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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.

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.

Hi either 27mm or 32mm unless they changed the sizes again, the correct size is stamped on the top of the housing. Steve.

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.

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.

Finally had a new battery fitted, the car was throwing up all sorts of errors on the dash, ‘ put in P or N to start’ when it already was and clicking on the key several times before actually turning over. Seems to be sorted apart from a ‘fuel pressure fault’ which only appears in a diagnostic and keeps returning after being cleared. Had it booked in at an Audi dealer but in a nutshell they let me down with no apology so got back in car and drove home, 60 mile round trip wasted. Car drives fine ( start/stop works) . Local mechanic is unable to narrow down the fault and it was him who suggested Audi. Any ideas what to do now ? Thanks in advance

Massive thanks to Richard aka Spartacus 68 for recommending Tomas at VAG Technic who is very familiar with this problem and can fix it 🙂

Hi There, thank you for your reply , I took the car to the paint shop and the people have this device that scans the paint you are trying to match , and brings up the paint code , so if anyone is needing the paint code for Audi Matt Grey it’s LMi7, thanks again for the help much appreciated .

Hi it was the no clue what to do statement that worried me, I quote the case of a couple of weeks ago when topping up my adblue outside my local Halfords when a guy approached me with the question, where are you putting your adblue as he explained he was just about to stick it in the diesel tank.