Piston Rings or Valve stem seals on abf

[Gash]

Right recently had my headgasket changed since then (2 weeks nearly) its been burning alot of oil (gone through about 7 litres of it!)
running wise, its great, accelerates fine etc
speaking to gary on here hes had a simular problem with his mk4....

on start up it smokes but not afterwards, then when warm and pulling off (1st to 2nd mostly) it smokes alot then.

weve both been pointed to either two things....

piston rings gone or valve steam oil seals (the oil seals were changed by the garage that skimmed my head)

iv done a compression test (with throttle wide open) and reading the following on the cylinders from drivers side across

engine is a abf if that matters..... 225, 240, 250, 260. which i know is high.

trying to find out as if its the piston rings il have to pay to get everything done, but if its the stem seals im getting the garage which did my head to pay (seeing as they put the new seals in)

any help will be great

[tweed]

Considering the work that has been carried out I would say stem seals, even more so if it's smoky on start up.

[Gash]

does the compression seem high though?

[leigh_harty]

My vr has a range of 170 (cold) to 190 (warm) and the dummy guage on my tester would presume over 200 psi. Could be wrong though

But surely even with high readings its would still mean the rings are fine? Ive just done the rings on my vr and it was a piece of p|ss actually when i got the right tool! 

[madmanmart]

I had a ABF once that was very simular,

That had also had previous work done and it turned out to be a stem seal fitted poorly.

[VW BUSH]

If the valve guide is fooked then new rubber seals wont last long, saying that two weeks is not that long so I would go with one not fitted properly.....
Cylinder 1 seems quite low compared to the others, could be a sign of wear

[Gash]

it was more near 230 really. i just was typing on my phone and couldnt be bothered to delete it when i was told 230 not 225 lol

[VW BUSH]

it was more near 230 really. i just was typing on my phone and couldnt be bothered to delete it when i was told 230 not 225 lol

That's not too bad really then, if its an original engine then the compression would only have been higher at the start.
I cant see anyone skimming too much off the head to raise the compression......what units was the gauge in?

[Gash]

psi and bar. was between 14 and 16 bar

[LowlifeDubber]

As mentioned before mate im siding towards valve stem seal fitted incorrectly or a worn valve guide.
Doing a compression check wont determine the oil control rings are fubarred as a leak down test is needed for this,and even then its not 100%
I decided to pop a thermostat in the mk3 instead of doing the leakdown tst today as im waiting for my stethescope to come on monday.

In my case because the piston was struck by a valve it could have pinched a ring or damaged a valve guide but i think you will be lucky and just need to whip the top off and i think you will find a damaged vsos.
Take it to the garage that rebuilt your head and ask them to check their work while it is still running driveable.
Regardless waht the problem is with her mk4 i will be stripping it down monday afternoon after i wake up from my sunday night shift.

Dont loose hope with it just yet