UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Steve_O wrote:Ok, I get what you mean now.

There should be traces of oil looking into the rocker cover - but not bloody great pools of the stuff!!

I knew you knew what you were on about - I just wasn't quite following!!

I had to get my head round something else the other day - took someone ages to explain it and I just couldn't seem to get it - finally I got it - it happens sometimes - no worries

I'll treat your last comment as a compliment

Hmm. Seems to be some confusion going on as to what happens when you top up the oil.. just to clear things up, when you pour oil in through the filler in the rocker cover, it doesn't just sit in the cylinder head, it drains straight down through the engine into the sump at the bottom.. you're not going to see it filling up unless you've -seriously- overfilled it..

When you're filling the oil, always check the dipstick to see how much is there to start with. I think polos take 1 litre between minimum and maximum marks (someone correct me if I'm wrong..), much more than this and you're risking damage.
One thing I've found, last time I overfilled my oil, it just sprang a head gasket leak. Not compression or water, just the oil seal - started dripping out from where the engine number is stamped, over the alternator. This may well have happened, if it has, personally I'd count your lucky stars because it's not a big job to change a head gasket on a polo and it means you've (hopefully..) avoided any more serious damage...

was it the head or the cam-cover gasket?

think thats what i've done with mine, probably when the alternator belt went... first thing i thought it was, was the oil, and between me and the RAC man about 2 litres of unneccessary 10w40 must have gone into it (it was a little low on the stick, but then it was hardly being checked on flat ground), which i had to drain out the day after when i realised something was up. been a bit leaky ever since... those few miles home with all that pressure must have done something

(and now the alternator is whistley and the interior lights dim a bit when you put the headlamps on, wahey... and it gets worse the more electrical load is put on it... not good)

should be just 1 litre min to max, yeah, though i shouldnt doubt there's a good few hundred mils leeway on each end, to account for temperature differences if nothing else.

method i was always taught for checking was to get it on flat land (short supply round here, but getting it up on the kerb *just* so seems good enough), idle for a few minutes (ideally so the temp needle just starts to move - oil is both warmed up so it flows right, and is shaken from any "wrong" places it might have pooled), then let it sit engine-off for 5-10 mins. makes checking how much you've added a bit of a pain, but if you make a good estimate on the dipstick and check off the amount that goes in with one of those oil bottles that has a measured transparent strip on the edge, you can get it close enough.

drained it all out and id deffo over filled it. put the CORRECT amount in and after a lot of waiting (didnt want to take any chances) dipped it and it was fine. also replaced the oil breather that it all spewed out of and now it actually runs a lot smoother. cheers for any input on this thread.
dave

mk3dave wrote:drained it all out and id deffo over filled it. put the CORRECT amount in and after a lot of waiting (didnt want to take any chances) dipped it and it was fine. also replaced the oil breather that it all spewed out of and now it actually runs a lot smoother. cheers for any input on this thread.
dave

What a good result.......

They normally do run better with the breather conected

Tahrey, I'm pretty sure it was the head gasket, seeing as it came from the area that the main oil channel is in, next to the head gasket. Don't think there'd be enough pressure under the rocker cover to blow the gasket there due to overfilling, and it seemed to stop when I replaced the head gasket, so I'm guessing that was it