Good evening everyone. This is my first post so be gentle lol. I've recently bought a T3 with the JP engine. The owner said he thinks that there is a head gasket issue. The expansion tank was knackered so I changed that which stopped all the coolant from spitting out. It was missing the second expansion tank (I have it now) so I used a bottle.
I bled, or thought I bled the system and I was driving it around without issues. The other day, I got home to find that one of the coolant pipes had popped off and the fan belt was missing.
Hence the overheat. I think I got home before any major damage was sustained. I hope lol. I refilled the system and the particles in the water looked like coffee grinds. I've spent the last 2 days trying to bleed the system and I keep getting surges of coolant from the expansion tank when running at 2k revs. The radiator at the front seeps, then bubbles and this continues.
After some research and Gemini assistance, a potential reason for the boiling is they the cylinder head nipple is not connected to the expansion bottle.
I've found the nipple, which is in the picture. But it's not connected to anything. I can't find a definitive answer, does it need to have the T3 nipple which connects to the expansion tank or is the one currently fitted the correct one to use? It has a nipple with what looks like a nail blocking the hole. Thanks for your help!
1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
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davidoft1
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Re: 1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
No pictures showing , easiest and quickest way to test for head gasket issues is to get a head gasket testing kit for around £20
Last edited by davidoft1 on 20 Sep 2026, 22:57, edited 1 time in total.
Re: 1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
How to post pictures viewtopic.php?t=184751
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Re: 1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
Apologies
Re: 1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
Thats a temp switch. Should be a wire connected.
Sounds more like the typical cracks in the head between the valves. When hot the cracks expand and the gas goes into coolant expanding it if you like.
New head time.
Sounds more like the typical cracks in the head between the valves. When hot the cracks expand and the gas goes into coolant expanding it if you like.
New head time.
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silverbullet
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Re: 1989 T3 with a 1.6d JP Golf engine
Another one leaning on a bot to get answers 
"Coffee grinds" in the coolant is a sign that a PO has used Barrs leaks or a similar product to shore up a coolant weep or worse.
That stuff is notorious for blocking small bore coolant bleed hoses, ask me how I know.
"Coffee grinds" in the coolant is a sign that a PO has used Barrs leaks or a similar product to shore up a coolant weep or worse.
That stuff is notorious for blocking small bore coolant bleed hoses, ask me how I know.
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