Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Guys, after some help , my head gasket went yesterday any ideas on cost to get it fixed, also recommendations on places in Bedfordshire that could do it. My camper is 1988 1.9 water cooled. Many thanks

I think I replied to this already on Farcebook, so you know we do waterboxer engines. The longer answer is really "it depends..."
We would need to know what has actually happened with and to your engine. Did it lose all the coolant? If so, why? Did it get too hot, and if so, how hot for how long? What is the resulting damage? Will the heads come off without snapping corroded studs? Lots of subsequent questions during stripdown too before you can really know the final cost. So as you see, I can't answer the question without quite a bit more info.
A quick answer is from £500 to buy a used engine and DIY fit, through the cheapo exchange engine merchants at £1-1.5k, to a fully (properly) rebuilt engine at £2.5-3k.
But, of course, your engine may be perfectly repairable. If it's water jacket seal only, and no other damage, and all goes smoothly, it may be as little as £400-500.

The above reply ought to be a 'sticky' on every T3 related page on the Internet, it's as simple/comprehensive as AJ has said - you won't know until you start digging!

Consider having it delivered to a specialiat like Campershack the delivery cost will likely be recovered by a better job and likely a lower cost than a local who doesn't know what they are doing.

Hope you get it sorted with minimum hassle (been there, got the T shirt).
Be careful who you let loose on it, ~8 years ago the guy I took mine to failed to fix it, but tried to charge me the money
Caused me major hassles what with engine in & out twice on my small driveway, in the depth of winter.
I then decided to buy a used motor, which is still going strong.
I didn't know Andrew at The Campershack back then, but having since used them for other things, if I had this issue again, I would for sure go there

By the way, you should E D I T your "sig" text

Poohvan wrote:My camper is 1988 1.9 water cooled.

Sig =

1980 Aircooled Viking T25

Thanks guys.
The engine over heated after 23 miles called RAC they did a pressure check for spilt hoses, water pump or head gasket, as there wasn't any coolant in either tanks, but both where checked before leaving home and were at correct levels, everything fine. Only hose that looked worn was hose from coolant tank to expansion tank so that was trimmed and replaced. Afterwards van drove prefect no loss of power or flashing lights, temp normal and we did a further 100 miles without problems. It was then stood for a day, went to check oil and water before starting off and coolant tank full of what looked like coffee grounds.
I have been in touch with a garage that is highly recommended by T25 owners and have been told that as one of you have said the studs may be damaged so he said recon engine is the way forward and that would cost around £1200 plus fitting.

Don't have much luck with T 25's had 4 now....... 1st water cooled-head gasket went had repaired but was never right
2nd air cooled - nicked.... 3rd air cooled - caught fire ......4th water cooled ????

Steer clear of the recon one. How much of a rush are you in to get it up and running? If you've got time, register on the Facebook t3 pages and ask if anyone has a runner that can be seen in the van. Plenty come up as many people convert to Subaru or TdI, resulting in a spare engine. I bumped into someone that had broken down around the corner from my house, I gave them the same advice which they took and got a local van friendly mechanic to do the install. If time is against you then that's a different and unenviable ball game. Please steer clear of the 'recons'...

A £1200 "recon" will be recycled, so less of the re-

I would say as these engines literally drop out quite easy you could do an initial assessment your self. Just make sure you put all the bits relating to each item you remove in tubs together so you don't lose anything. The carb can come off with the manifold and rocker shafts and pushrods can be labelled so they go back in the right place on the correct side. Exhausts can be a pain but if you were to have some good luck you could then try to undo the head nuts both sides and see if they are free. If they are then things may be looking up. A refresh of bearing shells, rings, seals and valves relapped or replaced and lapped, new oil and water pump could be around the £1200 including labour at your nearest engineers and at least you know its got a few miles in it.

seriously I have spent around £650 for all the parts to rebuild my own 1.9 DG ,(And that had 5 new head studs) but I did it myself. An engine shop will bung it all in a parts cleaner and then pop it on the bench and measure it up. I have done 3 now and the liners,crank and mains are all usually ok for a set of standard shells and rings. The con rods need a careful inspection but I have only binned one so far. The heads are a bit of an unknown but if not cracked a set of valve guides and valves is usually less than £100 for each side and you may not need all of them doing. I got away with two guides and two valves on each head. A new oil pump and water pump and bung it back together (with care) and Bobs your uncle. Probably 2 days work for an engineer at the most. So what is that about £600 ish? (I didn't use new tappets - that was a big mistake!!!!!!! ) If you have taken the heads off and parted the case it is less work for them also.
Good luck

Poohvan wrote:Thanks guys.
The engine over heated after 23 miles called RAC they did a pressure check for spilt hoses, water pump or head gasket, as there wasn't any coolant in either tanks, but both where checked before leaving home and were at correct levels, everything fine. Only hose that looked worn was hose from coolant tank to expansion tank so that was trimmed and replaced. Afterwards van drove prefect no loss of power or flashing lights, temp normal and we did a further 100 miles without problems. It was then stood for a day, went to check oil and water before starting off and coolant tank full of what looked like coffee grounds.
I have been in touch with a garage that is highly recommended by T25 owners and have been told that as one of you have said the studs may be damaged so he said recon engine is the way forward and that would cost around £1200 plus fitting.

Don't have much luck with T 25's had 4 now....... 1st water cooled-head gasket went had repaired but was never right
2nd air cooled - nicked.... 3rd air cooled - caught fire ......4th water cooled ????

Bloody hell,

and i thought I had bad luck.

Keep us posted on developments

Poohvan wrote:coolant tank full of what looked like coffee grounds.

I'd take a bet that that is K-Seal head gasket repair stuff (or similar) used by the previous owner.