emmkayJuan
Veteran Member
Thought I'd post this up to see if anyone has experienced a blown headgasket on the '09+ CR's. Quick back story...
Recently bought an extremely clean '09 Sportwagen with a seized turbo from it's original owner. Extensive dealer service history (not that that's always good, but the guy was meticulous). This included a full fuel system replacement at 93k for HPFP failure, and a timing belt service at 120k. Car had 159k at the time of purchase.
I fixed the car, upgraded to the CR170 turbo, deleted EGR, Buzzken exhaust, Malone Stage 3 & DSG programs. During the work I noticed the expansion tank contained a lot of brown murk and I assumed an inappropriate coolant mixture somewhere along the line. The "coolant" was also murky and mostly water. The heat was not working in the car so a plugged heater core could fall in line with a coolant mixture.
I ran the car for a month and ~5k miles without issue. I live in Florida so heat hasn't been necessary. However, I decided I wanted to replace the nasty expansion tank and flush the cooling system. All went well and I was able to remove a good amount of muck from the system & heater core. There was a decent amount of corrosion in the hoses, likely from the high water content of the coolant and possibly due to a coolant mixture.
A week later the car starts producing, white sweet-smelling smoke and is loosing coolant at a minimal rate. There's also some minor pressuring (bubbling) in the expansion tank. I'm going to check for exhaust gas in the cooling system today and possibly perform a leak down. I suspect a very small head gasket leak. I'm only about 5k miles into my Malone Stage 3, and I use the car for daily highway driving. There are plenty of guys out there with this set-up so I don't suspect the upgrades caused the issue. I think the culprit is corrosion that freed-up during the flush and has exposed a small leak. But, I've been wrong before.
Just thought I'd share my experience and ask a few questions:
1.) Has anyone else experienced a blown headgasket on these CR cars for whatever reason? I haven't found much.
2.) Has anyone had to send off a head to be checked and/or rebuilt and should my usual machine shop specializing in headwork be able to handle a CR head? They've done ALH heads in the past.
3.) Should I consider headgasket sealer and dumping the car? Lol!
Thanks in advance!
-Patrick
Recently bought an extremely clean '09 Sportwagen with a seized turbo from it's original owner. Extensive dealer service history (not that that's always good, but the guy was meticulous). This included a full fuel system replacement at 93k for HPFP failure, and a timing belt service at 120k. Car had 159k at the time of purchase.
I fixed the car, upgraded to the CR170 turbo, deleted EGR, Buzzken exhaust, Malone Stage 3 & DSG programs. During the work I noticed the expansion tank contained a lot of brown murk and I assumed an inappropriate coolant mixture somewhere along the line. The "coolant" was also murky and mostly water. The heat was not working in the car so a plugged heater core could fall in line with a coolant mixture.
I ran the car for a month and ~5k miles without issue. I live in Florida so heat hasn't been necessary. However, I decided I wanted to replace the nasty expansion tank and flush the cooling system. All went well and I was able to remove a good amount of muck from the system & heater core. There was a decent amount of corrosion in the hoses, likely from the high water content of the coolant and possibly due to a coolant mixture.
A week later the car starts producing, white sweet-smelling smoke and is loosing coolant at a minimal rate. There's also some minor pressuring (bubbling) in the expansion tank. I'm going to check for exhaust gas in the cooling system today and possibly perform a leak down. I suspect a very small head gasket leak. I'm only about 5k miles into my Malone Stage 3, and I use the car for daily highway driving. There are plenty of guys out there with this set-up so I don't suspect the upgrades caused the issue. I think the culprit is corrosion that freed-up during the flush and has exposed a small leak. But, I've been wrong before.
Just thought I'd share my experience and ask a few questions:
1.) Has anyone else experienced a blown headgasket on these CR cars for whatever reason? I haven't found much.
2.) Has anyone had to send off a head to be checked and/or rebuilt and should my usual machine shop specializing in headwork be able to handle a CR head? They've done ALH heads in the past.
3.) Should I consider headgasket sealer and dumping the car? Lol!
Thanks in advance!
-Patrick
