Water leak resulting in overheated engine - advice please

[clifford coates]

After finally getting Bertha (1987 1.9 DG auto) back on the road after 2 years of intermittant refurb and recent £950 garage bill (starter motor and switch, cab step, seatbelt anchor and other stuff) and successfull weekend at Latitude it was too good to last. Bertha fell ill on way back from camping trip whilst in care of step-daughter and boyfriend. Engine overheated.

It looks like a water leak (no water in expansion tank and rust coloured stains over engine). Anyway the engine overheated, various (earth) wires melted and oil seems to have seeped out of various gaskets. Also oil in top up tank. I can not see where the leak is.

My questions are:
- I assume that I need a compression test to identify leak then replace hoses and flush and refill system?
- should I replace all engine gaskets as well (could overheated oil have damaged them)?
- what other damage could have been done due to overheated engine?

Many thanks, Neil.

[ermie571]

Dunno why no-one has replied mate.....feel for you, I really do.

I *guess* the starting point is to clean off the engine of oil an rust, drain it all down, flush the system til you have no more oil in any of the coolant pipes.

then another guess.....refill.....though god knows how from an empty system with no engine to punp it round (oh pressing on the rubber pipes encourages the water to flow round the engine....done that before!)

Unless you get in as much as you can, and then fill the engine with the right amount of oil.

Can you turn the engine over with out starting it....it hasn't seized?

then maybe, and hopefully someone will come along who knows really....you could start the bugger.....with a huge bottle of water to top of the expansion tank?

Good luck with it.

Em
xx

[ghost123uk]

Anyway the engine overheated, various (earth) wires melted and oil seems to have seeped out of various gaskets. Also oil in top up tank.

Clifford, I too feel for you mate, the bad news is that imho, any WBX that has overheated to that extent is history.
The oil in the top up tank means the internal liner seals have gone. This = engine out and a major strip down (that on these motors is fraught with problems that can happen) to replace those "O" ring seals. Many folks figure that a re-con engine is a better bet in the long run. ( £1000 fitted free by Elite VW = this is what the majority on here do )

They can be "fixed" but it is a big job and not one for anyone who is not already a pretty experienced mechanic. Also quite expensive on gaskets etc and time consuming and if when you finally fire it up, it ain't right, you will be Sooooo sick !! Threads = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=52374" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=55439" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; will give you some idea of the work involved in diy.

[kevtherev]

DG engines are cheap enough to ditch the one you have and get a good runner with no leaks for about £250 plus.
Then with the engine in you can fix the old one and sell it.
Or
fix it by means of identifying the culprit as to why it overheated. I would say you had a rapid coolant loss, for it to overheat so quickly that the warning lights and temp gauge didnt show it quick enough for you to stop.

[clifford coates]

Many thanks for your replies. Looks like a new/recon engine - not sure that this will help with the "good investment" argument with the wife though! Think I'll have a cup of tea.

[kevtherev]

Recon engines are much more expensive (£1500+) and you can't get new ones anymore

[ghost123uk]

Elite at = http://www.elitevw.com/products.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; do re-con engines for £1050 fitted.

I know there is a lot of debate about what constitutes a re-con engine and some say the Elite ones are not full re-con's more a case of replace what needs replacing and don't replace stuff that is fine. ( Let's not go into that debate here it has been well covered on other threads !) However, they have many satisfied customers and most also agree that their guarantee is usually well supported by them.

If the rest of your van is half decent then it is an investment, tell her we said so

[clifford coates]

Many thanks, Ghost.

[tandemsandy]

Had similar a similar failure.. https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=86446" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but with a happy (and relatively inexpensive) ending. We didn't have oil & water mixing but I guess that could be a result of the sealing O ring failing at the base of the cylinder liner.

Rob