do i have a blown head gasket?

[TeddyKGB]

was doing the usual checks today and found my oik was about a 3rd from empty When i unscrewed the filler cap i had a bit of smeg around the edges consistent with a failed head gasket?

http://www.badwolf.plus.com/SP_A0175.jpg
http://www.badwolf.plus.com/SP_A0176.jpg
http://www.badwolf.plus.com/SP_A0177.jpg

Also my coolant was just above minimum, checked in there but couldn't see any oil which is what i dont get, surely if my head had gone there'd be oil in here too?

[neg]

If your head gasket is gone then you would normally see discoloured water in your coolant tank and yellow gunk around the filler cap.

[Komenda]

Its condensation, nothing to worry about.

Short journey and cold starts causes it. If you drive for short periods of time, or don't drive very often water buildup in the engine is common.

[stevieC]

Sometimes the gunk around the oil cap is just caused by codensation and nothing to worry about.

[stevieC]

You beat me to it Komenda

[TeddyKGB]

Cheers guys

Condensation - fair enough, what about the oil/water loss though? i know oil consumption happens but i have used half a can of castrol edge since November. I do about 150 miles per week. I dont have any oil/water leaks that I can see and the driveway is still spotless

[Rhyso]

Cheers guys

Condensation - fair enough, what about the oil/water loss though? i know oil consumption happens but i have used half a can of castrol edge since November. I do about 150 miles per week. I dont have any oil/water leaks that I can see and the driveway is still spotless

take it for a good long blast and rag the sh!t out of it!! soon get rid of the build up

[Smythe1981]

I get exactly the same with my oil cap and i mainly do short journeys (work is only 3-4 miles away), 5 times a week.

One thing i have noticed, not sure if anybody else has but my GTI used to use quite a bit of oil, in its first year of running just over 8000 miles i used about 2 1/2 litres of oil.

Since it's first service i've covered 1500 miles and hasnt used a drop.

This engine just gets better & better!!