Possible head gasket need help
 

Hi there I have a 2.8 sport a8
2000 year
Couple off months ago was slowly loading water didn't think much off it as was minimal
Anyway this week started get hot quick going up to 3/4 Mark on temp gauge fan kicks in then goes back to half way
So was use water more and checked header cap mayonnaise around inside and in oil filler cap
Checked again Friday after work and now water is like chocolate milkshake
Is this head gasket as its no over heated
If so I can do head gaskets but would this mean getting heads skimmed and could there be possible piston ring damage
The car has done 140000 miles
I can get a engine complete with 62000 miles would it be easier to just do engine change

Sounds like a head gasket to me, but there are better mechanics on the forum who will be along shortly

On a 2.8 I would look to the oil cooler before condemning the head gasket. Its quite common for those to fail and mix the oil and coolant - they are used on many different 4 and 6 cylinder engines. It sounds like you have oil in the coolant rather than a combustion leak from the cylinder bores, in which case even if it is the head gasket there shouldn't be any serious damage as it will have failed between the oil supply and a coolant passage, which is quite unusual.

The part number is 028117021E and its only £30 for a new one. To change it you need to remove the oil filter and the two coolant lines which feed it, then there's a large nut holding the cooler on (27mm iirc). Obviously you'll need to do a full coolant flush to clear all the gunge out of the system - I would use the two hoses to the cooler to get as much out as possible before hooking the new one up, and then once it's back together run a 2-stage flush to clean it properly. You may need to replace the header tank too as they don't often clean up easily, depending on how bad it is (about £60). I'd leave the oil until you confirm what the problem is, but certainly change it afterwards if it is the cooler since it will be somewhat contaminated.

Pretty sure I have a good oil cooler in the workshop which you can have for the cost of the postage if you don't want to splash on a new one for a potentially suspect engine :)