Suspected head gasket faliure ?

[MrD]

Right the wife`s golf is playing up yet again !!

Last month we lost the alternator pulley coming back from north yorkshire ,car didn`t over heat,but i suspect that the water level may have been low,drove it about 4 miles,but the water would not have been pumping round the head for that time.
Since then it`s had a new water pump,alternator,cam belt,tensioner,cam oil seal (busy me )
She was due to be going to uni in Chelmsford this morning,but got about 4 miles from home and called me,it`s cutting out every time she puts the clutch in,we have mayo on the dipstick,but none on rocker cover,the breather runs to atmos from rocker cover,not full of mayo either.
Do you peeps think it`s a head gasket on it`s way out ?
She tells me it`s running like the choke is out,and down on power,i personally think it`s that,but would like other opinions before i strip it down,as i thought i had done the head gasket on my roc,and that turned out to be a big vac leak problem,not operating the idle control valve...

[bensspares]

my two pence says yep...headgasket....mayo on dipstick could mean water is being forced into the oil draining channels and running into the sump.

without the car infront of me i would guess that the least is a c.h.g blown across water channels.i suspect that the head might have warped a little,check this as per haynes, but may only cost you £50/£75 for a headskim.

[MrD]

Right little update,been out there for the last couple of hours,found out why it wouldn`t idle,pipe from vac pull down,to carb was hanging off,and perished,fitted new pipe,running sweet again,going to take it to my mechanic friend on Sat,i think it may be oil cooler possibly,they are renound for going wrong and mixing oil / water,have ordered new h gasket,oil,filter,in and ex gaskets,and head bolts,but hopefully won`t require the head gasket doing..Cheers sir

[bensspares]

i hope its not the c.h.g..the only negative i have is that when iv had oilcoolers fail,oil appears in the header tank..........rather than causing mayo.anyway,check all other candidates before major surgery.

[MrD]

Yeah will do,the man i am taking it too is a vw expert,he is the man who will be building and installing my 9a/kr conversion,and will be doing the engine management when the time comes.
Due to my scirocco being a bit agricultural ,my wife will not drive it,and i need my van for work,so we have got to get it fixed,and will just have to cross everything that when we put a couple of rulers across the head ,it`s not warped

[haddock_n_chips]

sorry to jump in but who are you using mr D for the engine conversino work?? Always looking for s decent mechanic in the cambridge area. They seem few and far between around here!

WiLL....

[MrD]

A friend out Ely way,can ask him if he minds me passing on his number,he knows his stuff,he tends to get quite a few calls from me,as we own 3 vw`s between us

[haddock_n_chips]

yeh cheers dude

best check its ok first though :)

thinking of saving up for an engine change, not sure which way to go though.... kr.... 2.0 8v.... hmmm..... lots to think about!

WiLL...

[MrD]

Sure he will be fine,he does it as a hobby

[MrD]

Right found the issue last week,when i replaced the dipstick tube,i didn`t notice that part of the old tube was on the end of the stick,so when the stick was reading low,it was still over filled with oil.prob had 2 litres to much in,which wouldn`t have helped one bit...
We did a sniff test,and the head gasket was fine,glad we didn`t have to change it.

[duncancallum]

you can get a touch of mayo if its only used on short trips as the oil doesnt steam the water off.

Ill look out for you next time im down as I have friends in Chatteris