New to MK2 - have I bought a lemon? Please advise guys!

[dTEA]

No need chap, tis a 16V so not the K-jet engine. DEFO sounds like stem seals to me.

Wow - internet nolidge being imparted there.

thats a quote and a half

[Gambit]

if its the stem seals it'll be blue smoke (oil) at idle.

if its plumes of smelly white smoke, then it'll be head gasket

if its just white steam, condenation, just smells like exhaust fumes then you've nothing to worry about

if its running fully synthetic oil then it'll be way too thin. run at least 10w40 semi-sythentic in it.

if you wanna do a pressure test then your looking around 200psi per cylinder on an engine with that amount of mileage. anything lower and your looking at a new set of piston rings

[tajbhambra]

Thank you all for your help. You truly are a helpful bunch here. I won't continue to bore you with my problems, but to say I'll keep it running as it is, watch the coolant level over a week or two and see if it drops. I assume that some coolant usage is ok, i mean small minimal amount. If it is a headgasket, I assume the water will disappear pretty quick from the expansion bottle.

I really wanted a Gti for ages. I bought this for £1600 and if it runs for 12 months, don't mind spending money on it.

If it is the HG, can I pretty much trust any garage on the work? A garage has quoted me £595 cash to do a HG replacement. Is that about right? Does anybody recommend a place or would anybody here like to do it for me and I pay them? Sorry for the direct question, but couldn't think of another way to put it.

Thanks again

[Horney]

Yo fella,

There's a good place on mill road in caversham that deals with dubs. Mill Road Garage I thinkthey're called. There's also aome folks going out towards Henley but I can't remember their name.

If you want piece of mind I'm happy to look your car over one lunchtime or evening. I live in Basingstoke so not far from Reading, but I work in Reading town centre. I have a compression tester we can use.

Nick

[dTEA]

Yo fella,

There's a good place on mill road in caversham that deals with dubs. Mill Road Garage I thinkthey're called. There's also aome folks going out towards Henley but I can't remember their name.

If you want piece of mind I'm happy to look your car over one lunchtime or evening. I live in Basingstoke so not far from Reading, but I work in Reading town centre. I have a compression tester we can use.

Nick

is anyone this helpful near manchester!!?!?!? 

[Conker]

I'm currently trying to solve a similar problem, although mine was drinking coolant, so I plumped for the head gasket. My advice after doing this: Be PATIENT (unlike me) and get a compression test done first. Mine might well be the HG (its not refitted yet) but I should have checked first before taking it off really.

Just one other thing...  Take off your crankcase breather pipe and the metal breather itself. If this gets blocked it can cause smokiness - Mine was FULL of mayo, so couldn't have been helping things.