possible head gasket or worse????

[jimpainter]

Right im getting fed up with this bloody van now its getting right on my breasticles, i havent even driven it yet and had it over 12 months.
Got a starter motor sorted put it on and then started to bleed the cooling system. I had got about 7 litres of antifreeze in as per the instructions on this very forum, and the engine was getting warm. Probably been running about 4 minutes or so. I went to the front of the van to take the bleed screw out of the rad and when i got back to the rear of the van there was a coolant and steam pissing out of the cap on the reservoir. not the overflow tank. Is it a head gasket problem or maybe something worse. Oil looks ok and not milky and couldnt see oil in water although i filled it up again and tried it and there was some air bubbles coming up when i revved it a bit, but i wasnt sure if it was just air in the system, but it did pressurize again.
sorry engine is a 1.9d aef engine
Jim

[jason k]

go and get the coolant sniffed at a garage, it identifies if any combustion gas is in the water.

at least that way you will know if its the gasket or not.....

[kevtherev]

sounds more like the tank cap is shagged to me

[clartsonly]

you are not supposed to bleed the water system with the tank cap on. make sure you leave it off whilst you are bleeding the system otherwise there is nowhere for the pressure to go and you will damage the cap, split the expansion tank or worse

[jimpainter]

I was bleeding the system as per the guide by baxter on the brickyard. That said to put coolant in until no more will go in, rev it so the fluid level drops and fill to the top and then put cap on and go to the front of the van and undo bleed screw on the rad. And repeat. Thats just the basic way it describes. Obviously if you dont put the cap back on when the engine has been revved the coolant washes back and out the top.

Meant to say the engine was also hunting and probably only a couple oh hundred rpm max but as it went up the coolant would come out of the cap and when it dropped off it would stop and there would be steam and would just keep going like that. So i assumed that maybe one or two cylinders are leaking gases into cooling system and on a compression stroke it is forcing into the cooling system which would account for the coolant pulsing out of the cap overflow and not a constant trickle.

Ta

[clartsonly]

try to bleed the system again, a head gasket replacement in an old camper is likely to open untold issues , snapped header bolts etc... other seized parts damaged parts when removing the engine.

[jimpainter]

I havent long put the engine in, it was supposed to be a good runner. It was out of a polo 1.9d which had a rear end shunt. All manifold bolts etc were copper greased and all other bits should be ok. Only one thing would be the head bolts but as they constantly have oil circulating around them i think they may be ok.....I hope. I have removed the thermostat and checked its opening and it is. The coolant did smell a bit strange like exhaust gases and the header tank had air bubbles coming from the top hose from the head to header tank.

[kevtherev]

The coolant did smell a bit strange like exhaust gases

Oh dear ...cracked head? quite common in Dervs I'm told.

[jimpainter]

Thats what i thought. Hoping worse case scenrio though is possibly head gasket gone. Could still put exhaust gases into the coolant i think. Might just bite the bullet and strip it down tonight.

[silverbullet]

Thats what i thought. Hoping worse case scenrio though is possibly head gasket gone. Could still put exhaust gases into the coolant i think. Might just bite the bullet and strip it down tonight.

If you had snot production at the oil filler or crankcase breather, then maybe head gasket, but...diesel and smelly bubbles in the expansion tank may well = cracked head, between valves. It'll be hairline or obvious if worse than that. It's how my '85/'90 VM diesel strange rover finally betrayed me

[jimpainter]

Its not looking good really is it. Oh well tools at the ready i will post up when i find anything.
Thanks for the help.

[kevtherev]

Oh well tools at the ready i will post up when i find anything.
Thanks for the help.

thats the spirit

[jimpainter]

Ok think i may have ben a right numpty here. Think i might have put the belt on my engine the wrong way round for my water pump.
So just to clarify the pump forces the water out of the 3 pipes at the back and when the engine is hot enough stat opens and lets coolant back to rad. So if im running the pump the wrong way the water isnt really being forced anywhere so im guessing the bubbles and boiling up is the water just naturally boiling through no circulation.
Really really really embarrased about making a beginers mistake.
Will let you all now if it works but i have got to get a polo alternator as the bearings went in mine the other day.
It never rains but it pours. lol

[silverbullet]

Ehhhhh? Is that even possible?

[jimpainter]

Yeah the polo pump runs the opposite direction to the van one. I have routed the belt the wrong way round the pump pulley.