1999 gti 1.8 drinking coolent like crazy

[skip85]

Hi
can someone help me as i am new to golfs

Basically i have had a 1999 gti for a week now 93k miles and yesterday i had the engine coolant light flash and beep at me (only showing 90degrees) so i pulled into the garage to see what level the coolant bottle was at and was under minimum so i topped it up with water till the weekend, but when i drove home today it came on again got home and there was none left!

am i right in thinking it could be the head gasket or please tell me its something not so severe

am worried as it has noisey tappets!

if anyone can help me out i would appreciate it as i love the car and dont want to have to get rid of it!

[Diamond Hell]

Sounds like either the headgasket has gone, or there is a leak in the coolant system.

If it has an undertray, remove it, then park it up somewhere dry for a few hours, with a sheet of cardboard under it.  If it's leaking coolant you should be able to see where from and sort the leak.

To confirm if it's the headgasket, go to an independent garage and ask if they can get the coolant sniffed for carbon monoxide.  They should have a tool for this.  This will confirm if the headgasket's shot - gas leaking into the waterways, which is a dead giveaway.