PLEASE HELP, 1997, 999cc AER problems

[poloowner]

Hi there im new to uk-polos and I have a a few questions regarding my polo. I have owned it since january of this year with no problems and have just given it a full service last week. It has been seriously lacking on power for a few weeks and has really been struggling up hills, so i thought a full service and some redex in the fuel would clear the problem, although to no avail. When I removed the air box to replace the filter there was a load of mustard looking gunk built up in the oil breathe tube, so I cleared this out and replaced the air box. Since then it won't rev up passed 3000 revs, it gets to 3000 and burrs out. I have a strong feeling it is the head gasket causing this problem but Id really appreciate some help as I dont want to take it to a garage and get stung for fault finding time.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I hope someone can help.

[Polo96CL]

Hi there im new to uk-polos and I have a a few questions regarding my polo. I have owned it since january of this year with no problems and have just given it a full service last week. It has been seriously lacking on power for a few weeks and has really been struggling up hills, so i thought a full service and some redex in the fuel would clear the problem, although to no avail. When I removed the air box to replace the filter there was a load of mustard looking gunk built up in the oil breathe tube, so I cleared this out and replaced the air box. Since then it won't rev up passed 3000 revs, it gets to 3000 and burrs out. I have a strong feeling it is the head gasket causing this problem but Id really appreciate some help as I dont want to take it to a garage and get stung for fault finding time.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and I hope someone can help.

That mustard/mayo looking gunk is when water and oil has mixed with the coolant, as the result of a head gasket failure. It would also explain when you have lost power, get it checked out before it does more damage to the engine

[poloowner]

thanks alot for your help, i disconnected the breathe tube and ran it quickly and a load of that gunk ended up on the oil cap so im 100% now lol Any good websites you could recommend for a gasket kit??
Thanks again