overheating bin the engine or not

[chimpey3000]

Hi All.

van is.

t25 f plate. 1.9td. watercooled

Van has had a previous engine conversion. 1y block, aaz head. Head gasket went a few weeks ago now, original aaz head was knackers so purchase a new vege aaz replacement.
New head fitted, new piston fitted( just 1 was shagged) new injectors and glow plugs. Was a bitch to start, and still is..

Bleed system to wiki instructions, 4 miles down to road needle steady half way, 5 miles down to road needle steadily moved too far to the right for my liking pulled over. Air lock? bled system off we went 1 mile down the road same thing. Time for our friendly man in the the yellow van to tow us home once again..

Mr AA did a sniff test, stayed blue. Gasket all good ???
Mr AA man suggested too much pressure in cooling system???..

So new radiator has gone on yesterday, new air fillter whilst i has at it..Have bled to system several times now, still having issues.
have checked thermostat with boiling water opens fine.

So, what to do? Assumed chap who did the gasket knew what he was doing, but just to be on the safe side had a look. Whipped the rocker off OH MAYONNAISE.. visible water in the oil around cams. checked the timing all tdc, diesel pump pulley in correct position.

I am now at the end of my tether with this vehicle, my thoughts are gasket gone again but why? poorly fitted? or cracked block??

So does any one have any other suggestions before I 1.. go mental at the mechanic. 2. bin the engine and source a replacement full aaz. (any suggestions on sources)

As a foot note tread on header tank is about shot so am going to replace but can not see that being to source of the issues..
Any help would be greatly appreciated

many thanks Ash

[mazz]

Before you condemn gasket, check oil cooler first. Remove it from vehicle and rig up some sort of pressure test on water pipes going into cooler,that would explain mayonnaise but not overheating. In truth people always threat about bleeding upT3 engines but if all is healthy then it's not complicated at all, and chances are you got procedure right but something else is amiss with vehicle itself

[chimpey3000]

many thanks mazz. Will try that today. Fingers crossed that will solve the mayo... still at a loss with the over heating though...