head gasket gone?

[leroiandjayne]

im wondering what the obvious signs are that the head gasket may have gone on my 1600 td engine,i know that water spots on the oil dipstickbut dont have is one but what else should i look for? any ideas greatly appreciated. thanks leroi

[HarryMann]

Poor starting, white smoke, water use, oil in water, water in oil, oil weeping from head joint (behind No.3)

Don't rule out a cracked head either

Take out all 4 glo plugs, mark them with cyl. nos as they come ou, check them against each other for appearance, check them for worky properly (don't burn yourself or blow up a battery!)

PS. Have a good spare or two available to put back in, or be within range of a source

[leroiandjayne]

many thanks for that mate,i dont appear to have any of the mentioned symptoms but i am curious about water in oil and vice-versa,surely the water will seperate either way or will it mix with the coolant?

[armyphil]

if you do lots of short journeys water/condensation can also cause this, take of the rocker breather and look behind there to see if there is any gunk

[leroiandjayne]

cheers phil will do,am asking cos i went over to france 2006 and she overheated for the first time,the radiator fans actually kicked in! iv recently flushed the cooling system and replaced with platinum coolant @50-50,cos theres was splerf in the top-up tank,anyway going again next wednesday and am just on a bit of a check-up.

[HarryMann]

the radiator fans actually kicked in!

This is very normal on TD diesels, they produce a phenomenal amount of heat, partic. at higher cruise revs... 1st stage often comes on but soon cools.

A good idea to check things out, fresh 50/50 good, also maybe check the rad for flies, muck etc and if requ'd, a jet wash through (not tooo close!) will help a wee bit.

Also go under and check the long coolant pipes and hoses at either end. You are looking for any signs of weeps, past or present, and badly corroded hose-clips. Ditto heater hoses. Also security of same, large loosely fitted cable ties are OK, maybe with some packing to spread the load (ally sheet, tin snips etc) or thin plastic sheet will do.

Of course, requirement No. 1 is European rescue/recovery and hopefullt full repatriation cover - you know it makes sense

Just keep the power loadings down on long hot climbs, rush ye not unless you are confident she's 100% in all departments. Oil temps sometimes get v.high on TDs, and hence pressures reduce commensurately, so if you have no oil temp/press gauges, and think she's getting a bit hot, take a break!
If you're in a hurry, use a water spray (gardening type) at the radiator and leave it idling... temp gauge will often go past 'Norm', but not much further than one needle thickness, if it does back off! IF v.hot weather, keep speed well up down (60+) long slopes and let it slowly bleed off as you climb, going down a gear if necessary eventually.

Check oil level and tyre pressures accurately every morning until you are happy about their state. Don't overfill oil, but know exactly where it should be after a night of settling on a level surface, you'll then soon know if she starts to use a drop daily, two-daily or weekly

Renew air-filter (or knock & vacuum it out or take a spare) and check fuel filter for water-drain before you go... take a spare fuel filter is a good idea if not recently changed

Then... Have a good time and worry not

[Rozzo]

cheers phil will do,am asking cos i went over to france 2006 and she overheated for the first time,the radiator fans actually kicked in! iv recently flushed the cooling system and replaced with platinum coolant @50-50,cos theres was splerf in the top-up tank,anyway going again next wednesday and am just on a bit of a check-up.

if the fans kicked in m8 i suspect it didn't "overheat" but merely reached top temp. perfectly normal in hot weather

[leroiandjayne]

many thanks for that harrymann,have made them checks and all seems tickity-boo,she's an 87 devon eurovette that weve got and had a spankin brand new engine from vw thats only done 65k from new,we did france spain italy switzerland and belgium last year (3500 miles)without any probs but the splurf was a concern! the euro cover is in the back in me tool-box and if need be JK in an internet cafe hey! many thanks for all your help one n all, cheers leroi