Well now, where to begin...
I bought my car (Golf Mk3 1997 with 120 000km on the clock) last June (first car).
Everything went perfect for perhaps 3 months, then I encountered the first problem... The car wasn't heating up properly and every time petrol was put in, it would struggle to start - the thermostat was replaced along with something else that regulated the fuel.
Then it went fine again for a month or two, when the temperature light started to flash on the dashboard, took it in again - apparently there was a leak with 2 of the Welsh Plugs, which they replaced.
Things went already for 3 or so weeks after that, when the same problem occurred where the 'low coolant' light came on. Took it to another place who said the thermostat had gone (after just replacing it). So they fitted a new thermostat and things seemed alright again for a while.
Then while on a trip probably 2 months later in an area known for a high crime rate the light came back on and I really was unable to stop, and had to drive the blatantly coolant lacking car 30km, though at no point did I see smoke - but when I got home the coolant was empty and there was a large leak in the one pipe, a metal pipe which had split.
I took the car in yet again where they replaced the pipe and said this thermostat too was shot, apparently from the car overheating and screwing up the wax in the thermostat.
A month or so later, same issue - but this time another visible leak - I took it in once again and finally they decided to check the head gasket, the mechanic originally looked with a lazer thermometer on the engine and said that it looked like my head gasket may be gone, but after they took the car in, they told me that the head gasket was fine and that they just flushed the radiator, replaced a welsh plug and replaced a pipe.
Things seemed fine once more, but after about 2 months, it started requiring coolant refills every 150km, which I could live with but now it is using up about 1l of water from the resevoir every 20km-30km it seems. I haven't had the money to do a coolant mix each time it runs out since it's almost daily, so I've been refilling about 3l a week of normal water into the resevoir.
Quite frankly, I do not have the money to keep trying to fix these cooling issues and it seems no mechanic is able to pinpoint what is causing it. Surely there is one central issue that is causing a chain reaction, such as pressure build up etc?
From the posts I've read here, many of the forum users seem far more versed than the mechanics I've taken my car to, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
The last time I checked there was no sign of white on my oil, and while my coolant is brown, I don't see or feel any hints of oil in it, and no excessive white smoke.
I do see evidence on the block where the radiator hose connects of coolant so I suspect there may be a light leak there, but that wasn't there throughout these issues and I can't imagine it's really something new causing this each time.
Thanks a lot.