Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all.

I'm having some problems with my van, its an 1985 panel, with a recent 1.6td engine installed.
it was fitted in march and ran happily for about a month or so when it started leaking coolant into the front footwells a bit, not a massive amount, then while sitting in traffic it split a pipe, we replaced the hose and checked the head, all was fine for about a week and then it split another, this time it steamed a bit out of the front heaters so i took out the dash and replaced the heater box/matrix and the hose again but this time i bled the system myself and wasnt 100% sure i did it correctly, today its split a third pipe, shortish journey. there is obviously pressure building up in the system but as the head checked out ok i can't work out where to start....
anyone got any ideas, i love my van and desperately want it back to good health!
thanks for reading.
phil

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news Phil but it sounds like you have either a blow head gasket or a cracked head.....

Lift the cap then decide.......


Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,,

Replace the pressure cap.. if its splitting hoses then the pressure cap isnt doing its job... its supposed to maintain only a certain pressure... (3 or 4psi IIC) and coolant should spew out the topup tank first.......

Who fitted the engine etc.......?

i think the cap was replaced the first time it split one, is there a way to check them.
Fritz - when you say lift the cap? what do you mean, should i be able to see something that will tell me its the head?

a local garage, who i trust, fitted the engine, and said there were no problems with it...

sorry to seem a bit dumb, i'm used to Aircooled motors...

cap can be tested using the same pressure pump guage thing they use to check the system's integrity.
it's only supposed to hold 1 bar (ie 2 bar true)
If you have the early expansion tank with the metal cap then is it the correct cap, the vw is now obsolete and you need to be sure that the new one is correctly rated.
If it's the later one with plastic darlek cap it should be blue if new.
System should blow off via expansion tank into top up tank and thence to atmosphere, if it's blowing hoses that suggests cap/outlet not right, or blocked.
Head integrity can be checked with sniff test(for CO) on expansion tank if you have the tester,
Has the new engine had a head job and if so has it had the headbolts retorqued after 1000 miles - this is the most common failure on new heads on diesels ime.

Fritz - when you say lift the cap? what do you mean,

In the trade this means taking the head off.......

Another favorite is the term 'Puffer' = Engine, although this originates from sidecar racing.


Regards

Fritz,,,,,,,,,