NO GO!! 1.8 GTI engine PLEASE HELP..

I've had my 1.8 MK1 GTI for about a year now(my first car,and never had a problem with it.Until about a month ago when a tappet started to make a lot of noise(hydraulic head).I didn't make much of it then because the oil was due for a change.After a talk with a friend i decided to put some engine cleaner in the oil before I change it.DONE.I put new oil in(and filter) and turned the key,the tappet noise was gone,but i noticed a slight misfire and some blue smoke out the tailpipe(strange because it never happened before).
And now things took a turn for the worse,when I tried to start the car for a second time(a few hours passed after the first),the engine ran very rough,the car was shaking like crazy,and steam was pouring from the tailpipe, so i turned it off.It felt like the engine was missing a couple of cylinders
I started the engine again but in a few seconds it died out,and a slight bubbling/hissing sound came from cylinder head.I thought the head gasket was gone,so i removed the head to change it.The gasket seemed fine, there was no sign of any leaking,or blowout.I inspected the head for craks,sticking valves-anything that could have caused this.
Nothing :dontknow:
I put the head back on with a new gasket and hoped for the best.THe best didn't happen,the car barely started now an ran like a bag of nails,and the hissing/bubbling sound was still there( i managed to trace it to somewhere under the valve cover after i took the oil cap off).Every time i wanted to start it i had to clean the sparkplugs,because the engine was somehow getting flooded from fuel,even though no black smoke was coming from the tailpipe,but i had to floor the gas pedal to keep the engine running at about 2000rpm(it wouldn't go any higher).
Finaly i drained the coolant out of the engine(it had a little oil in it),and tried to start it again,it ran great(no misfires,no smoke)
I put in about 1 liter of coolant,started but ran rough,and steam out the taipipe,but no hissing soud from the head cover.
I suspect that water is getting in the cylinders from somewhere,but don't know what to do next…hope there's someone out there that has seen this before,and can help me out

Sorry for the long post

You should get the head checked for distortion or internal problems . A compression check may help as well .

That cleaner oil is no good on high mileage engines (not saying that is your problem) i had an xr3i with 120k on the clock and it run sweeet. i used some of the cleaner oil and it never run right after that used to burn a litre of oil every 2 weeks and run like a bag poo.

Did you get the head skimmed before replacing it?

Thanks for the replys …
I didn't get the head skimmed because it was skimmed about 3000miles ago when the botom end was done.
I don't know what the engine cleaner could have affected,if anyone has any ideas  please speak up…
Chudd is there any way to check if there is any internal damage on the head without removing it from the engine? On the other hand i'm going to do a compresion test to see if i'm ok in that area.

MK140 said

Chudd is there any way to check if there is any internal damage on the head without removing it from the engine? On the other hand i'm going to do a compresion test to see if i'm ok in that area.

Compression test wet and dry will help tell you whats going on inside . You could also pay for a coolant pressure test at your local 'friendly' garage . Sorry but from description it doesn't sound good news .


Cheers…………

chudd said

MK140 said

Compression test wet and dry will help tell you whats going on inside . You could also pay for a coolant pressure test at your local 'friendly' garage . Sorry but from description it doesn't sound good news .


Cheers…………

Ok,it's been a month now but i still haven't figured out why my engine won't run like it should  
The compression is fine,the coolant system doesn't seem to loose any pressure(at least thats what the guy at the garage said,after doing a pressure test).
Now i'm going to take the head off again and inspect more carefully.Could anyone tell me what to look for?
How can the head be tested to see iff it has internal cracks or something,do I have to go to a specialized garage to do this ??
Please help…it's driving me insane

Maybe the best thing to do would be to source a replacement head, rather than trouble-shoot your current one.

You can pick them up fairly cheaply, and it may save you hours of grief  :?

HTH

Rich

mcscrew said

Maybe the best thing to do would be to source a replacement head, rather than trouble-shoot your current one.

You can pick them up fairly cheaply, and it may save you hours of grief  :?

HTH

Rich

Yes thats true,but first i need to be sure that my head is really at fault.