Not the usual boil up!!

[charliemuttley]

Hi, just found your site and after some advice please. Got a '92 Surf 2.5TD with head problems. I bought it cheap with blown head and gasket, so stupidly bought second hand head, fitted it and it dropped a valve seat from overheating! So decided on a new head, had the valves all cut in etc. fitted it all back together in record time (4hrs!!) ran it for about 60 miles and then it boiled again!!!! Even with the thermostat out the cooling system is blowing up like a balloon and the pressure is massive. I tried to do a "sniff" test on it and it was negative. The radiator and thermostat are both new. Please help......cracked liner?????.....warped block????? if so can this be done in situ, as removing the head will not take me long as i have done it three times! Cheers
Charlie

[Koi]

Hmmmmm, have to ask, did you fill it up correctly?? not teaching to suck eggs but its a very common mistake. Alot just fill the expansion tank and think thats it.
Should be filled via the rad cap with both heaters set to the hot position, fill and fill til it won't take no more. Start it up for a minute with a good couple of blips on the loud pedal. switch off and fill, repeat and keep an eye on the level for a couple of days.

Did the head seat properly, does the viscous fan work correctly, is there plenty of air flow through the rad, not blocked by number plate, lights etc.

[charliemuttley]

Hi, cheers for replying. Yep it was filled up at the rad cap untill she could take no more, seemed fine for a bit but then dumped the lot. Fan seems ok, no spots or anything in way. I even used an upside-down bottle as a header to make sure it was full, but now it seems to build up so much pressure within a minute of running(without thermostat). I am happy for you to teach me how to suck eggs if i don't have to take the ****** head off again or worse strip the block!! The only thing i can think of is the gas test was a waste of time and the block is warped? The torques i did were 38nm, then 78nm, then 90degrees, then another 90 degrees-sound about right (came from autodata).
desperate for help!
Charlie

[Koi]

yep its 78nm then 90 then 90 degrees again.
From stone cold take off rad cap and start it up, if the coolant flows out then I would say you got gases getting in the cooling system.
As a thought did you use new stretch bolts each time, there two locators on each end of the block make sure the head is sitting correctly, gasket on correctly?????

[charliemuttley]

Sorry, computer in little boys' room so had to shut down as he went to bed. Yes coolant does flow out as soon as start up, and yes i used new bolts and yes the dowel pegs were there. I'm completely stumped, even if i take the head off again what do i do?

[TonyN]

Did you check the block deck for level-ness? change the rad cap as well if you havn't.

Do the heaters blow hot? to make sure you have all the air out.

[charliemuttley]

Hi, block deck i didn't check and i'm beggining to wish i had! I really can't be arsed to take the head off again, let alone strip the engine to the block! Yes the rad cap is new as well and i did have the heaters working untill it blew. Now i can't keep water in it long enough. It was fine for about 60 miles, good heater and running at the right temperature, then bang!. I'm coming round to the idea of taking the head off again but i'm not sure what to do then apart from check the deck. Besides time and agro it's costing me a small fortune in gaskets and bolts. Is there no other way of the system pressurising apart from head gasket failure??? I know i can't think of another.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Are all the coolant hoses connected correctly i.e. the cooling system is flowing in one direction and not against it's self?

[charliemuttley]

Hi, i must admitt that was somthing i had thought of a while ago, because i bought the vehicle in bits- the head was already off. When you take the matrix pipes off water pumps out of both, but i wasn't sure whether that would happen anyway unless one was blocked off.I'm also not quite sure what could be the wrong way round as it all seems to fit quite nicely. I'm really scratching my head here but appreciate advice.

[brian gillies]

Hi, i must admitt that was somthing i had thought of a while ago, because i bought the vehicle in bits- the head was already off. When you take the matrix pipes off water pumps out of both, but i wasn't sure whether that would happen anyway unless one was blocked off.I'm also not quite sure what could be the wrong way round as it all seems to fit quite nicely. I'm really scratching my head here but appreciate advice.

I work for a large motor factors in scotland and we had a problem with head gasket once. The problem made the car overheat like yours. The place he had been buying the gaskets did not have the right water holes .Does the gasket that you fitted match perfect? just a thought

[Guest]

I kind of agree with Brian. You say you did a sniff test for combustion gasses, I presume you mean you used the additive that goes green with combustion gasses in the coolant. If this is negative then I think you can rule out cracked head, liner, block etc and even rule out the gasket leaking. I think the next thing would be blockage in the waterways maybe caused by an incorrect gasket. It would be interesting to do a pressure build up test on the cooling system to see exactly how much pressure builds up.

I think you are going to have to bite the bullet and have the head off again as I think it will be impossible to furethr check without removing the head.

[charliemuttley]

Yes, i think pressure test is first on my job list for the morning, the gasket was supplied with the head, so i would pressume it was ok. Do you mean test the water system by pumping it up or did you mean try and measure the ammount of pressure produced in the engine? Anyone got a picture of which way round the gasket should be???- you never know!!

[Guest]

Yes fit the preeure tester to the radiator cap and run up the engine and see how much pressure it goes up to. When my head went I ran out of bottle at 3 bar, mind you the hoses held but I was worried about turning the radiator into a balloon.