Oil in header bottle

[pauldpaddy]

I have a problem with my 99 model 1.8l passat. All the oil seems to have left the engine and ended up in the coolant. I only noticed this after I stopped the engine because it was sounding very noisy. When I checked the dip stick there was no oil on it. I then noticed brown stuff overflowing from the header bottle. When I took the cap off the bottle it was full of sludge. Any ideas

[ini]

Unfortunately sounds like a blown headgasket or internal failure.

[a8 tech]

I have a problem with my 99 model 1.8l passat. All the oil seems to have left the engine and ended up in the coolant. I only noticed this after I stopped the engine because it was sounding very noisy. When I checked the dip stick there was no oil on it. I then noticed brown stuff overflowing from the header bottle. When I took the cap off the bottle it was full of sludge. Any ideas

This can easily be misdiagnosed as the head gasket but its actualy the oil cooler.Used to be dead common and often misdiagnosed,replace the oil cooler on the block were the oil filter is and flush the cooling system until all the oil is out of the ststem(this can take some time)also remove the radiator and flush it out,when all the oil is out replace the coolant header tank.After 1000 miles reflush the system

[Turkster]

is your car an automatic ?