Overheating problem. Probably head gasket. Options?

[Hoopy_Frood]

Oh dear. After a mere six weeks of ownership, my lovely van has developed an overheating problem after a long drive (150 miles in bad traffic) that both the aa recovery chap and a mobile mechanic in Bristol think is due to the exhaust gases entering the cooling system and boiling the coolant. Either the head gasket or head itself may have gone.

It's a 1.9dg petrol.

I'm thinking a new engine is the most likely outcome. I want better economy and reliability so am thinking a diesel conversion might be the best option.

I'd be keen to speak to people in and around Manchester that have gone this route or similar, to see what my options are.

Thanks
Iain

[jimpainter]

Converting to diesel isn't as simple as just putting an engine in, you need to change bell housing, get engine bars, diesel sump if you end up with an aaz etc that hasn't come out of a t25, diesel clocks, wiring for glow plugs, battery tray, fuel filter mount etc etc.

I have just done an Aircooled to diesel conversion for a customer, that wasn't the easiest but I had a full donor van which did help for parts etc.

Jim

[itchyfeet]

Have you had a read here
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here
http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/t3-di ... rum21.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/t3-pe ... rum22.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kevtherev]

Are we to assume you have found out the truth behind the overheat..
and not just the word of a recovery man?

Or is this the final straw in a catalogue of events

[edoh]

have you read -
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... _head_leak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
?

[Hoopy_Frood]

The mobile chap knew his way around a t25 and even showed me some photos of the restorations he had done, so I'm not going to ignore his diagnosis. He gave the cooling system a good bleed but the system kept boiling when the engine got hot. I'd definitely like to get it looked at by a specialist, but only once we make it back up north.

Some of the links above offer glimmers of hope, fingers crossed it's not terminal.

[kevtherev]

The mobile chap knew his way around a t25 and even showed me some photos of the restorations he had done, so I'm not going to ignore his diagnosis. He gave the cooling system a good bleed but the system kept boiling when the engine got hot. .

That suggests a faulty thermostat... or a blocked/restricted radiator..
What do you mean by "boiling"?

[Hoopy_Frood]

Well, I may have gotten off quite lightly here after all. We made it back up to Manchester with no more problems. The engine temp gauge is running just to the right of the led, but didn't get much higher even in slow traffic queues. The coolant system bleed the mobile mechanic did must have worked. It was parked facing up a hill all night after that, if that can make any difference to these things.

I'll still need to get it checked out properly, but it may not be as bad as I feared. Either that or some very kind soul fixed it while we were sleeping.

Apologies to all for my earlier whining.

I'd still like to know what happened though.

[pionte]

really pleased that things seem to be better,some good advice given in this thread, it could have been anything that KTR suggested or the link that edoh pointed too, I personally would get the garage to do a "sniff" test on the coolant, basically they test the mixture to see if there are any exhaust gases present.

That will tell you if the gasket has failed.

other thinks to check would be the radiator, is it silted up do to 25 years of use ? cooling fan operation would be another good easy test that you can do yourself, anything that you can do with help from others here will save you money , and get you more familiar with the van, so hopefully you can spot things before they go wrong.