Coolant problem/fire
 

So my buddy's car is a 91 tsi and the coolant gauge hasnt work since this winter when exicuting a drift. so we are unsure of the temp.

To the point, we were crusing tonight, and about an hour and a half in we realized the heat wasnt working anymore. so we were close to his house so we just stopped and checked it out, the overflow cap popped off and what appeard to be spewing coolant out.

It kind of smelt like it could have started over heating so i pulled the oil cap off and steam starting coming out of there as well. It's dark out so i pull my lighter out to check for serious discoloration on the head and when i stuck my head up close with the lighter, a big blue FLAME shot at my head... Not Cool.

Im not sure what to really think of this yet, so i thought id post it and see what you guys thought. So far im thinking it could be a head gasket going out, because how else besides rings could gas get in the oil. i will check c/r aswell as the oil to see if theres anything wierd. before the numbers were really damn good on a stock motor...155 across the board and its got 133k on it.

Re: Coolant problem/fire
 

Oil vapor is flamable...

And because of blow-by there will be a small amount of unburned fuel in the crankcase. That's what the PCV is for, to ventilate that stuff out.

Simple case of Darwinism here.

Re: Coolant problem/fire
 

I'll agree Matt... The award goes to _______.

My first question is why didnt he fix the temp gauge? It's probably just a wire that fell off from the t-stat housing, thats the only thing that controls the gauge.

Second question is why do you have the heat on in the middle of AUGUST!?!

Re: Coolant problem/fire
 

I think I told him to fix that shit like 10000000 times. You're right, it's just a wire. The worst part is, he knows it gets hot. So he just drives around with the heat on assuming it will be ok. Driving with heat on keeps the engine cooler.. I assume you knew that. Looks like the luck ran out.

Re: Coolant problem/fire
 

Yeah I knew that, its just like an extra radiator with a fan. But normally if you have a cooling problem and cant monitor it, you dont drive. That was pretty stupid if you ask me.

I wasnt aware of the cooling issue.