hi, brought a vw bora 2.0 8v on sunday drove it home with no problems and all was well. started up this afternoon and found car running lumpy. there is alot of water vapour mixed with black coming out of the exhaust. car heats up very quick to 90 but doesn’t over heat and no coolant level is fine with no oil in it. there is a strong smell coming from the exhaust. also when i removed the dipstick there feels if there air coming out of the dipstick tube? Finally when i brought the car it had next to none of fuel in it. put 5litres in it from a jerry can it. it is now on the red. would be good if someone good comment on some ideas or is this common for that engine?
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Does sound like the head gasket, and possibly bore wear as well if there’s air venting from the crankcase, although that may just be blocked crankcase ventilation pipes. As far as the fuel goes, a rough running car may well do 5 litres in 10-15 miles.
Won’t be cheap to fix, a reconditioned engine may be the best solution, or cut your losses and scrap it.
Lets be optimistic first. You have outlined all the usual problems associated with head gasket failure and the car appears OK on that. If there was little or no fuel then you may have picked up a contaminant such as dirt or water and that is now in the system. The fuel filter is a believe under the car sort of beneath the back seats so replace that. It might even be pertinent to drain some fuel out into a container so that you rid the tank of as much water as possible. You will have water in the tank, all cars do because of atmospherics, the tank is cold and then hot and as the fuel level drops condensation forms within the tank. Once you have done this see how she is running. The pressure up the dipstick tube or in the valve cover is normal providing its not excessive. If the car is still running badly it may well be the electrics and the coil pack is on the way out. I would have the car plugged into a diagnostic reader at this point rather than start buying a ton of new parts and get nowhere fast.
No, it does NOT sound like a blown head gasket.
Water is a product of combustion, so there should be lots of water out the tailpipe of a cold car.
It becomes invisible when engine warms up.
Black means too rich, and is a fuel system problem, not head gasket.
Air from the dipstick also means absolutely nothing.
But old cheap gas will.
You have to use fresh premium in this car.
If you really are worried about the head gasket, then do a compression test of cooling system pressure test.
But I would be more inclined to just put in fresh gas, check the spark plugs, and warm it up more.
If you are using excessive fuel, then pulling the injectors and watching them for dribble would be in order.
Also normal is to check fuel pressure. Return regulator can allow excessive pressure and gas waste. But so can bad plug or plug wire.
Blown head gasket