Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all, looking for some advice. I recently bought a new van and was told the engine was cooked. The previous owner had drove it with a split coolant hose and not seen the temp go up. The engine died and he got it
Recovered to the nearest garage.

When I collected the van I didn't even attempt to start it just chucked it on the truck and brought her home.
Couple of days later I just tried turning her over and to my amazement she fired up straight away. She is leaking from the back of the head. Steaming from that area and seeping water. She sounds ok maybe a slight misfire although I haven't let it run long.

My question is really do you think the engine may be salvageable. I haven't taken her apart yet to check the head. Worse case the head is cracked but I do have another head here that suffered belt failure which I'm hoping could be repaired. Is it possible the block itself could be damaged if so how could I check?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

They are tough old engines - I 'cooked' my 1.6 Na a few times. Never blew gasket even. It's obviously not a good thing... I'd be giving it a go if I was you


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Think I'm going to take the head off to investigate. According to the previous owner he had some Vw guru look at it and he said engine was cooked and quoted him £4000 to replace . However the guy ain't touched the engine with a spanner simply just looked at it.

I've effectively had my 1.6JX completely overhauled (still in garage!) and it should come to no more than £1300, with a re-con turbo. Not bad really.

Think I'll take the head off and see the damage. If it's to costly I'll pop a gti engine in.