Golf IV engine

.............I'd be very concerned for two reasons. Too much water in your crankcase and secondly, too much water in your cooling system. With our 'aircooled' VW's, there's usually not much water in either place.

...............For a more helpful response, check out:

rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled

Short journeys and a lot of idling in traffic don't let the engine warm up. Clean it off and see if it's back there after a decent trip on the open road. If it is, keep an eye on the water level in the expansion bottle.

Water is produced when fuel burns and some may collect in an emulsion with the oil. An engine up to proper operating temperature gets rid of the water as steam.

It relates to not getting the engine up to proper working temperature on short hauls, it does not boil off the condensation in the oil, hence the sludge...

J.

I've no expertise in this area but I read somewhere else that it could also have something to do with it being fully synthetic oil?

So..... it's normal then??

Thanks again

It's normal if you do lots of short trips, but not desirable as the water content in the oil will hasten corrosion of the internal parts. A car that does exclusively short trips will require more frequent oil changes than in the manufacturers instructions. An occasional long drive for over an hour on a motorway will help clear it, and an even longer one of over 2 hours will do wonders for any carbon build-up in the head.

However, if there is a leak between the coolant and oil systems (such as a blown head gasket) , you will get a similar effect, which is why you need to monitor both the oil and coolant levels and appearance until you know why the emulsion is there.

It's a common problem with that particular engine when you do lots of short journeys. I assume since you were topping up that it also uses oil.

Dave