new head gasket and still smokes!!

hi, can anyone help please, ive bought a 300tdi and had the head skimmed and a new head gasket but it still smokes and still got no heaters. i replaced the exhaust cause got told there could be water n exhaust?? but still smokes. i flushed it out and the heaters went luke warm but wen i ran it around they went cold again. any ideas?? could it be a cracked head?? thanks

I've just been through all that!..you have my sympathy. I take it you are losing coolant rapidly? If you are sure its coolant thats coming out the exhaust, i.e. steam not smoke - then your head is probably cracked. What made you change the head gasket? Did the smoking start after you had over heated it? I ended up putting a recon head on mine (cost £170plus VAT) problem solved. But before you go down that route be sure it is coolant you're burning. Things to check. If the gasket work and skimming was done by a garage, ask them if the head was pressure tested whilst they were at it. If not ask why not, and kick up a fuss. If you did it, did you get all surfaces clean properly before you put it back together? Ultimately if the head hasn't been pressure tested - get it done cos that will tell you if there is a problem, if there is, get a new head and that should solve it.

i bought the car and it was fine, heaters were hot (no over heating etc) but it did steam badly. so i got the head gasket done(dont know if was waste money now) but after having it done it had no heat and lost coolant etc and still steams. not sure if it got pressure tested but it going back to garage tomoz so will check.the cheapest head ive found is £250 ex vat. sounds like it'll be that then by what u said, cheers

It may be possible to recondition your head, so get it tested before you hand out any cash for a replacement head. It could just be a seal in it somewhere, but it does sound very similar to mine. Mine had cracked somewhere on the exhaust port somwhwere so not getting in to combustion chamber spewing in to exhaust port and boiling/burning. therefor eno sign of water in oil or anywhere. Let me know what you resolve cos i'd be interested. cheers

Right back to the beginning, the engine was steaming? Do you mean there was white exahust? If so, WAS it steam? Diesel/oil VAPOUR is white as well, what did it smell like and were you actually loosing water?

well, i got the car back last week and in the end it was a cracked head so problem sorted now. cost £150 so not too bad.