Head gasket issue?

[MR LG 7]

Hi guys.

I have a 2000 V6 4motion (AUE).it's been off the road for the last 3 months as it had developed a miss fire.I replaced the expensive coil pack,leads and plugs and all was well,however 2 weeks later I ran her again.The coolant warning came on.I noticed the expansion bottle was empty and the oil cap had a slight white gunge on.I filled the bottle back up to level and cleaned the oil cap and ran the car again.This time the bottle remained level but the oil cap still was a bit white.I smelt the water in the bottle and it didn't smell or look contaminated.The oil on the dipstick is normal colour so now have no idea why the fluid disappeared in the first place.Anyone else had similar issues? Also does anyone know of a reputable vw specialist in the Gloucestershire area? Thanks in advance ?

[VR6Pete 1,455]

There's only one way of to determine if head gasket has gone by performing a sniffer test.

You may get gunk on oil cap is not running many miles (condensation) and genuinely could be loosing coolant at many points within the system.

Highly recommend stealth racing if you can get it to there

[MR LG 7]

Thanks Pete,

I did the sniff test and it just smelt like stale water and anti freeze so need to look elsewhere.If there's a leak I'm sure it's at the front of the engine as I found a oil/water mixture on the crankcase.Fingers crossed it will be inexpensive to fix ?.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

8 minutes ago, MR LG said:

Thanks Pete,

I did the sniff test and it just smelt like stale water and anti freeze so need to look elsewhere.If there's a leak I'm sure it's at the front of the engine as I found a oil/water mixture on the crankcase.Fingers crossed it will be inexpensive to fix ?.

 

Not with your nose, an actual tester. Fluid will change colour if it picks up co2 in coolant.