2011 A3 1.6 8P Sportback various issues!

[edd_jedi]

New member here, will try my best not to be one of those annoying people!

Our 2011 A3 1.6 Sportback is running horribly and showing both the engine light and ESP light. A couple of weeks ago I noticed on a long drive it wasn't getting up to temperature (sitting at about 1/3 on the temperature gauge after an hour) and afterwards I checked the coolant level, which was fine so I thought maybe the water pump or thermostat may need attention, but didn't get round to it. The car has always had white smoke from the exhaust on startup and had a small amount of "mayo" on the oil cap, but we use this car almost exclusively for ~1 mile school runs, so apparently that's to be expected.

BUT today the engine was running really poorly, idle was all over the place, and the attached engine lights came on along with an ESP error on the display (didn't get time to photo that before it disappeared.) I opened the bonnet, again coolant level was fine, but I checked the dip stick and was greeted with the attached! Way more "mayo" than normal.

Obviously my first thought is head gasket, but I've spoken to multiple local Audi specialists this week and they've all said that is incredibly unlikely. None could look at the car til next week, hence why I'm asking here for opinions in the meantime. I don't have a fault code reader for this car.

I'm mainly interested in opinions on whether this amount of water in the oil is normal (I assume not!) and what may be causing the rough idling and engine lights. The two may be completely unrelated and just a coincidence.

Any help appreciated!

Edited Wednesday at 01:21 PM by edd_jedi

[Rybrook]

Best thing to do is get a sniffer for the coolant header tank, it will detect any exhaust gases in the coolant.

 

I once bought a Volvo 850 that a bubbly dipstick tube, I changed the oil pcv pipes and it never showed up again. It could just be the short runs that are being done.

 

 

 

 

[Magnet]

Welcome Edd, and thanks for joining. 
There is a lot of conjecture about ‘mayo’ and jumping to the conclusion that it is a definite indication of head gasket failure.

I would say in your case that it is certainly due to/ aggravated by unacceptably short runs, and the fact that the engine doesn’t reach operating temperature - even if the thermostat was serviceable - which it isn’t! 
The fact is Edd, this engine is having a hammering, and is likely to suffer from the equivalent wear that would be encountered on a car operated on motorways and having done say x10 times the mileage of yours. 
Before going any further let’s start with an important question:- how often is the oil changed and when was it last changed? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[edd_jedi]

Good question and fair comments! As a bit of background we've owned this as our second car for 18 months, it had allegedly had an oil change before we bought it (independent dealer) and then we gave it an oil service after 12 months/5kish miles, so roughly October last year.

You may ask why we bought a 1.6 petrol car for school runs - a diesel was out of the question for such short journeys (DPF nightmares) and while this car is mostly used for school runs, we also occasionally use it for long family trips as I can't comfortably fit the whole family in my car, so wanted something with a small-ish engine but wouldn't be completely out of its depth on a motorway either. And yeah, we weren't going to spend 25k+ on an electric car for the kids to ruin 😄 So this seemed like a decent compromise.

I last checked the oil about 3 months ago, there was a little yellow sludge on the cap, as there always is, but none on the dipstick, that is new. It seems to have got much worse recently. The engine used to get up to temperature fine, obviously not on the short school runs, but on longer journeys.

[cliffcoggin]

Edd.

The normal amount of water to be expected in oil is none, zero, nil, nada. That you have had some emulsion from the time you bought the car 18 months ago indicates the engine was defective when purchased, so it is not surprising it is now a lot worse and is in urgent need of attention to avoid complete seizure. I suggest you stop using it immediately.

Head gasket failure is the least probable cause of the problem, and would usually show itself with other symptoms.

[Magnet]

Thanks Edd,

Does the car lose any coolant? If not, then the emulsion  cannot be arising from any head gasket issue, and is probably serious condensation due to short runs and a failed thermostat. 
If it were mine:-

Get the thermostat renewed ASAP ( don’t know why you would suspect the water pump because the car doesn’t get up to temperature).  
Treat the car to an engine oil flush, new filter and fresh engine oil - I use VAG’s Quantum Longlife 3 , but change it every year on an average usage of c7K miles). 
Get the car read for fault codes. 
Please let us know how you get on. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[edd_jedi]

I would previously have agreed with you, but multiple Audi specialists I have spoken to this week say a little is nothing to worry about and perfectly normal on these cars. Saying that, they haven't seen it yet, and it looks like a lot to me.

[edd_jedi]

No it hasn't used a drop of coolant since we bought it, I check it fairly regularly. I thought it may be the water pump as that often causes erratic operating temperature in BMWs which I know more about, Audi's are pretty new to me. It would be great news if it's just the thermostat. The car does do fairly regular (monthly?) long runs so it's not ONLY used for short journeys.

[Magnet]

No coolant use -great. So you can ignore the emulsion as being due to coolant mixing with the oil - hence not HG. 
Thanks for the caps in ‘only’ ( I don’t shout). 
Worth re-reading your first post:- ‘…we use this car almost exclusively for ~1 mile school runs…’

I can only reiterate the actions I would take if it were mine. 
Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Edd. 

 

[edd_jedi]

No offence intended! I was just trying to point out that the car does get the occasional long run, despite doing short journeys most days. 🙂 

[Magnet]

No problem at all Edd, it’s just that detail is important when you are trying to diagnose without access to the patient! 

Are you going to follow advice given, but obviously no obligation to do so? 

[edd_jedi]

Yes, it's going to a local Audi specialist next Tuesday, I'm sure the first thing they'll do is read the codes, and then maybe a compression test to rule out the head gasket, but as said they told me over the phone that was unlikely to be the issue. If the thermostat is faulty then yes that will be replaced, and does look like it needs another oil change too. So all depends on their assessment, I'll update this thread after they've had a look at it. Thanks for the suggestions so far.