at the fisrt sign of temp right and noticed a tiny tiny pin head lead leak under pressur from the ext water pipe.

Changed many a head gasket, but if the heads warped it will happen again.

A skim and a set of torque wrenches, with the correct order woudlt do.

Missed what engine it is.

LOL - you almost caught me out with that one !!!!

Stuart (who had to read it twice before noticing the word "Beetle")

I can't help thinking that, generally speaking, when all's said and done, at the end of the day etc etc., that that's a load of old bollocks. Sorta thing.

Are they still saying it? I wonder if the Japanese sued?

Si

Of course it is. I was being ironic. VW's are rather poor for reliability other than in their own adverts.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@aol.comNoEmails (Dave Baker) contains these words:

Oh, well, that's OK then.

Aparently that Citroen advert with the bloke relying on some newfangled gizmo to guide him over a CGI bridge isn't a problem with the regulators "Because it's obvious that the bridge isn't real". I bet the bunch who did the CGI are less than pleased about that.

No, I didn't mean your comment was bollocks, Dave! I knew you were being ironic and I meant that VW's claim to ultimate reliability was bollocks...which it is/was. I was wondering how they managed to get away with it. *Thinks* Ah..."If only everything in life was as reliable as a VW" wasn't it? They didn't actually say that they never break. Crafty beggars.

............Anyway...........:o)

Si