POSSIBLE HEAD GASKET?

[dazman1]

Evening all
I am guessing i have a blown head gasket
The symptoms are temp ok while at idle but goes up when driving and engine under load no loss of coolant as such but it is being pushed into overflow tank so assume its combustion gas getting into coolant system.
Its a 1.6 td jx engine so the question is repair or upgrade although had no issues with the engine before and not bothered about slow hill climes.
Any advice appeciated.
Daz

[Oldiebut goodie]

no loss of coolant as such but it is being pushed into overflow tank so assume its combustion gas getting into coolant system.

Daz

That is what it is supposed to do!

[dazman1]

no loss of coolant as such but it is being pushed into overflow tank so assume its combustion gas getting into coolant system.

Daz

That is what it is supposed to do!

Sorry what i meant was over flow tank filling up because of air/combustion gas in pressurised tank the one with darlek cap on it.

[California Dreamin]

You maybe right but are you sure the Darlek cap is allowing the system to pressurise? the cap is two way..it allows coolant to escape once the pressure reaches around 1 bar (14PSI) this ejected coolant is then drawn back the opposite way (back into the main tank) as the engine cools down and the coolant contracts.
Is the main tank filling up with space, leaving the expansion tank overfull?
Correct diagnostic would be to use a sniffer in the header tank to confirm combustion gas contamination in to the coolant.

Martin

[dazman1]

Martin
That is exactly what is happening to my van.
I know about sniffer test and will get it done to be 100% sure but can't think of any other issue that would give the Same symptoms.

[multisi]

Same happened to my JX engine, ok for first few miles then temp goes over and coolant pushed into overflow and that overflowed if you carried on driving - head gasket gone .

[dazman1]

As with my original post if gasket has gone would you repair or replace the engine??

[ermie571]

gti it:-)

[RogerT]

I'm wondering if your symptoms could be caused by a duff dalek cap? Fails to hold pressure so more likely to overheat?

If your head gasket is gone I'd say repair, but I'm a fan of my wee JX

[Oldiebut goodie]

Strange the number of posts concerning head gasket problems on the JX - I don't recollect seeing one about CS gaskets. I wonder if there is a common factor like work having been done on the head and the follow up re-torquing not being done? Or maybe running without the correct mix of coolant leading to erosion of the head waterways?
I personally would repair provided everything else is in fine fettle. Hard to say without checking the head out first.

[sarahandthebear]

If everything els is fine I would say repair have you got a new water pump and fule pump etc if so the repair job would be the better option. I have read a lot about recon engines not being up to scratch I may be wrong of course but I believe finding a decent one isn't hard to come by don't quote me on that though. I think if you fix it you will have no other problems but to be honest it may not even be that cheack the Darlek cap first don't want to start stripping the engine apart for no reason hope all goes well and your back on the road soon

[Porkscratching]

When I had problems with my JX head it was pretty apparent. With someone starting the engine and myself taking a firm grip of the main coolent hose you could feel it immediately inflating and pressurising the system.

As whether to repair or not is your call. Clearly there are two camps. I not only had mine repaired but when the lump was finally shot I had it replaced with like for like and haven't regretted it.

Happy with my wee JX as well. Regards, Max.