I have a horrible feeling my T4 van's head gasket is toast

[mangocrazy]

Long story short, the coolant level in the reservoir has recently needed to be topped up more often than I would like and so I asked my local (Sheffield) garage to check it out. They came back saying it was probably because the closure on the reservoir wasn't properly tightened up and 'keep an eye on it'.

On the way down through France to the gaff the 'low coolant level light' came on 2 or 3 times and it swallowed 3-4 litres of water during the journey. Today I took it into a trusted local French garage and he was 99% certain that there is a cylinder head/head gasket problem. He'll do some tests and let me know, but I'm pretty sure what the answer will be.

As with all good garages, he's stacked up with work and I'm due to return to the UK at the end of October. With the cat. And Mrs Mango is due to fly out to meet us mid-October. Do I quickly join RAC/AA Recovery and chance my arm on the way back? Or sit it out at the house until the garagiste can do whatever's necessary? Or scrap the van, sell the cat and catch a plane back to Blighty?

[DefTrap]

It's hard enough to find a mechanic in the UK that you trust, my gut feeling (and some anecdotal experience) is that it is worserer in France.

My local garages seem to be exclusively manned at the front desk by a fierce harridan - their job is exclusively to rudely tell exasperated clients to feck off, and they never communicate with the (almost always) very lovely mechanics in the shop. My most recent experience of this is our local harridan telling my missus that the parts weren't available and it could take weeks - it was actually fixed the same afternoon without needing any of the unobtainable parts. It really pisses off the harridan if you walk past her front desk and talk directly to the mechanic.

Given that your guy is good I'd be tempted to wait it out, depends what you need to be back in the UK for.

[Skub]

PCP the good clean flying fuck out of a new van. The cat would approve.

[cheb]

Why not fix it yourself?

[mangocrazy]

Why not fix it yourself?

I can only dream of having the necessary confidence, facilities and skillz to do that. Bikes yes, cars/vans much less so.

If you want a yardstick, see how long my broken Lancia Beta has been languishing in my garage rather than roaming the highways and byways of rural France (it's coming up for nine years since it last moved any distance under its own power).

[mangocrazy]

The option of applying for all bells and whistles International AA/RAC Recovery and attempting to drive it back to Blighty is looking increasingly appealing...

[cheb]

You need more practice then, JFDI.

[mangocrazy]

PCP the good clean flying fuck out of a new van. The cat would approve.

That's a definite option for when I get back to the UK (with or without van).

[mangocrazy]

You need more practice then, JFDI.

I know my limits, and fixing broken van engines by the roadside is well beyond them.

[KungFooBob]

I could be wrong, usually am, but...

Iirc on a diesel, because they run much more compression than a petrol, instead of water getting into the oil (and leaving mayo under the filler cap), the oil gets in with the water and you get an oily mess in your header tank, which you'll have seen if you have to keep topping it up.

It might just be a split water pipe somewhere.


Edit: or I might be thinking of broken oil cooler that does that rather than a head gasket.

[weeksy]

Why not hire a car or fly home, then when the van is done fly/drive back to get it knowing it's 100%.

[cheb]

Bung £500 plus expenses to the usual chap on here, you'll not have to worry about the van again and he can give you a lift home.

[KungFooBob]

I bet it's just a pin hole leak in a pipe, some self almalgamating tape should sort it.

Happened on my old Transit. In the end the rubber tape gave way and I had to give Ford £38 for a new pipe.

[mangocrazy]

I bet it's just a pin hole leak in a pipe, some self almalgamating tape should sort it.

That is what I was hoping might be the case. It still might.

What gives me cause for hope is that when I spoke to the UK garage they were dismissive of the French guy's diagnosis. I'd driven 5 or 6 kms to get to the French garage and coolant temps were up to normal operating levels. French guy opens the header tank and it hisses and bubbles cos it's pressurised. He regards this as evidence the head gasket has gone. To me that''s just the way modern pressurised systems work, and the English garage backed me up on that.

Anyway now I've had time to think I'll wait to see if there is evidence of oil in the coolant and see what the results of French guy's tests show. What I did observe on the way down was that the van was driving the same way it always does, cruising easily between 70-80 mph, plenty of go on tap when needed and the water temperature solid at 90 deg C, same as always.

It just had an unhealthy appetite for water.

[mangocrazy]

Why not hire a car or fly home, then when the van is done fly/drive back to get it knowing it's 100%.

Yeah, that's an option. We have the added inconvenience of Le Chat to think about. We can't fly with him and he's just too domesticated to go feral for a week or so...

[cheb]

Can you ask your french chap to put an exhaust gas sniffer into the header tank air space with the engine running? It might confirm there's exhaust gases in there.

I had it done to one of my vehicles in the past but I can't remember whether it was a petrol or a diesel.

[mangocrazy]

Can you ask your french chap to put an exhaust gas sniffer into the header tank air space with the engine running? It might confirm there's exhaust gases in there.

I had it done to one of my vehicles in the past but I can't remember whether it was a petrol or a diesel.

I'll give him a call tomorrow and ask. Tonight will be spent writing out a suitably worded question in English, then plugging it into Google translate.

Whether I'll understand his response is anybody's guess.

[roadster]

... and don't forget the water pump. On a modern engine it may be buried out of sight but it could still leak water into the oil or onto the ground. There are also quite a few generic sealed plastic thermostat housings which have become notorious for splitting and loosing coolant lately.

[iansoady]

I had some success tracking down a water leak on my old Discovery by using a UV tracing fluid. You pop some in the coolant then shine a UV light all around the place (obviously when it's dark). The tracing fluid shows up as bright stains.

Like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234918873945

[mangocrazy]

The consensus of opinion on the T4 forums is that head gaskets don't go pop unless you're using stupid levels of boost. However the French garage guy still seems to think it's a blown head gasket or cracked/porous head. I'm going with balance of probabilities and will retrieve the van and start searching for leaks. If I can get an ebay seller to ship to France I'll definitely get hold of the UV torch and fluid. That looks a useful piece of kit for what I need.

The water pump (along with the cam chain) was replaced earlier in the year so should be OK. I'm aware of the dangers of plastic thermostat housings. They really are a Very Bad Idea.