Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all great forum .need your advice head gasket has gone on the van (1.9dg petrol) am looking at a replacement engine .Thanks to the wonders of the internet there is a bad story about any engine company. But can you good people recommend a decent firm for a recon engine? Many thanks.

Where in the world are you?
What year is the van?
Has it much history? (ie regular servicing and coolant changes?? is it in very good shape generally?)
Which gasket has gone and has it been driven with no/low coolant?

Depending on those factors etc.. its possible to do a reseal on the top ends (Assume its the water jacket seal that's gone as that's the usual suspect)
But.. don't let any tom dick or harry perform it.. as it can open a can of worms..

Thanks for reply .I'm in wsm somerset .The van when bought was in a terrible state and we have been slowly working through all the neglect from the previous owners!.The garage we take our cars too has diagnosed it as the head gasket , although no vw t25 specialist I have known them a long time and trust there opinion . themselves and other vw specialists give me the impression they would rather go down the route of an exchange engine than open up a can of worms!

Sorry it's a 1990 1.9dg

Well I had an elite engine a few months ago well worth a go. Have a read of the elite vw thread on here... Lots of good and bad reports. I've done over 2000 miles since mine was replaced by them and she has not missed a beat so far.

8 Pages of good and bad about Elite engines here = https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... ilit=Elite" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As far as I know, all the other WBX re-builders, Vege, Remteck, etc, have similar, very variable reviews.

If you want your current engine sorting, our friend above, Mr Toomanytoys knows his stuff and has a good workshop. It would be bad forum etiquette for him to tout his business on a thread like this, but I can = http://www.t3volution.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and https://club8090.co.uk/forum/ucp.php?i=p ... &p=8011491" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok update thanks for the replys .I'm about to purchase a 2.1dj engine second hand suppose to be recon a few years back .my question is you helpful chaps out there ; I'm led to believe I can swap the engine over from dg to the new dj 2.1 , and run all the ancillaries from the 1.9? Is this correct? I will run the carb and manifold from the dg .Somewhere iI read about upgrading the oil cooler also ? What about the ecu etc can I use all the 1.9 stuff ? Sorry chaps lots of questions any advice greatly appreciated. Or alternatively can someone point me in the direction of any threads worth checking out .Thanks si.

You can use ALL the 1.9 stuff "as is". Just swap the main engine over. Everything else off the 1.9 will fit and work.

Thanks for reply ghost .yep after hours of trawling forums last night I find this informations . do you know if I need the 2.1 oil.cooler as well ?. And apparently you might have to raise the jetting a bit in carb? .any advice greatly appreciated. Si.

The oil cooler is a nice thing to have, but not essential.
You do not need to change any jets in the carb.

Thanks again ghost .what about the distributor which one do I use.engine coming Monday all being well!

I would use the DG one, it will work fine, (though others may have some input on this).

If you are going with the dg carb set-up you are best to use the dg dizzy as it is single vacuum advance. The DJ one has dual vac with a retard function and there's no suitable ported vacuum point for that on the pierburg carb. Time it to 5º btdc to use standard unleaded.
You will be fine without the oil cooler, unless you intend to tow up the alps in summer! (It's not so much an oil cooler in our climate, more an oil heater from cold for faster warm up in winter.)
More important to check/flush your cooling system, and maybe think about swapping the radiator for the bigger diesel/dj version. The higher compression dj makes more heat, so the dg rad can struggle if a bit old and sludged up.

Brilliant replys you guys thanks for the advice ! The radiator on the van is a brand new one (dg) old one split .will this be up to the job with the dj engine?

sikaya wrote:The radiator on the van is a brand new one (dg) old one split .will this be up to the job with the dj engine?

I would say so.

As Andrew mentions, these vans were designed (when "as new") to work hard, with full loads, even the heat of Africa etc, so as long as the rad is in good nick, like yours, then it will be fine in UK climates.