Advice needed - new engine

[karlyau]

Hi, I need some guidance … 6 years after selling my Holdsworth,  I recently paid 9k for a t25 Autosleeper 1.6 jtd.
On the way home it overheated big time .. blew the expansion tank.

I managed to get it home, and a new expansion tank was fitted, but it barely starts, doesn’t run right, overheats all the time.  a new thermostat hasn’t helped.  The mechanic has advised that he thinks engine might be cracked, and recommends changing the engine.

I have been told a 1.9 vw engine 90BHP would go straight in.

can anyone confirm this, and advise what engine codes I should be looking for?
also does anyone have advice on where to source an engine from?
and can I also change the gearbox at the same time?

any advice gratefully received .. thanks.

[Smiffo]

I'm sure others will have a view, but for me and my limited knowledge of Diesels, I'd say that although the engine will 'fit' there will be considerable changes.

Over and above the engine, you'd need all the ancillaries, like distributor, air filter box, coolant hoses, coil, exhaust will be different, I suspect the engine bar will be different, bell housing, throttle cable  etc etc.
Then there may be differences in the engine bay wiring loom.

That's not to say it can't be done, but there is more to consider than buy an engine and slot it in. Perhaps sourcing a replacement that matches the one you have is cheaper and easier?

This is going to come down to things like how much money you want to put into it, are you going to do it yourself etc?


 

[ajsimmo]

A good JX is a perfectly adequate engine, and like-for-like replacement would be the simplest option. Try AWEngineering for a recon unit at a reasonable price. http://vwenginerecon.co.uk/
However, If I were you I'd be thinking about changing to a cheaper fuel. A petrol 2.0 AGG from a Golf would give you more power, nicer to drive, and close to similar running cost (lower mpg with lower ppl). It'd cost a bit more to do, and that's if you can find one. There are other engine options (such as 1.8T or 1Y) also worth considering.

Sent from my moto g(30) using Tapatalk

[sweetaswesty]

We had the same problem with our jx 1.6td so we had a 1z 1.9tdi fitted professionally and the gearbox uprated to go with it. It wasn’t a cheap option. We get excellent mpg much better than any petrol alternative and it goes faster than we would ever want it to go easily keeping up with motorway traffic. Personally we couldn’t afford to run any of the petrol options however good an AGG or a Subaru might be in other ways as an alternative.
I’m pretty sure now that our JX failed because the PO had seriously neglected general maintenance on the cooling system. But I think a fully loaded T3 is always going to be a bit of a challenge for a little 1.6 turbo diesel. (Also, just to say, there are dedicated Facebook groups for T3 TDI conversions and also GTI (AGG) ones too).
The only 1.9 td that anything like goes straight in is the AAZ and they are all now both old and rare. Anything newer means a tdi with a ECU and whoever fits it needs to know what they’re doing and the increased torque isn’t good for an old gearbox etc.

[sweetaswesty]

Also, as I don’t think any one has said, it sounds like a blown head gasket. With it being as bad as it is it may well be that the cylinder head is distorted/ damaged. But that means when it’s stripped down it might just be the cylinder head needs replacing. And the block potentially could still be OK. If this was the case then doing this would easily be your cheapest option I think.
But it overheated for a reason, that being a symptom of something not right with the cooling of the engine. So a failed head gasket means hot exhaust gases entering the cooling system which over heats and pressurises the system which is what has been happening to you. But one of the most likely causes of a failed head gasket is the engine over heating in the first place.
So we had a leaking head gasket on our 1.6td which was the presenting problem but there was lots of evidence that the PO had been bodging away at the cooling system without properly sorting it for some time before that.
Finally, it’s really unlikely imho that the person who sold your your van for 9k was blissfully unaware of the problem. So I must also assume that it was a private sale and you have no means of redress?
I look at the ads for T3s on eBay and all too often think ‘oh yeah’. Like, ‘the sad time has come at last to sell our beloved T25 campervan Percy. Percy has taken us all over Europe and we’ve never had to spend a penny on repairs…’
Keeping a 30-40 year old van on the road and then selling it on in good order can’t be done on the cheap I think. I don’t know what happens to the good conscience of some T3 owners when they come to part with their beloved whatever its name is.

[kernewek]

I'd second the advice to get a rebuilt JX from AW Engineering, it's not a bad engine at all if the rest of the peripherals are in good order (pump, injectors, etc).