New engine or not? Oxford area

[skytie]

Dg 1.9 Water cooled overheated this weekend took out old thermostat as temp fix but overheated again and ended up getting recovered to oxford area van is now missing when running sure this is gasket or even worse . Spoke with vw camper restorers in north oxford who gave ball park figure of £3500 plus to rebuild engine.
I might bite bullet and buy a recon engine and get it fitted I'm sure this would be cheaper
Any one know if decent recon sales and a reliable non rip of place in oxford area who would be able to fit

Thanks guys

[Oldiebut goodie]

Has this been checked?

Surely there should be coolant coming from your radiator bleed screw when it's hot. I have had months of overheating problems and have changed tanks, thermostats, oil switches, had the buzzer of doom disengaged, during all this it seemed that the radiator was fine. I changed it and the overheating problem has gone away.(also found a blockage at a T junction, leading to LH head, in the thin coolant pipe that runs round the top of the engine bay) It's best to be methodical, do cheap fixes first and work your way up. Good luck in finding the culprit

This thread. https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=129079

I am not au fait with petrol engines but cheaper than a new engine.

[bigherb]

If you take the thermostat out then it is almost certainly going to over heat, it needs the thermostat to direct coolant to the radiator.
Before you go thinking about new engines get the fault diagnosed properly.
First replace the thermostat and then a sniffer test to check the head seals.

[itchyfeet]

If you take the thermostat out then it is almost certainly going to over heat.

never heard of that before

[bigherb]

If you take the thermostat out then it is almost certainly going to over heat.

never heard of that before

Because they use a bypass or two stage thermostat.
Stage one when the engine is warming up the coolant circulates from the head through the bypass port back into the engine without going through the radiator.


Stage two when the engine has reached operating temperature the thermostat opens and this disc closes off the bypass port making the coolant flow through the radiator.
If you remove the thermostat the bypass port will always be open allowing the coolant to take the path of least resistance and recirculate back into the engine without being cooled by the radiator.

[itchyfeet]

Interesting, thanks

[skytie]

Thanks for replying chaps
Original over heat was engine side with no heat at radiator . Tested fan with bypass no problem , tested bleed at radiator Luke warm bleed. Tested thermostat in boiling water , no response. Pondered situation with recovery guy removed thermostat and bled system ( hot bleed) this lead to hot radiator with correct fan switching on as needed. So off I went few miles later overheat with That dreaded cylinder head sound and power loss . I fear real damage is already done by the 1st overheating whatever the cause , now has tell tale crap sound with white exhaust plume etc.i agree with finding the cause but I fear the real damage is done. I have had new head fitted before and was never pleased with result . I am now wondering about new engine , even Subaru conversion , something simple but tempted to steer away from this DG millstone . Any advice would be gratefully accepted don't want anything flash , just reliable

Big herb
Thanks for the thermostat info I always thought it was a simple single gate to divert heat to the radiator as needed the recovery guy said it would affect performance only as a temp fix but keep engine cool by keeping gate open. However your info has taught me something new
Cheers

[kevtherev]

even Subaru conversion , something simple

Not often you see that in the same sentence!

[toomanytoys]

Sounds dead to me..

And who know what prev owner and "bodges" have been done on it in its life..

If you had work done prev and were not happy, then there has prob been something wrong for a while...

I run 3 waterboxers and for a lot of miles too.. yes, they have there foibles and quirks..

In most problem cases I have seen over the years, its been down to poor maintenance, bodging owners or ham-"interfered with"/ignorant garages... So, perhaps there is some "history" in that engine...

As for rebuilds.. I do my own now...... I have had one from a specialist.. and seen several from the usual suspects..

And if you plan on keeping the van for a few years.. a Subaru is worth considering... but its a good bit of work and an investment.... Or perhaps the GTi conversion is an option...