Coolant leaks from head gasket - mechanic needed

[pcurtis100]

Hi,
I'm certainly no expert but I've been reliable informed that the pink powdery deposits around gaskets on the underside of my 1.9 ltr wc petrol T25 are signs of coolant leakage and the engine will need stripping and the gaskets replaced. Its a recon engine that has done 30k miles.
Does anyone know of anyone in the Nottingham Newark area that would reliably undertake this work?

I've read about replacing with a Golf GTi engine but I assume this will cost a upwards of £5k?  I would consider thsi if the fuel economy was significantly improved?

Any thoughts advice you can share would be much appreciated.
Cheers


 

[mioba]

Absoutevw near castle donninghton
Bughaus on colwick road

Not used either as I do all work myself but worth checking out.

[aec]

Although they are often called "head gaskets", on the WBX engine these are really "water jacket seals".  So a leak here isn't quite the same issue as it would be in a normal engine.

I noticed mine had a few pink deposits following a long lay-up, around the water jacket seals and also a few hoses etc. 

After a lot of forum reading and research here and elsewhere, I opted to add a dose of Holts Radweld to the coolant.  It took a long time to overcome my instincts that adding anything like this was an extreme bodge likely to end in disaster, but I was persuaded by the arguments.

Do your own research though, searching here and thesamba.com  for "Subaru Coolant Conditioner" will bring back plenty on the topic.  This is the same stuff as Radweld.  There are other products, based on a variety of substances and technologies.  Radweld uses finely ground ginger root!!  k-seal is the other type that seems preferred.

I'd add the caveat that since adding this I've done zero miles (I'm still getting the van roadworthy again!), but it has so far stopped all the leaks, and the cooling system appears to be unaffected.    Total cost:  £5 vs £lots, and  easy vs can-of-worms. 

 

[DoubleOSeven]

No rush.

Put £150 a month into an ISA and by the time it fails, you’ll have enough to buy an engine off Andrew @ Campershack.

They’re pretty robust these engines, I’d drive it until it lets go, personally. Top up the coolant once in a while obviously.

[maxstu]

No rush.

Put £150 a month into an ISA and by the time it fails, you’ll have enough to buy an engine off Andrew @ Campershack.

They’re pretty robust these engines, I’d drive it until it lets go, personally. Top up the coolant once in a while obviously.

I agree with the above.

It's likely the water jackets are coming to the end of their lives.

The 2.1 in my camper leaked for five years. Worse during the winter. In fact the past hot summers temporarily stopped it leaking (probably due to additional heat expansion). But returning during colder periods of the year.

However, at just 30K l am surprised the jackets (both?) are leaking. How many years ago were they replaced? I would check the leaks are not from elsewhere, like a head bolt for instance.

[mioba]

The PO of my bus had at some stage a very long time ago used rad weld as there was a crack in the head. Foolish as it wont fix that even temporarily. I only realised when replacing the head. Radweld sticks like poo to the preverbal in the entire cooling system. So entire system needed a good dismantling and cleaning. .
IMO these things are snake oils. They are a temp fix and good as a stop gap/emergency solution, nothing more.

[pcurtis100]

Hi all,
Thanks o much for your advice / feedback.
The engines only done £30k miles but it was installed around 20 years ago.
The leak is fairly minor( I don't have to routinely top-up the coolant). 
Following threads here and on theSamba.com I'm going to add some radweld and see how it goes.
Thanks again - much appreciated.
Cheers