Club 80-90 Forums

PS I'm also getting a lot of smoke from the exhaust.

It's been that way since we bought it. So much so that I don't know how it passed the MOT that it went through before we got it.

I'll be mentioning this to the garage on Friday, but is this also part of the picture, or something else?

Scary!

I'm in Axbridge, in Somerset.

Should I be taking it to my local garage (I've always found them very good with other vehicles), or somewhere more specialised?

Thanks,
Damian

You all seem certain of the head gasket. And all keep saying sorry.

Give it too me straight. How much money is this going to cost me???

Agreed Hence my early comment about 1.8 litres being rather a lot to have to put in. One can only hope that there is a minor leak somewhere, which is why running the van for a few days keeping a close eye on water levels, hot and completely cold, is a worthwhile approach, with the new Dalek cap in ...

TONYT25T25 wrote: ↑28 Sep 2020, 08:16 I thought I would add, check the oil filler plug for white/milky substances if so this could be another indication of head gasket failure.

Thanks Tony,

Excuse my ignorance, but where is the 'Oil Filter Plug'?

I'll check it and photograph it once I know where it is.

Cheers,
Damian

Or, in simple terms, your head gasket's gone. Sorry to bring bad news. Really??? I’ve been driving it around fine since all of this started. The engine was replaced Shortly before we bought the van. Is that the only conclusion? Should I continue to bleed the system when I get the new dalek cap etc?...

When I remove my Dalek cap just to check levels, it is always full to the brim but does not spill over when cold as you mentioned on yours, could there be another issue here or is this normal even for a cold engine. Maybe it's because the dalek cap isn't working correctly? I'll see how it all seems...

Mocki wrote: ↑27 Sep 2020, 16:05 You may not have a leak, because the top up tank has three small holes right at the very top , so it may have been coming from there ...

Thanks. I'll take a look.

The van survived the trip! :-) No overheating and no flashing light. On the morning that we were due to return (engine completely cool) I took a look inside. Interestingly, the tank in the engine compartment was down just a couple of centimetres, but the tank behind the licence plate had gone down q...

Just ordered a replacement cap from Brickwerks.

I'll go on the trip tomorrow and do as much refilling and bleeding as I can before then.

Thanks all,
Damian

OK, So filled the Dalek cap tank to the brim (squeezed every pipe I could get my hand on as part of this), put it back on and reattached the pipe. I then took the van for a drive. 15 minutes or so. 3 or 4 miles. I looked all around for leaks, but didn't see anything. Left it to cool and then took an...

I just did the Dalek test. Blowing into the little tube seemed to let air through slowly (no trumpet sound). Sucking seemed to let air though quicker (not blocked). So, I guess I need a new Dalek cap. Where can I get one? I just did a search for Dalek cap on Amazon and found myself in a world of Dr....

Just seen this link on an earlier forum which may come in handy as part of the fault diagnosis. https://youtu.be/RT8Ew43mNg4 Thought I would add in the tradition of teaching granny to suck eggs, ensure cap is clean and clear of AF before testing. I don't know what AF is Tony, but thatnks for video....

They won’t draw back if there is a massive airlock, air just cools and doesn’t really get much smaller , so the vacuum isn’t there in simple terms to suck the coolant back ....  Thanks Mocki, Hopefully that's what the problem was. I'll check the Darlek cap (just seen this video for a quick test - h...

Being nosey I notice you never mentioned when you last checked your coolant level. I would suggest it be checked fairly regularly in the normal course of events and defo before a longish journey. lack of coolant can cause as much damage as lack of oil. Sorry if teaching granny to suck eggs :wink: ....