Burning Engine Coolant

[Darek Jarski]

"My 93 Quattro 90 CS is burning about 12 ounces of coolant in between oil
changes."

I feel your pain! I actually have other symptoms which may or may not be a
head gasket. Here is some advice. If you have a blown head gasket you may
see some or all of these symptoms: white smoke (obvious), oil in the coolant
(as oil pressure is higher when car is running than the coolant pressure),
coolant in the oil (as when the cooling system is pressurized after it gets
hot it will be at a higher pressure than the oil AFTER the engine is turned
off), some also say to look at the coolant tank when the car is running --
if it is boiling over than you may have compression escaping into the
cooling system (sounds odd I don't know if this works or not). [White stuff
in the oil may also be a sign but it could also be condensation cased by a
faulty PCV system as I hope is the case with my car.]

Unfortunately there is no sure way to tell if you have a blown head gasket
(or cracked head or block) without pulling the head. (Many people say
compression and leak down test will but a very good mechanic told me this is
not fool proof). However, you can do a simple test that costs about $20 to
test your oil for presence of coolant. This may usually be done at truck
stops or laboratories but call your nearest Audi $tealer and find out if
they have those tests done and where, than go there yourself and cut out the
middle man. You must have at least 1000 miles on the oil if you to this to
get a good reading. (3000 mile probably better but check with the laboratory
once you find one). Once again this will tell you only that coolant is
present or not, as opposed to where it came from. If there is no coolant
present in the oil you may be losing it some where else. Since I have 89
200tq, I have not expertise to tell you common leaks on the 90. The info
above should apply to all cars. Good luck.

Darek

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