This is not for my car, but for my girlfriend's VW Jetta. I'm pretty sure the head gasket is leaking coolant into the oil when the engine it hot. It hardley looses any coolant, but there is a small amount of white crap under the oil filler cap. I clean it off, and it comes back the next day. It has an aluminum head, so is it a must that I have the head milled when I replace the gasket?

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph

 

If it's warped? Yes.

 

If you are thinking of tearing into that VW engine yourself you better get a hold of a good manual first. If you came here to ask a questionm like "do i need to get the head milled" you definitely aren't ready to dive into a foreign engine. Even various american engines have funny things like torque to yield head bolts, and various nuances for how to get things done. I wouldn't turn a single bolt on a foreign engine unless i had apretty good idea of exactly what needed to be done.
...ed

 

I do have a manual and I am perfectly capable of, and understand the process of tearing down the upper end of the motor. I am asking this because the manual does not say whether or not to mill the head, but I have heard that aluminum heads have to be milled because they warp when the head gasket blows.

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph

 

Every aluminum head pulled at our shop gets milled cleaned adn pressure checked. I would at least have it pressure checked, because with a blown head gasket, the head will possibly run hotter in places, and possibly crack. As an example, we've never pulled a Quad 4 head that wasn't cracked.

Good Luck!

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Working on:
'84 Z28 LG4 305 with 200,000 original miles!
Added dual elec fans.
145 MPH IROC Speedo
Building 430 HP 350 (ZZ430)
using primarily GMPP parts.
Short block sitting on a stand. (Man, those Fast-Burn heads sitting on it look good!)

Starting to look like the Kicker poster child!

ASE Certified Master Tech

 

ok, thanks

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph

 

I'm with JP on this one, we always pressure check and surface any aluminum head that comes off.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R

R.I.P. #3
My favorite quote about D.E. "He can see air"

 

Sorry, that really wasn't meant as a flame, just the tone of your post made it sound like you were pretty unfamiliar with the engine in question, so i thought it best to make sure you really prepared.

 

Ed, your a bad bad Man!

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60 Ranchero - Project ( Money Hole )
85 Sport Coupe LG4 - Daily Driver

Just another Hot Rod kid, or thats what they all tell me.
Livin' the Stereotype

 

No prob, i see where you're coming from. I just don't want to spend much time or money on this car, it's a 15 year old VW for god sakes. It it were my car, that would be a different story.

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89 Transam GTA, 350TPI, auto, 3.27 rear, dual cats, gray.
Magnaflow cat-back,
K&N open element,
Best E.T. 14.63@95mph