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

[mangocrazy]

It ain't over until it's over...

Drove from Sheffield to Griff's AP Workshops in Tamworth and back yesterday, and when I came to move the van today the bloody low coolant alarm squawked at me. Rang up Autohaus Dolby and they said 'yes, now we've fixed the main problem (radiator) we move on to the next weak point in the cooling system and fix that'.

Hmmmm.

We shall see. Van is booked in for next Tuesday.

[weeksy]

LOL shouldn't they have mentioned that at the time ?

[mangocrazy]

LOL shouldn't they have mentioned that at the time ?

My thoughts exactly...

[Eclipse]

Be careful my brother has just been royally ripped off on an engine rebuild for his van

[mangocrazy]

Be careful my brother has just been royally ripped off on an engine rebuild for his van

Yes, I'll give them this one, but my patience is wearing thinner.

[mangocrazy]

So it turns out that the much-maligned French garagiste was right all along...

The local VW specialist have just admitted that the van does 'rather annoyingly' (their phrase, not mine) have a blown head gasket.

They've kindly offered to fix it for £2 - £2.5k. I think I might decline their kind offer, seeing as how they've been in denial up till now.

Expect my responses to anything for the next few days to be somewhat grumpy (understated mode fully engaged)...

[weeksy]

So it turns out that the much-maligned French garagiste was right all along...

The local VW specialist have just admitted that the van does 'rather annoyingly' (their phrase, not mine) have a blown head gasket.

They've kindly offered to fix it for £2 - £2.5k. I think I might decline their kind offer, seeing as how they've been in denial up till now.

Expect my responses to anything for the next few days to be somewhat grumpy (understated mode fully engaged)...

Well i don't see how this changes anything ? The rad was obviously an issue, but a secondary issue rather than the primary cause. So even if you'd had the head gasket done first, you'd then still have the radiator issue ?

[KungFooBob]

If the head gasket has gone, the engine must have overheated at some point... due to a leaky radiator?

[mangocrazy]

So it turns out that the much-maligned French garagiste was right all along...

The local VW specialist have just admitted that the van does 'rather annoyingly' (their phrase, not mine) have a blown head gasket.

They've kindly offered to fix it for £2 - £2.5k. I think I might decline their kind offer, seeing as how they've been in denial up till now.

Expect my responses to anything for the next few days to be somewhat grumpy (understated mode fully engaged)...

Well i don't see how this changes anything ? The rad was obviously an issue, but a secondary issue rather than the primary cause. So even if you'd had the head gasket done first, you'd then still have the radiator issue ?

Yes, don't disagree at all, but having been lead to believe I'd dodged a bullet I found out that I haven't actually. What it changes will be the amount it costs me and the time it takes to fix. That is somewhat disappointing, I'm sure you'd agree?

This is against the background of Autohaus Dolby having consistently poo-pooed the French garagiste's diagnosis and pouring scorn on the possibility of it being a head gasket issue.

[mangocrazy]

If the head gasket has gone, the engine must have overheated at some point... due to a leaky radiator?

Yeah, quite possibly. What I've learned is that the temperature reading on the dash is controlled by the ECU and not directly connected to a sensor, so it's entirely possible for the engine to overheat but the reading to be reassuringly steady at 90 deg C.

[weeksy]

So it turns out that the much-maligned French garagiste was right all along...

The local VW specialist have just admitted that the van does 'rather annoyingly' (their phrase, not mine) have a blown head gasket.

They've kindly offered to fix it for £2 - £2.5k. I think I might decline their kind offer, seeing as how they've been in denial up till now.

Expect my responses to anything for the next few days to be somewhat grumpy (understated mode fully engaged)...

Well i don't see how this changes anything ? The rad was obviously an issue, but a secondary issue rather than the primary cause. So even if you'd had the head gasket done first, you'd then still have the radiator issue ?

Yes, don't disagree at all, but having been lead to believe I'd dodged a bullet I found out that I haven't actually. What it changes will be the amount it costs me and the time it takes to fix. That is somewhat disappointing, I'm sure you'd agree?

This is against the background of Autohaus Dolby having consistently poo-pooed the French garagiste's diagnosis and pouring scorn on the possibility of it being a head gasket issue.

disappointing of course, but like i say, it's where you were anyway, you just didn't know it at the time..

[mangocrazy]

I've always suspected that the head gasket was the root issue, but allowed myself a little bit of hope when they said the radiator had a leak.

That hope has now been extinguished and I'm back to considering options.

But at least I'm doing it from home in Sheffield having made the journey back with a van full of motorbike, wine, cat and wife.

[weeksy]

I've always suspected that the head gasket was the root issue, but allowed myself a little bit of hope when they said the radiator had a leak.

That hope has now been extinguished and I'm back to considering options.

But at least I'm doing it from home in Sheffield having made the journey back with a van full of motorbike, wine, cat and wife.

OK, lets get searching for a new van then

What's the list/criteria ?

[Rockburner]

I've always suspected that the head gasket was the root issue, but allowed myself a little bit of hope when they said the radiator had a leak.

That hope has now been extinguished and I'm back to considering options.

But at least I'm doing it from home in Sheffield having made the journey back with a van full of motorbike, wine, cat and wife.

So - call it 3K for a fixed up engine in a van that you otherwise trust (I think?),
or
£XXXX for a van that is new to you.

(solve for the value of X).

[mangocrazy]

To add to the pricing equation I should add that this calendar year I have spent £2300 on the van (new radiator, gear linkage rebuild, timing chain, water pump, new rocker cover and sundry gaskets/o-rings to fix oil leaks, new door linkage mechanism) so if I were to scrap the van now I'd be kissing goodbye to all that dosh I've spent recently.

So while it may be seen as throwing good money after bad, I'm intending to keep the van and get the head gasket fixed one way or another. This may be a new recon engine or a head gasket repair. I'll need to ring round and start getting prices.

And I know @weeksy is gagging to start looking for vans on my behalf, but you'll have to wait a little longer mate...

[weeksy]

To add to the pricing equation I should add that this calendar year I have spent £2300 on the van (new radiator, gear linkage rebuild, timing chain, water pump, new rocker cover and sundry gaskets/o-rings to fix oil leaks, new door linkage mechanism) so if I were to scrap the van now I'd be kissing goodbye to all that dosh I've spent recently.

So while it may be seen as throwing good money after bad, I'm intending to keep the van and get the head gasket fixed one way or another. This may be a new recon engine or a head gasket repair. I'll need to ring round and start getting prices.

And I know @weeksy is gagging to start looking for vans on my behalf, but you'll have to wait a little longer mate...

Lol I'm all good with whatever you do

So now you're going to be nearly £6000 in repairs this year??

[mangocrazy]

Lol I'm all good with whatever you do

So now you're going to be nearly £6000 in repairs this year??

It's looking that way. I think it might be wise to put it in for an early MoT before I proceed with the head gasket fix tho'...

[weeksy]

That's a lot to stick into an old van IMO.

[iansoady]

But as said, who knows why someone is offloading the next one you buy? How hard can a head gasket be to change anyway (yes I know the head / block may be distorted).

[weeksy]

But as said, who knows why someone is offloading the next one you buy? How hard can a head gasket be to change anyway (yes I know the head / block may be distorted).

How many people 'offload' cars because they're problems ? Rather than "i just want a new vehicle".. Plenty of people buy, sell, change, swap cars or vans, doesn't mean they're fucked.
Plenty of vans are bought on contract purchases, plenty bought for VAT/work reasons and swapped at a certain time/age/miles... Nothing more than that necessarily.