Falling out of love with the van - Pt 2 - Head Bolt Sheared

[adhoc1979]

Driving to work this morning in our lovely Tillie Anne the van when all of a sudden she started to struggle power wise. Looking about in the usual whats wrong and confused manner because I know a 30 year old van should run without fault!!! to notice 2 plumes of white smoke exiting the side vents followed by the temp gauge off the scale and the red light burning my eyes from behind the steering wheel. Pulled over and checked underneath for leaks, couldn't see any water dripping from anywhere so thought I would leave it cool down and then check the engine bay. At first I didn't notice anything so started to top the water up at which point the hissing started and I noticed water and steam pouring from a hole where one of the head bolts used to be. Have found the bolt with about 5/6 inches of spindle attached. Safe to say at the moment the love for which I try to lavish the van with in much the same way you would my dog is gone again.

Questions. Best next step? Replacement engine or strip down in an attempt to repair. Whats the likely hood of shearing more bolts? (apart from very likely)

Van is an '85 1.9DG WBX

[silverbullet]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe. There seems to be more and more of this, especially with early DG's for some reason.
I have posted up some advice with photos about this recently, a search that includes "wbx" and "head studs" should yeild some results, as would a trawl through the wiki

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 4#p8066496" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghost123uk]

Sorry to hear of your woes here

What's the likely hood of shearing more bolts? (apart from very likely)

Shearing more head bolts is simply a lottery until you try it. 50/50 I would say.

Best next step? Replacement engine or strip down in an attempt to repair

Have you ever stripped a re-built and engine before ? I'm not saying don't consider that option, but without some experience in this field you may go to a lot of trouble only to find you have not succeeded in a working repair. Taking heads off a WBX, and that usually that means pistons and liners as well, then that includes replacing the wet liner "O" rings then re-assembling it all correctly, requires care and attention, a fair smattering of experience, decent tools and preferably a nice bright warm place to do it in. Other than that though, to get you back on the road quickly, you are in the realms of a known good used motor at £300 to £600, a repaired and guaranteed engine from Elite at £1000, or ~£2000 for a Vege (JK) etc unit, or a top quality re-build from 2 or 3 gents (see links below) on here for £2000 to £3000+.

I understand that a couple of professional traders on here are prepared to do a simple heads off, fix what needs fixing and put back together job, but you would need to speak to them re prices, and before they get to work on the motor and therefore discover what does / does not require attention, they will not really be able to give even an approximate figure. For this check out Andy at Campershack in Grantham (he has done work for me and I recommend him) and t3volution ("TooManyToys" on here) near Nottingham I think, he has not done work for me but is highly regarded. I know they are both very busy though, the sign of a good mechanic

I wonder if many / any other reputable places in the UK offer a simple head(s) off and repair whatever that reveals for a WBX?

[Ant-t]

Sorry to hear that, hope that you get it sorted and back on the road again soon

[adhoc1979]

Looks like a new engine, but cannot afford £1500 - £2000+ for a recond petrol. Possibility of getting a second hand diesel engine installed (Think its the 1.6 unit)for £1000. To be honest I'm not sure what to do. Whats the mpg like on the diesel engine? is it any better than the 1.9 DG Petrol? Thoughts please.

[silverbullet]

Its not the cost of the engine, its all the parts you need to make it fit. Everything is different.

[Timburrows]

Golf gti is probably the cheepest option petrol to petrol easiest may be?

[silverbullet]

Still need the JX bars, sump, bellhousing, flywheel, a special downpipe... plus an efi fuel pump and tank. The list goes on a bit

[what2do]

Is it your daily? If not, then you have the advantage of time. Look out for a replacement on here, facebook, etc. plenty of engines come about and can be seen running. I bought a spare off here, it was already out of the van but he is a super trust worthy guy, thus, I'm confident that if I ever need it, it'll perform as expected.

You could buy one 'blind' off eBay, in my opinion this is no more risky than buying a reconditioned one from certain suppliers mentioned on here that seem to have a 50% success rate but at a much greater cost to your wallet. I know of two vans in my area that are mot failures due to the body and suspension being so rough yet their engines start and tick over lovely - they'll be worth peanuts.

If you don't have the luxury of time due to it being a daily, what about a cheap run about for a few hundred pounds until you get your van sorted without paying through the nose?

May the force be with you.

[Sir Brixalot]

Looks like a new engine, but cannot afford £1500 - £2000+ for a recond petrol. Possibility of getting a second hand diesel engine installed (Think its the 1.6 unit)for £1000. To be honest I'm not sure what to do. Whats the mpg like on the diesel engine? is it any better than the 1.9 DG Petrol? Thoughts please.

I wouldn't go to Elite. Yes the engine warranted is but each time it fails you are at the back of the queue to get them to fix it, it can take months. I broke down repeatedly many times on motorways and had to move wife and children up on to the embankment often in pouring rain. Twice I broke down within a mile of Elites garage after picking the van up after a "replacement" engine had been fitted. They lost my keys and had to fit replacement locks which didn't work properly and I had to get the ignition repaired elsewhere at my cost. They repaired the temperature sender with a bit of cardboard which go waterlogged and read too high. I had to drive down to Elite because I wasn't getting any info from them on the phone, I went with my family including two young children so that Elite could see that it wasn't just me being affected by all these breakdowns, made no difference and the next engine quickly failed. After weeks of waiting I called again having been promised my van would be repaired, they said that my engine had gone missing and that they only had a 2.1 which wouldn't fit (not true) so I had to wait longer,My van has been off the road more often than its been on and once again my sixth Elite engine is clattering and I'm waiting for a slot with a reliable mechanic. When you meet them they're bluff and pleasant and come across as old skool vw enthusiasts but with the rubbish they fit it's clear that they don't have any pride in their work and don't give a "pooh" how long the engine will last.

[what2do]

^^^^^^^^^ and that folks, is exactly why I wouldn't recommend using them.

[ghost123uk]

As said, maybe the best plan is to look for a decent used one on here. They come up quite often for between £300 to £500.

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Aside = I can never understand why Elite don't get there act together. They must lose loads of money sorting out "cock" ups. I also don't think they do themselves any favours when they state on their Ebay ads =

Theengine has a reground crank,new bearings,a new large volume oil pump not thestd one,a reground flywheel, newcamshalft bearings, new barrels and pistons crack tested cylinder heads newvalve guides,new valves,newpushrod tubes,a crack tested engine case that is inline bored for oversize bearings,new gasketsand seals,new spark plugs,All threads are checked and repared for ease of assembly,crank shalftendfloat is set by dial guage.all engines are tested for oil pressure,comperssionand leakage before delivery. we do our best to make the engine as reliable as possible and carryout some modifications to make this so.

It has been a matter of debate as to whether they do all of the above (and for £950).

Shame they didn't proof read that too

From what I have read on here and elsewhere, the others, (Vege, Remtec, etc) are not much better.

[Ant-t]

It has been a matter of debate as to whether they do all of the above (and for £950).

All for £950?

Shame they didn't proof read that too

[Sir Brixalot]

Elie are getting a bad rep. On one of my many breakdowns, North Norfolk this time. A Bay enthusiast came over for a chat and to help. He said that whilst Elite had his van they had scratched the new paint work in many places. This guy also said that he had provided new parts but when he collect his van old parts had been used by Elite. This is only hearsay but the guy had no reason to lie.

I think Elite survive on Newbies and the fact that theres no one in this area who specialises in T25s.

[ghost123uk]

I heard a rumour that Andrew at Campershack might be going to offer exchange T25 engines in either "simple repaired" or "full re-build" form. I know they are always very busy (a good sign) so not sure if this service is going ahead. I know I trust them to do a good job, no bodging there, ever. I am a satisfied customer a few times over, to the extent I prefer to drive the 100+ miles to them for stuff I don't do myself (mainly LPG related).

I think Si at T3volution is similar, can do it (properly), but is very busy.