Newbie seeking head gasket/engine advice - 1985 T25 Diesel

[DevonKamper]

Hi all,

Complete novice here trying to help out my mother and her stricken camper and hoping for some of your wisdom. The head gasket went the other day and she has been told it's (the HG) beyond repair. It's a lovely van, has only done around 45k miles, D-Reg ('85 I think), T25. She has been quoted around £3000 to fit a refurbished engine, or about £1700 to replace the gasket. She has been told the van is worth around £6-7k when up and running.

This is all we have to go on at this stage and so I was hoping that those of you with any experience of similiar problems might be able to offer some advice as to what our options might be outside of those listed above. Appreciate you might need some more information about the van and I'll happily find out as much as I can.

Thanks in advance, any help is really appreciated. I'll stick a picture below in case it's of any use...

[MGP]

What exactly happened for you to get it looked at in the first place. Head gaskets don't just go it is normally another part of the cooling system that fails leading to overheating which causes the gasket to fail.
£1700 is strong money for a head gasket replacement even if they are fitting a new head.
Where is the van located?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[DevonKamper]

Hi MGP,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Already I clearly need some more info. I believe the cooling system packed up, but I don't know which bit. She said the gasket melted and water got into the engine.

It does sound like a lot of money to me, but I really don't know the benchmark. We're in South Devon.

Cheers

[MGP]

Ok way to far for me to come and take a look, hopefully someone near you will suggest a reliable place near you that you could take it to.
For now ask your mechanic exactly what the problem is with the cooling system and what parts of the engine he needs to replace along with a full breakdown of costs, post up the results here so we can advise you further

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[DevonKamper]

Ha, yes. Nice of you to consider it. Thanks, will see what more I can find out.

[California Dreamin]

Sounds like a NONE SPECIALIST garage quoting 'scare money' as in, they don't really want the job so they go in really high to either scare the customer away or get a good screw if they end up with the job.

Head gaskets on these relatively simple diesel engines (8 valve SOHC) are easy, the issues are around what you might find as a consequence of the overheating. Warped/cracked/pitted heads...and might I suggest, special attention is paid towards the oil cooler (under the oil filter..if it has one) which can internally corroded causing coolant/oil mix.


Martin

[multisi]

Yeah a perforated oil cooler can make it look like its got a head problem, i know someone who took his van to a mechanic when he saw oil in the coolant .The mechanic said the cylinder head must be renewed, he spent £1500 (that was over 10 years ago). Then a week later i watched him flushing the coolant out and looking stressed, i had the bentley manual and had read about the warning of the oil cooler. Told him about it. He fixed it himself for £50, i told him to get the cylinder head back from the mechanic, and it turned out there was nothing wrong with it apart from a few tiny cracks.

[ermie571]

Elvis is in Exeter....genuine chap. Dunno how much he knows about DERV though .

[clone123]

Can you get the code for the engine with that mileage on i would think is the original engine she can get it off the log book/V5 look at the engine number the letters at the begining is the code .First you need to take it to somebody who you can trust who can diagnose the problem properly if you don't know anybody and you are in the AA or RAC try calling them see if they can help.maybe you can tell them a little white lie to get them out and then have a word with the mechanic .I've been looking at getting a reconditioned engine for my 1.6td and I was looking at this maybe the one for you a lot cheaper then £3000 click the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-TRANSPORTE ... xy79JRg84K" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ELVIS]

Where a outs in gods country are you?

As Martin has said, £1700 is silly money. For that you would expect a brand new head,belt etc all works completed and still have a change for a long weekend in Europe with a budget airline

As has been said, is it a genuine diagnosis for HG or a guess? Lots of variables that can be guessed and costs will vary accordingly.

Only variable to keep in mind (IF it is the HG) is that although these are fairly modern, they are still pretty old and work depends on previous maintainance. Have done three HG on diesels in last six months or so. Two were a dream but the third was a nightmare!!! Every nut/bolt/screw/clip etc was rusted to buggery, had been rounded off, snapped off etc. on top of this oil return line shat itself when a spanner got within an inch of it as it was so rusted, the paper thin exhaust holed when it was moved and the turbo support bracket died (big washers holding on what was left of it as bolt holes were non existent)

So....... Lots that can go wrong/start costing when you get hands on but I am struggling to see how it could get to £1700, that's "getting your pants pulled down" territory.

Gimme a shout if you need any pointers. Happy to give you time on the phone and a list of questions you need to be asking if you are instructing someone to do it.

We've got work booked well into 2017 now but mostly long term resto air cooled $hite T3s always priority in my eyes

[ajsimmo]

Absolutely scandalous! £1700 to do a head gasket?! And also that it's beyond repair? So which is it? Get the van out of that garage quick!
Even with a new head, bolts, gaskets, belt & tensioner I'm struggling to make it more than a grand. It all depends what originally happened to the engine, and what the actual damage is. My advice is to take it elsewhere for a (proper) second opinion.
We could do it for you, but not until July/August.