little bit of steam...

[sparkplug]

after 10 happy years together my 25 year old lady has been bad
she drove to work fine , however when i parked up a mate pointed out she was
leaking a bit of steam 
so i let her cool down , then had a look small hole in the heater hose
OK no worries , bit of rubber self amalgamating tape will temp repair it
went to top up the expansion bottle , but it was full right up..
with engine oil & water 

it's a 1986 8V GTI so i shall have to get the head off and hope its just a gasket problem
do  8v suffer from head warping ?
i will fit new head bolts while I'm there too

when she is fixed she is going to get a right spanking 

[tech1889]

looks like head gasket has gone good and proper.. head will need removing.. skimming if need be.. new gasket and head bolts..

[mk2bal]

Check oil cooler also, when they go they can cross-contaminate fluids. Had a mate who saw oil+water mixed, so removed head to find gasket was fine, and it turned out to be the cooler at fault!!

[sparkplug]

good idea cheers 
 but how do you test it though ?
or is it just looking for leaks from it ?

[Agreeable Slick]

Easiest way is to get a compression test done, then if that comes back ok drop the coolant out and flush it through. Change the cooler housing over for one known not to leak and see what happens.

[sparkplug]

cheers guys 

[mk2bal]

Yeah fingers crossed for you the pin hole in hose was down to age (perished) and that the cooler is the contamination fault. It would be a bit circumstantial, but better than a h/g for sure..

[andynorfolk]

the exact same thing happened to mine, was just the oil cooler that had gone

[Wayne]

Bypass the cooler and flush the system through, then run it and see if it comes back.

[sparkplug]

 i have cleaned the system through , & bypassed the cooler as suggested
thanks for all the advice 
i hope this has fixed it , fingers crossed