200 tdi head gasket replace?

Have just cooked my engine, temp gauge not to accurate and I think it was the bloody brit part waterpump, (fitted before i was warned,) the rad sprung several leaks, have huge vacum and a bit of oil in rad, but no creamy guiness in the oil, if it is the head gasket, how many times can you just replace gasket, does the head need to be skimmed?

the head needs to be skimmed every time the gasket it replaced an ideally new stretch bolts

Head skimmed and new bolts with gasket, no point trying to reuse old bolts for the sake of 20 quid.

is it possible to:
change the engine oil and connect the top radiator hose to the bottom hose (as my radiator is totally shot) put fresh water in and run it for a few minutes up to temperature to check if the water pump is pumping and to check the engine oil and header tank for traces of oil or water and also to see if exhaust is blowing white smoke? and any back pressure or is this crap idea?

Wouldn't advise

Some of the engine water ways are fairly narrow - not sure I'd want to risk crap and debris blocking them.

head only needs skimming if marked or bent and i say that as someone who has done alot of engine maching but much above 8 thou i would replace head as if an ali head has moved alot it will never stay flat ,some pattern bolts are worse than old bolts ,buy proper ones,temp guages arent accutate ,britpart water pump didnt stand a chance with holes in rad which was more than likely blocked in alot of the core rads need to be felt as well as pressure tested

scotia900 said:

is it possible to:
change the engine oil and connect the top radiator hose to the bottom hose (as my radiator is totally shot) put fresh water in and run it for a few minutes up to temperature to check if the water pump is pumping and to check the engine oil and header tank for traces of oil or water and also to see if exhaust is blowing white smoke? and any back pressure or is this crap idea?

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wont hurt

scotia900 said:

is it possible to:
change the engine oil and connect the top radiator hose to the bottom hose (as my radiator is totally shot) put fresh water in and run it for a few minutes up to temperature to check if the water pump is pumping and to check the engine oil and header tank for traces of oil or water and also to see if exhaust is blowing white smoke? and any back pressure or is this crap idea?

Click to expand...

if its blown between pots you more than likely wont get white smoke or oil in water or water in oil take it to a local garage an get a sniff test

unfortunately she died in france, not many good garages that would have a look also it would have to be trailered, mite put new rad and waterpump on first and then see, just means waiting a week for the post,

So if the rad leaked why is that the pumps fault?


Lynall

Have done loads pressure test/skim head everytime,but have never used new bolts and never had a problem 250-300 quid job.

i'm just guessing the pump, as the bottom pipe and rad were coldish, the holes in the rad were at the top were it was boiling, the heater was blowing hot air so I guess the thermostat was ok?

scotia900 said:

i'm just guessing the pump, as the bottom pipe and rad were coldish, the holes in the rad were at the top were it was boiling, the heater was blowing hot air so I guess the thermostat was ok?

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are you a fool if rad has holes ?if rad is hot at top but colod at bottom rad is blocked

not a fool, rad is not blocked, when it cooled i plugged holes and flushed, no crap came out, filled it up, released air, fired up, ran to temp, huge vacum, cold bottom hose etc, keeps vacuming no matter how much air/steam i release from rad?

poor rad obviously boiled your engine ,rad is often biggest culprit ,if top hose is hot water is going through thermostat ,any cold parts of rad are cold because coolant isnt flowing through there,

ordered new rad and hoses, thermostat etc, next weekend hook it up and see how bad it is, thanks for all your advice guys,

Skim it and replace bolts and gasket as stated above, like doing an engine change without changing the clutch kinda pointless really

heads are best not skimmed if possible but necessary if head is marked especially around fire ring area or if slightly bent