Possible Head Gasket problem.

[rob1927]

Hello all! Firstly thanks to everyone on here for making this place a real gold mine of information for T25 owners.

I'm Rob a relative newby on here i'm wondering if anyone could offer any advice regarding what i think is knackered head gasket

I bought my van in november last year its a 1988 caravelle 1.6TD JX the kilometerage is 302,000 kilometeres, i was checking the coolant levels the other day and noticed that there is a very dark substance in there(the tank thats not behind the flap), also in the cap there was an almost black slime/sludge, is this definatley oil? I read on the wiki on here that if coolants are mixed then sludge or slime can occur. The van has a leak on the cooling system on the rear heater. Maybe theres a whole load of different coolants gone in it over the years what topping up the leak! Since november last year when i bought it i have hardly ran it as i want to sort out a few things first.

There is no sign whatsoever of over heating, there is a little light coloured smoke on firing her up but none visible in rear view mirror when driving.

I plan to bleed the cooling system soon remove the rear heater and refill, should i do this first and then check the coolant for the dark stuff? Or will running the van with a possible head gasket problem lead to meltdown!

The van is going for a timing belt change in a few weeks should i ask the garage to have a look at the HG? I'd ideally like to learn about my vans workings inside out and try the job myself but if honest i'm a bit intimidated by owt thats head gasket related! Would the engine have to come out completley just to inspect the gasket?

Any help or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated, again thanks to all on here!

[kit]

They do a sniff test I believe that detects oil in the water, do you do short journeys?

[rob1927]

Cheers for the reply kit, i've done any journeys of late i drove it a few months ago but not any great distance.

[kit]

Could be it just needs a run, but ask them to test it to be sure.

[kit]

The dark stuff may be rad seal or something put in to stop the leak?

[Sagemagoo]

Any foamy/light coloured spooge on the oil cap?

In the absence of any overheating or other indicators I'd be tempted to flush everything through (don't forget rad flush with hose if you are going that far), refill, monitor and ask the garage for a sniff test/coolant pressure test while it's in for it's belt change.

Just a thought....

[colinthefox]

It does sound like oil in the coolant.

If your rear heater is leaking, it may be that there is or has been internal corrosion happening, in which case it is likely that the same thing will be happening inside the water side of the oil cooler, which is the canister with two hoses just above the oil filter. This is quick and easy to change. Worth investigating first.

[rob1927]

Thanks for the advice folks, i think i will bleed the coolant and give it a good thorough flush fill up and keep an eye on it, i never checked the oil cap to be honest, i will check it later and keep you posted. Will definatly check the oil cooler also, it's a learning curve folks! Thanks again.

[rob1927]

I checked the oil cap and found no signs of anything strange.