Coolant expansion tank completely empty.

[Gingermagic]

Agreed

Hence my early comment about 1.8 litres being rather a lot to have to put in.

One can only hope that there is a minor leak somewhere, which is why running the van for a few days keeping a close eye on water levels, hot and completely cold, is a worthwhile approach, with the new Dalek cap in place.

I've got everything crossed for a leak. I may not know what a head gasket is, but it sounds expensive.

I've got the van booked in with the local garage on Friday, so they can check things out once I've finished with it.
 

[937carrera]

I just edited the post you quoted, I missed something earlier, bad news sorry.

This was my original suspicion, what I meant by hares......

Not drawing back could be the dalek cap.... or something else, but stick to the simple diagnostics for now, no need to set hares running.

[Gingermagic]

You all seem certain of the head gasket. And all keep saying sorry.

Give it too me straight. How much money is this going to cost me???

[937carrera]

Depends where you are, labour costs vary widely, and if the head is OK or needs a skim, and what else gets done "while we are in there"

Have a look at this thread, at least you will know what it should not be.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8137181

[Gingermagic]

Scary!

I'm in Axbridge, in Somerset.

Should I be taking it to my local garage (I've always found them very good with other vehicles), or somewhere more specialised?

Thanks,
Damian

[Gingermagic]

PS I'm also getting a lot of smoke from the exhaust.

It's been that way since we bought it. So much so that I don't know how it passed the MOT that it went through before we got it.

I'll be mentioning this to the garage on Friday, but is this also part of the picture, or something else?

[937carrera]

It's a diesel isn't it, can you post exactly what engine it is, even better put it in your signature and update your profile with rough location.

It's a fairly standard VW diesel engine, it should not be hard to find someone who knows about those, though they may not be used to going to the back of the vehicle to look at one.

Arran is a bit of a trek for you, and I'm not even sure that Andrew does the diesel engines, he's more of a WBX specialist. Hopefully someone else can make a suggestion, but if you are happy with your current garage, why change ?

[TONYT25T25]

I should have said OIL FILLER CAP.

[TONYT25T25]

I thought I would add, check the oil filler plug for white/milky substances if so this could be another indication of head gasket failure.

Thanks Tony,

Excuse my ignorance, but where is the 'Oil Filter Plug'?

I'll check it and photograph it once I know where it is.

Cheers,
Damian

I meant OIL FILLER CAP. 
 

[TONYT25T25]

I thought it may have been that as described by Ginger but was not sure,  a garage can do a simple test to find out if there is any gas in the coolant system. The head gasket sits between the engine block and cylinder heads, seals the cylinders for max compression and avoid the leakage of oil and coolant into the cylinders. I thought I would add, check the oil filler plug for white/milky substances if so this could be another indication of head gasket failure.

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... _head_leak

Should be ajsimmo described

 

[Gingermagic]

I meant OIL FILLER CAP. 

No problem. I'll check that when we get the van back from the habitation check place. Took it in this morning due to smelling gas when the fridge is on. They redid the piping a couple of weeks ago.
 

[Gingermagic]

It's a diesel isn't it, can you post exactly what engine it is, even better put it in your signature and update your profile with rough location.

It's a fairly standard VW diesel engine, it should not be hard to find someone who knows about those, though they may not be used to going to the back of the vehicle to look at one.

Arran is a bit of a trek for you, and I'm not even sure that Andrew does the diesel engines, he's more of a WBX specialist. Hopefully someone else can make a suggestion, but if you are happy with your current garage, why change ?

To be honest, other than it being diesel, I have no idea what the engine is!

When we bought the van, the guy told us that he'd had to replace the engine the previous year. He said that it was rebuilt with half of a new engine (or something like that).

As I've mentioned. I'm not a car/van guy. My wife bought the van really, I was just along for the ride. I've not more involved with it now that there are problems that need solving!

How can I find out anything you'd need to know about the engine? I'm guessing that it would be too much to ask for a helpful sticker, giving all the details!?!

Cheers,
Damian

[TONYT25T25]

The first thing I do after buying a vehicle is to get hold of a workshop manual such as Haynes, gives you an idea of how the Vehicles operate and can give you guidance on faults, repairs either small or large. An of course there's always this forum.

[937carrera]

Have a look here, https://blog.heritagepartscentre.com/blog/2016/02/02/which-vw-t25-engine/

Does one look familiar.

Or you can upload a picture for more info and help

[ajsimmo]

Don't let them skim the head. It won't need it, and may render it scrap. VW say don't do it, but some mechanics know better . If it had been really hot and warped the head, it'd be new head time. As I understand it, that hasn't happened and it's still only a small escape of compression gases into the coolant. Just a new (correct thickness) gasket and a new set of head bolts would fix it, plus anything else that's worth doing whilst you're there (eg timing belt kit, manifold gaskets, rocker cover gasket). A lot depends on the garage - if they're working for you or themselves, IYKWIM
Anyway, first things first, ask for a sniff test, or better still the dye test, and that will show if there has been combustion gases in the cooling circuit.

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