blown head gasket?

[Jasikasisback]

I have written a lot on here about how my car is bellowing white smoke on start up and then running rough, but once it warms up everything is fine. It has gotten poorer fuel economy wise, but still within the range of reason. There is no noticeable loss of coolant from the coolant tank even after 6 month

So I had the engine and coolant system pressure tested by a forum member at his workplace (thank you very much for that), and that was after a 45 minute drive. No leaks detected at either spark plug or in the coolant system.

But if the car sits for two or three days then it bellows clouds of white smoke James Bond style. The smoke does not smell like anything and yes there is a drip drip drip at the exhaust. This doesn't taste like anything (yeah I have tasted it...the brave soul that I am) =water?

No mayo in the oil and the oil does not hiss when I put a drop of it on the block from the dipstick after the car has warmed up..

I was wondering if there is a small leak in the head gasket that is only present when the engine is cold and is not detectable when the engine has warmed up to operating temperature. Has anyone been in this situation or had it happen to them. Can it be possible that the coolant is somehow entering the engine and not being circulated and just being blown out of the exhaust?  No evidence of oil in the coolant either. Reservoir tank is clean..

I don't know if the cat will become damaged from excessive water/coolant going through it...

Does not look good...

[GOLF-MK3-GTI]

Most likely worn out stem seals. Does it eat oil?

[GOLF-MK3-GTI]

What engine is it?

[Jasikasisback]

does not eat oil and it is an AAM 1.8. So should I do the following for the upcoming MOT?

1) engine flush-redex, stp or wynn's maybe that will help things.
2) use a thick grade motor oil for MOT...such as a straight 30? (dunno if they still sell this-or 20W40 or higher grade if i can find it...should be fine for summer..

 Just want to get the car through MOT and don't want to spend money on it only to have it fail for other reasons...(maybe something else is wrong and I don't know it...)

[GOLF-MK3-GTI]

I wouldn't recommend using thicker oils tbh. Maybe add some additives that will help it from smoking when cold?. But if it only does it when stone cold, then runs better when warmed up. Just drive the car before you take it for M.O.T.give it a run.

Also it looks like it common for these engine to smoke, look at other threads that have been posted this week regarding engine smoke and its the same engine as yours too.

[Jasikasisback]

i will flush it and put wynns smoke reducing in it snd see what happens:)

[Gti_Jamo]

I've had that same problem before on a peugeot 205 gti, head gasket leak when cold, white smoke - then fine when warm once everything has got hot and expanded. But I was also getting noticeable pressure through the expansion tank when cold, and a sniff test also detected the presence of hydrocarbons in the coolant.

[Wayne]

White smoke is water in the combustion chamber and not oil which would be blue, so I would say you have a head gasket problem.