1994 Mk3 Golf Problems

[Pitts]

right im 17 and i own a 1994 1.4 petrol volkswagen golf and it has developed a misterious oil leek. i have had it on the road since november. when i put it on the road it had full oil on the dipstick, water was fine, all the nessacery checks were made, now it has a random oil leek that seems to have happened since the weekend, me and a friend have looked at it and checked all the obvious things, and the oil seems to be all over the engine around the head, there is no emulsifying stuff in the oil or the water, the temperature guage does not go through the roof, there is on the back of the engine a 2 small things that come out of the engine, which have small wires going off to the battery and other places,i have tried unplugging these and seeing if any warning lights come up on the dash and none do. this seems to be leaking, but is only a small amount, which i dont think this compensates for the amount of oil. so if anyone knows what these things are, they look a little bit like sensors, please can you inform me. and also if anyone else has had similar problems or know of anyone that has. please inform me. thanks for your time.

Fraser

[GingerWizard]

and breath...... You might want to repost this in the volkswagen section, and add some syntax..

[warped head]

leaking around the head could be head gasket, just because theys no mayo doesnt mean it isnt leaking, if the gasket has fractured at one of the oilways it will dribble oil out of the head, this will not show up on a compression test either.

It could also be a dodgy seal on the filler cap.

The good news is if its the head gasket then you may be lucky and be able to just swap a new one in without the need to skim it.

My girlfriend car had a severe headgasket failure, but there was a bit of the gasket by one of the oilways that had deteriorated compeltely and was leaking oil out of the front of the head, this in its self wouldnt cause any of the problems assosiated with gasket failure.

The 1.4 isnt hard to work on (i know i have owned a MK3 golf and helped others with theirs) so changing a head gasket, providing it doesnt need skimming is about a 2 hours job if that.

just remeber if you go down this route buy a gasket kit, not just the head gasket and then replace all gaskets you remove just to be safe. also you WILL need new head bolts, DO NOT use the old ones they wont work.

Also post a picture of the leak and then people will be able to diagnose it easier.

It could also be rocker cover gasket.

[Ladvr6]

warped head said:

It could also be rocker cover gasket.

I reckon its probably the rocker gasket too. The missus had one, had to change it on hers, should be a 10 minute job.......as long as, whatever you do, is avoid over tightening the allen key bolts that hold it down, they only need nipping up. It looks like a fat bolt from above but its only slim underneath and is also made of cheese and will break off really easy into the journal underneath. (Learn from my mistake!!)

[bazking69]

I presume the oil cap is in place and sealed...

[Pitts]

yes the oil cap is in place and sealed, i am going to clean up the engine and then go for a drive see where its coming from. some other people have said that it may be the oil sender guage.

[snotrag]

Rocker cover gasket is the most likely thing. Check that before you go messing about with sensors etc. Only about a tenner.