Urgent help please!

[GavinT]

My dad has a 99 S reg Golf 2.0 petrol estate which started loosing all its oil. There were no leaks that could be found by a garage and they also tested the emissions and found nothing out of the ordinary there either. The car also had an intermittent misfire and flashing engine management light, which a garage found to be a loose plug lead on cylinder number 4.

The oil problem was getting beyond a joke, it just seemed to go through all its oil within a couple of weeks but there seemed to be no answer to the problem, then rather oddly it sort of cured itself and has been ok for a few weeks?!

A couple of days ago he was coming home from work and pulled out of a junction, and the car suddenly developed a really bad misfire. Managed to get it home and then to a garage the next day, and the mechanic said there was no compression on cylinder number 3. Apparently it was either a burnt valve or head gasket failure. As the garage are booked up they say its going to be a few days before they can fully check the car over and find the problem, but its looking like a bill of £500+.

Anyone know anything about these engines, or know of anyone having similar problems? Where was all that oil going, is it related to the main problem or the misfire? Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[brianf]

That's very peculiar! If the car was burning that much oil there would have been a constant cloud of smoke from the exhaust, whatever the cause - piston rings or even a holed piston crown. If the first garage couldn't find a reason for the oil loss, I would question their competence. The fact that there is now a loss of compression on one cylinder points to either of the two conditions mentioned above so it does mean a complete engine strip. If it does turn out to be a holed piston, either incorrect ignition timing or the wrong grade of plugs would be the likely reason but that is academic after such a major overhaul.