Possible Headgasket trouble

[Spurgey]

I've got the luke-warm Mk IV 2.0l GTI.  It's 3 yrs old done 35k and although serviced at the recomended intervals has always used a litre of oil every 3-5k.  Dealer says its not unusual and I haven't been too bothered as I'm intending to chop it in for the 180bhp 1.8T in a few months.  

However, just recently when topping it up I've had the old coffee-coloured sludge on the filler cap - nothing on the dipstick and the coolant reservoir shows no signs of oil.

Has anyone come across this before? Is it not worth worrying about or would you get it in the garage right away?  Warranty has just expired by the way!

Spurgey

[Gt-tdi]

hello mate, its true about getting the described 'sludge' with a gone headgasket but also a common problem is many short journeys and/or leaving the car to sit for long also causes very similar residues. try getting it 'block tested' from a local garage. this is just checking for air leaks via the radiator. takes 2min and prob theyll do for free.

theres another page on here which describes your exact sympton in the garage page.

[4 cylinder 8v fuel injected 205 killing machine]

Hello I have just had this problem on my mk2, same symptoms, I took the rocker cover off cleaned it up cleaned the cap and most importantly the breather (do not think mine has ever been cleaned in its 127000mile history) then we went for a scary blast up the A1 and down some fast back roads got her lovley and warm got back home and no mayo just nice black oil...........
Try it yourself but for the love of god keep your eye on the temp gauge when you are flashing around if she starts to run excessivly hot or have massive temp fluctuations it`s best to get it checked out proffesionaly ..don`t  cook ya engine1

all the best and i hope this does work out for you

[Spurgey]

Cheers lads for the advice I was hoping it was easily explained ... didn't have any overheating probs and no sign of oil contamination in coolant reservoir so it didn't seem like the headgasket but ... like Kniterider I just saw ??'s!

I'll keep an eye on things over the next few days/weeks and try and get out for a good rip at the weekend. Ta