MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => How to Guides / Troubleshooting => Topic started by: petemcr on March 20, 2013, 02:17:46 pm

Title: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: petemcr on March 20, 2013, 02:17:46 pm: Only just got my GTI and it's pretty high miles so I'm a little paranoid with it as it's my daily

I noticed a some mayo on the oil filler and also appears to have a little on the dipstick, my imediate reaction has been the headgasket has gone but I've done a little searching on here/google and some people are saying this is normal, esp over winter

I cleared it off and came to work which is about 18miles and it hasn't come back and it doesn't seem to be using any coolant, only had the car for a week though but I'm keeping an eye on it

in everyones experience is this something I should be worrying about? or is it condensation which seems to pop up quite often given that winter doesn't seem to want to go this year

thanks in advance
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Tortaruga on March 20, 2013, 02:47:39 pm: Don't worry about it. Burn it off with your right foot.
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: petemcr on March 20, 2013, 02:50:15 pm: ahahaha

that shouldn't be an issue

when I checked it I had only drove a bit down the road, that's when it was heavy, but I've just come to work and it's not as bad now but still noticed a little on the dip stick, still not used any water though

thanks for the excuse to put my foot down a bit :D
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: homesqueeze on March 20, 2013, 06:20:18 pm: Perfectly normal if you are doing short distances. Especially in winter like you say.
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Degudodger on March 21, 2013, 07:34:56 pm: Italian tune up once a week should do the trick :)
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: sandancer on March 24, 2013, 09:01:07 pm: Mines been like it for the last few months, a 200 miles blast to the Lakes and back didn't even shift it !
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: sanj on March 24, 2013, 09:53:37 pm: Got a shock when I took mine off as the weather has been bad for a month's now and it looked like soft ice cream,hope it warm's up soon! :surprised:
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: valle on March 25, 2013, 10:04:15 am: Mine has the same problem. Winter and short drives...also can be seen on oil cap, if i remove it. I have also noticed that in winter time, when i don't drive much my oil catch can is filed up very quick...
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: petemcr on March 25, 2013, 07:15:00 pm: I've noticed now after taking it for a long spirited drive majority of it has gone which is good, would be nice if the weather hurry and warm up as well
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Spadds on March 29, 2013, 07:55:31 am: I found this on our old mk3 gti 8v coupled with a water leak on the cylinder head and I immediately diagnosed as fail head gasket.

However a mate pointed out it could just be condensate as the mrs does loads of short drives.

I changed the oil, checked the coolant levels and cleaned the filler cap and took it for a spin. All is well! Still, this did inspire me to sell it and get the mk5 as we wanted a newer 5 door for the bambino!

So, all was well in the end! :-)
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: OSB on March 29, 2013, 04:07:21 pm: Yep got the mayo on mine too!
The last car I had which suffered from this was a Mk1 Cortina GT. So that dates it a bit...
The cause then, and on various cars, was using Castrol oil - which was prone to mayo - as against Duckhams - which wasn't.
Not sure that info is much help now though :laugh:

Or is it? Is there any correlation between different brands of oil and the amount of mayo?
Just a thought ........
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Bow on March 29, 2013, 04:42:48 pm: Mine had it took my mechanic who straight away said not to worry only from short distant journeys etc did head gasket test on coolant and compression rest on cylinders to prove and put mind at rest car was perfect so do not worry so much
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Jme on March 29, 2013, 05:11:22 pm: Hi mate yeah I have the same on my gti (60k on clock) and also the other half's 2006 beetle. The beetle has been like that for last 4 years with no probs. Seems to be a characteristic of the vw's as my dads bora the same lol
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: Nickyboy on April 01, 2013, 03:15:25 pm: Mine does the same, has been doing it for the last 3 years. No worries
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: OSB on April 01, 2013, 04:10:53 pm: Quote from: OSB on March 29, 2013, 04:07:21 pm
Yep got the mayo on mine too!
The last car I had which suffered from this was a Mk1 Cortina GT. So that dates it a bit...
The cause then, and on various cars, was using Castrol oil - which was prone to mayo - as against Duckhams - which wasn't.
Not sure that info is much help now though :laugh:

Or is it? Is there any correlation between different brands of oil and the amount of mayo?
Just a thought ........

So I have been keeping an eye on mine and a friends GTI recently - we both changed from Castrol to Motul oil a couple of months ago. Same type of driving and mileage.
Much less mayo with the Motul ...
Anyone else noticed a difference?
Title: Re: Mayo on oil fillter a little on the dip stick
Post by: petemcr on April 05, 2013, 08:38:02 am: Due to change the oil on mine so I might try Motul and see what difference it makes, saying that thought it seems to be warming up a little around these parts now so if it does go it will be more than likely a combination of both

A spirited drive did help clear most of it out though, which was nice