This my 04 A4. I noticed the telltale white smoke from the exhaust first off. After investigation I noticed that when I pulled the plug on #3 cylinder it was wet, like coolant wet. Figuring it was a head gasket I pulled the head. I carefully examined the head for signs that the head gasket had failed but I saw a nice crisp line where the head gasket had sealed on not just #3 but on all the cylinders on both the head and block. I closely examined the head with a magnifying glass for cracks but found none, same with the block. I also checked the head and block surface for flatness. One thing I did notice was there was a vertical line running the full length of #3 that appeared almost like a stain from the top of the cylinder down the length of it. I could not find any crack associated with this line. I'm thinking it might have been coolant leaking down the cylinder wall when the car is sitting causing this stain. Anyway after reassembling the head with a new gasket the problem persists, coolant is still getting into #3 cylinder and white smoke is coming from the exhaust. Where do I go from here? I'm thinking a leak down test, which I should have done in the first place. Next how obvious should a crack in the head or block be? I've seen cracked 2 stroke cylinders before and they were obvious. Any suggestions?

 

I would have a look at your rocket cover gasket next, this should have been the first thing to check instead of pulling the whole head but at same time you have got a new head gasket. The rocket cover gasket set also comes with a gasket for the spark plugs and I would suspect that the leak into the spark plugs have come from here.

 

Do you mean rocker cover?

 

I don't see where those gaskets seal anything but oil.

 

O my my mistake I misread and initially thought oil. The head gasket is good I would next look into the oil cooler as it has both oil and coolant lines running through it. It can mix both coolant where oil is to be and vice versa.

 

Did you only check cylinder 3 for cracks?
cylinder 2 is notorious for cracking on 1.8t heads.

here's mine on cylinder 2:


AFAIK nothing besides a cracked block, head, or head gasket failure, can cause water in the cylinders.

Good luck with fix, also 2004 is a B6, not a B5.

 

I'm not seeing the crack in your picture? Could you highlight it?

I took the head to the machine shop and they looked it over and couldn't find anything wrong with it. I rechecked the block and it looks good too. The shop suggested that it could have been improper torque on the head. I followed the proper torque sequence when I put it on but when I removed the head the center bolts had noticeably less resistance, and yes new bolts were used. The shop gave some suggestions for assembly, they said to rap the headbolt with a punch to relieve the tension when torqueing just in case there was some premature binding going on that might give a false torque reading. They also asked me if I put sealant on the headbolts but I didn't see where it was required in anything I read.

So where do I go from here? New head gasket, and I think I'm going to use ARP bolts this time around along with their assembly lube. I'm going to clean out the bolts holes really good and chase the threads and put it all together.

 

there.

 

Any luck figuring it out? Ive notice water in cylinder 2 and 3 a week or so after I replaced the coolant flange and im hoping there is another alternative to replacing the head gasket. thanks

 

It was a cracked head as depicted in RENO's post.