Coolant Pressure playing silly buggers!

[itchyfeet]

All these alternative engines are all old and head gaskets can fail too, there is no guarantee it will be more reliable in the long run.

[300CE]

Hehe!! Cheers chaps

Must admit I've seen some new big bore DG pistons on eBay that brings the capacity to 1977cc and also some new conrods as well. Maybe there's a sign there to keep the DG

Do you recommend changing anything else when replacing the seals?

[itchyfeet]

big bore DG pistons on eBay that brings the capacity to 1977cc and also some new conrods as well:D

I wouldn't waste the money personally.
I'd wait so see what condition it's all in first before deciding what to replace.
Conrods really need the engine splitting to replace, I looked at it but I think you would be lucky to do it and not drop something in the sump.

Why not have a go yourself?

[300CE]

OK Paul, cheers for the advice mate - i put a very cheeky offer in on those pistons so would have been a bargain had it been accepted!

Can the seals be replaced in situ or is it an engine out jobbie?

[itchyfeet]

Apparently it can be done in situ but I would not want to do it.
I can't see how you would do a good job working like that, very hard to do lower barrel seals in situ which is why people don't bother.

[ajsimmo]

Have you checked the head nuts? I've seen a fair few engines with your symptoms, and two of them (coincidentally(?) both TES big bore 2.2s) had "loose" heads, ie insufficiently torqued down. I called them to ask what torque settings they used, and was told "...er, the correct one for a VW. About 30, I think." !!!
Anyone else out there had the same problem?
I know - it's bad practice to retorque wbx heads - but if the seal is breached surely you have nowt to lose! If you find they're loose, you can torque down dry, then remove nuts one at a time and renew the sealant. (Do not be tempted to tighten more than 50Nm).
Also had several Elite engines (sometimes newly built) with the same failure mode - leaking fire rings, but I believe theirs is usually due to the silicone gunk under the rings, which they apply in a misguided "belt & braces" approach.
The DJ seems more prone to this failure, presumably because of the higher compression ratio.

[itchyfeet]

I probably have enough yellow spare if you want to try this ( bought 3 gasket sets this year and you don't need it all)

[300CE]

Many Thanks chaps - I can confirm that it is an elite replacement so could well be down to untorqued head nuts then judging by your previous experience AJ (it'd certainly be nice if it was that). Apart from these issues the engine is great and pulls extremely well with no knocks or rattles and uses absolutely no oil at all.

Paul, I'll take you up on your kind offer for the sealant if that's OK - I'll send you a PM mate

Thanks again all!

Cheers,

Justin.

[itchyfeet]

yes pm me your address Justin and I will post tomorrow

[Sir Brixalot]

'Fraid it sounds familiar. I had exactly the same symptoms a couple of years ago when i first got this van and engine needed rebuilding. It passed a sniff test by the AA as well but got progressively worse. It completely did my head in trying to fathom it out. Nicely explained by TCL. Fingers crossed though!

Mine was also a newly done Elite engine

[Mr Bean]

Knock it on the head you lot . I am nine years into my Elite "rebuild" and was feeling quite snug before reading thisthread .

CS

[what2do]

Knock it on the head you lot . I am nine years into my Elite "rebuild" and was feeling quite snug before reading thisthread .

CS

In he year since the post was last active I've read about quire a few Elite failures on Facebook so you'd better be buying that 'lucky' heather from the Romany lady in town when you next pop in!!!

[clift_d]

To reiterate what others have responded to the OP, the pressurisation of your coolant system really does sound like combustion products (gases) leaking in, which is likely to mean a head gasket failure, but a sniff test should confirm whether this is the case.

[ajsimmo]

Any news on the outcome? It was a year ago, so I'm guessing it's probably sorted by now!

Sent from my B1-830 using Tapatalk

[300CE]

Evening all! Engine is coming out, hopefully, within the next few weeks to replace the fire rings with the kit you can get from Brickwerks.

To be honest, she still drives beautifully and starts on the button although there has been no expense spared and most, if not all of the ancillaries are either new or have been refurbed.

However, when my pal checked the torque levels on the head nuts, one was fairly ‘loose’ but the others were off scale (80+Nm if I remember rightly) and have been well over tightened which may have had an effect on the fire rings?

A strip down will hopefully reveal the level of the problem and I hope that once the rings are replaced this will resolve the problem.

I’ll put up a few pics when it starts.