Ah, deleted the quote tags accidentally so the text didn't come up in white background in case you wonder why the post above makes no sense - if that makes sense!
That engine design is at least 30 years old (compare it to a 1.1/1.3 mk1) and they often leak at that point because of the design of the head. I have an engine outside leaking in exactly the same place. It is a head gasket failre but not the common (cylinder/waterway/oilway) type. It won't do any harm to the engine to be leaking from there unless you let the oil get low but they don't tend to leak much. The only problem is if it's dripping onto your alternator you may end up with a flat battery but this is pretty unlikely. Keep it topped up with oil, keep wiping the oil off and you'll be fine. Replacing the head gasket would fix it but I've driven for 2 years with the same problem and the engine was still going fine when I took it out.
I've an oil leak from the head gasket of my 1.6 block, just behind the dizzy (I assume) but it doesn't loose a lot so I'm not planning to fix it until I have to. I'd only bother fixing it if there's oil getting near the cam belt or it suddenly starts flooding out or if the gasket fails more drastically
ok so can i just change the oil seals and see if it stops or does this take alot things to remove so you can replace them?? if it aint the oil seals then al prob get the headgasket done in the summer cause the car drives prefect took on the motorway y/day an was drivin good
oh yeh forgot to say it does seem to be coming from the side an coming on to that corner of the head so is it still the head or oilseals??
My money is STILL on this oil coming from the cam oil seal or the front of the rocker gasket then "bleeding" around the headgasket edge. I could be wrong but would definately change the seal and the rocker gasket before pulling the head off.
Basically I would say this, if the car is running OK, not loosing coolant, not overheating then leave it! No point spending a fortune getting the head gasket done, if its working ok. Just check the oil every 2 weeks or so and keep it topped up!
yeh but i like to keep the car on the drive but i cant cause of this oil plus i want to keep the car cause it runs ok so will get the seals done first then see what happens
OK then, its clear you care about your dub enough to do it, I've lost count of the number of completely unnecessary jobs I've done on mine
I'd imagine seeing as he has a 1.4 he can't insure a GTI, could be wrong though 400 is steep for a headgasket, but that isn't really the issue anymore. First replace that seal, and then move on. Once you've eliminated the cheap jobs, you can move on to the hadgasket, but I would think 200 is a good price for that.
