Club 80-90 Forums

Hi there,

T25 2109cc. Recently aquired. Noticed little or no oil or water in the system. Further inspection underneath found that one of the heads (drivers side RHD) had a nice coating of black silicon sealer to stop water leaking. A quick poke with the screwdriver and the remaining water just ran out. Removed head and found gasket had shot it so new one fitted together with replacement exhaust as i had to cut the old one off. Oil and filter change and water top up thought all would be ok. Not the case. Found oil/water still mixing. Removed and tested oil cooler and found pourous so replaced with new. Another oil flush and fresh oil and filter. Fingers crossed seems to be OK.

Question:

Does the above seem logical? and have i done the right thing?
Why is there still a horrible oily mess in the expansion tank?
What should I do to remove/replace it?
Should I have 'skimmed' the head prior to refitting? I did uses the GSF complete headgasket kit and replaced the two metal compression rings.

You can probably tell I am no mechanic but very reluctant to spend money with garages at the moment.

Any light shead on this problem will be gratefully recieved.

Thanks

Martin

you only need the slightest suggestion of oil to make the mayonaise stuff visible. did you swill your header tank out when you had the water out? detergent etc

Sounds like you did just the right things

Folks often overlook the oil cooler and jump to the conclusion it is a head gasket problem. ( ask me how I know )

And as for not being a mechanic, successfully replacing head gaskets and exhausts on a T25 flat 4 makes you a fully qualified mechanic mate !

The gunk in the expansion tank is likely just a bit of residue left over from the previous oily water.

Fingers crossed for you.

Did you manage to leave the cylinders in place when removing head? if not you may have disterbed the seal on the bottom of the barrels..

Oil cooler.. common fault apparently... and apart from the barrel base seals the only place oil and water can mix readily...

"skiming" the heads isnt possible int he normal sense.. so dont go there..

Thanks for the advice. Will use detergent to clean out water system. Did leave barrels in place when head removed so hopefully didn't disturb the seal. Intend to run the van now and see how it goes.

One thing I have noticed is the water light in the dash temp gauge is constantly flashing? plently of water (and some oil!!) in the system. There may also be some air locked in so will try and bleed. Shall I replace the sensor in the header tank? have already removed and cleaned it. If I remove and short the probes out should the light in the dash go out? would this then point to the sensor?

prob a bad connection now its been disturbed..