exhaust

[jenny fenton]

I have an Audi 90E, the water is blowing out from the exhaust pipe, the cap blew off from the coolent bottle, what could be wrong?

[les saisies]

I am no mechanic but I sure that you have a head gasket failure.

Had 2 go on one of my cars many years ago and quite expensive to repair.

Good luck.

[rugeleyboy]

i know a bit about cars and it definatly sounds like you head gaskets gone!!

check the dipstick and see if thier is any water in your oil?

[jake-the-peg]

You may or may not find the classic white "mayonaise" in your oil. This happens when the gasket fails between the oil and water channels. It sounds as if you have a failure between the water channels and a piston.

A replacement head gasket is pretty cheap, however the engine has to be taken apart to fit it so there's a lot of labour involved.

Sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings

[stanleyman]

Before you get too carried away the cap would only blow off if it wasn't fitted properly but if you mean it is blowing out coolant then that's different. Also don't confuse normal exhaust condensation with a leaking head gasket. Check out the simply things first and have a pressure test before whipping the head off.

[jake-the-peg]

True - also if you are leaking coolant into the cylinders yuo would expect to see white smoke from the exhaust even when the engine is warm.

Are you seeing any of this?

[funkymoped]

sounds like head gaskets gone.

check for water in the oil and/or oil in the water.

wouldnt be a bad idea to get the compression test as sugested by stan.

is the cooling system presurised (sealed plastic expansion tank) or the old radiator cap type ?

[Guddu05]

if water is blowing out than it might not be a head gasket problem but if you see a mixture in the engine or thik white smoke from exhaust than yea your head gasket gone. taking the engine apart, looking at a cost of around �500-�600. exen though the gasket only costs around �15

[jenny fenton]

Thank you guys for the information, I have been out, checked, there is no water in the oil, there is no oil in the coolent, the coolent is blue colour, water coming out of exhaust is clear. Could it be the gasket has broken through wear and tear, or could it be something else? Coz I don't want to strip down the engine to find gasket is ok! Yet, water is getting into exhaust, don't want to run car in case of severe problem.

[stanleyman]

Unless you are loosing coolant to the point you keep topping it up frequently then there's no problem, as I said before it could be normal exhaust condensation you can see. Only a pressure test will confirm either way.