Smokes when warm and idling and runs hot at anything over 50

[greenetribe]

Hi, Van is 1.6TD T25 D reg. I have had the top and bottom of the engine rebuilt and its cost £1500 but still it smokes when warm and on idle. Starts fine when cold but not when hot. Garage that took my money MG Raw at Lincoln is now saying they have no idea what the problem is. They are suggesting that they block may be cracked so when it warms up it leaks.

Second part which may or not be related is, since they 'fixed it' it runs hot at anything more than 50mph. It has all new pipes and has been flushed. Garage is saying its normal to run between half gauge and hot - is this right?

After spending £4500 doing this van up I am now at the end of my rope - any suggestions gratefully received.

[camper]

The garage that did the work on this engine (It is not fit for purpose) .I would suggest you get a second opinion such as an engineers report i think the RAC or AA can do this.There may be a forum member who is a qaulified and experianced might be able do this .If there was a crack in the block the garage that did the work should be able to test for a crack.The garage that took your money should be competent to no what the problem is and take responsibilty to put it right .The above statement brings trading standards and consumer rights for you to take up with this garage.

[T25Convert]

Hi,

I'd agree with what was said above - However, it might not be that simple!!

If you paid the garage to recondition your engine, then they have a duty to do this, and do it well - if it smokes still, then they may not have done this right (assuming it is not a knackered turbo / something else wrong).

However, if you paid them to stop it smoking then they really haven't done their job.

If it is cracked, then they really have got it wrong, as you would expect any competent rebuilder to crack test the components before fitting.

The temperature shouldn't go up with speed - at 50mph the engine is not struggling and has a lovely flow of air through the rad. It should stay rock-solid at about the mid point. Might go up when you stop, as the engine is still hot, but has lost its flow of cool air....

I'd take it back to them and explain how unhappy they are. If they won't fix it (for free!) then I would follow the advice above and get a independent report. This should pin point the cause, and allow you to take the matter further if required.

Let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

Alex

[rhm]

Hi Bud, sorry to hear about your problems.

Im currently weighing up the pros and cons of either having some rebuild work done or to bite the bullet and buy a warrantied recon. I must say I was leaning towards the recon option, it might cost more now but Im hoping it'll give me lots of a trouble free miles. At the very least, Im thinking that if everything is done then at least this is new base line and the garage would be less likely to try and blame a part of the engine that it didnt change if a problem does crop up.

If youve spent £1500 on a rebuild of your own unit and still having probs then Im leaning even further towards the recon.

Good luck bud, I hope you get it sorted without too much more stress and aggro.

[DanO]

A 1.6td recon isn't much more than £1500

[rhm]

Yep, looking on the remtec site, about £1600 once you get the £400 back for the old engine in xchange.

Just the costs of stripping and fitting of the ancillary bits and the engine out engine costs to find on top.

Its making more and more sense to me