how do i know weather my engine is a aex or a abd?

[golfmk3]

i just sold my mini on ebay and I'm gettin a golf next week off my dad, the car needs a head gasket and every site i try to find one on has lots of confusing engine codes which mean nothing to me the car is a 1.4 on a m plate so its either a digifant aex or a montronic abd i haven't got a clue what they mean though

[EvilScotsman]

look in the service book if you have it (the one where the garage stamps the pages when its serviced), at the front it tells you the vin number and engine code amongst other things.

it will say AEX or ABD etc somewhere in a box next to the VIN.

The Digifant, Motronic etc refer to the injection system and ecu manufacturer.

That determines the engine type sometimes and dictates what parts you buy when it comes to sensors etc 

For example 2.0 8v gti wi 2E engine has Bosch Motronic engine management where the 2.0 8v gti wi ADY engine is Siemens SIMOS system.