Head gasket fail on an 07 128kw t5

[05gtwagonman]

Hi guys, Just thought I'd throw the question/information out there...
07 t5 transporter 128kw.
60,000km on the clock one owner before me. It's using coolant form the day I bought it about 4 weeks ago, so I says to the dealer 'maybe we should look into this, as me thinks there is no great outcome from coolant disappearing without a trace'...

He sees this as the valid concern it is, and 4 hours after I drop off the car I'm politely informed that the pressure test has lead to them removing the head as the head gasket is leaking coolant to the back side of the block...

All is cool, and things are getting fixed. But no one seems to want to give a valid answer to the primary concern- how the f&^%ck does a 60k old diesel from VW have a head gasket fail?
The service guy says that is the first time they have had to pull a head on a t5 diesel. What makes anyone think that without discovering an underlying problem that this won't happen again in aprox 60k?
Any thoughts?
Should I be happy with the concept that I'm chasing shadows and it's just the head gasket itself with the problem...
Seems a bit strange to me- that's all.

Cheers,
Rich.

[Idle]

Seepage from water jacket to atmosphere is most likely only a faulty gasket or possibly insufficient/too much torque on a bolt, but I'd ensure they check for warpage or a crack just the same.

[Transporter]

Did they check the water pump first?

[Deeceer]

Did they check the water pump first?

Yeah, damn right. In fact, swap out the water pump just the the hell of it.

After the week I've had...

[05gtwagonman]

You guys are scaring me...
I did ask them about the water pump, the service guy is adament that they have looked at it, he is also dismissive of this being a common problem.
He has stated clearly that this is not my problem, but reading this I might pay to get it done at the same time to be safe. The other ridiculous thing that I have discovered is that VW has decided to make the tapet cover gasket an integral part of the cover itself, therefore I am now waiting for this part ex Singapore!
Second though with this- WTF is with having a head gasket and bolts- in fact everything EX Sydney required for the job other than the tapet cover!!!! Friking inteligent parts ordering there VW!

[jets]

[QUOTE=05gtwagonman;522541]
The other ridiculous thing that I have discovered is that VW has decided to make the tapet cover gasket an integral part of the cover itself,

It's the same on the later T4s

[05gtwagonman]

Hi Guys, thought some of you might have been interested in the follow-up on this...

Head gasket replaced, water pump replace at my insistance and cost ( the H/G was done under the used car stat wty) and just over a fortnight later we are back on the road int he van. Staight into a 2500km holiday...

We get back 5 days later and the next day I see coolant on the driveway...

The van goes back to Austral, and the diagnosis is a split pipe somewhere at the back of the head.
The CONSPIRACY theorist in me wonders if there was never a problem with the head gasket, but rather the coolant was spraying onto the head/block from the pipe in such a way that they were fooled into a false diagnosis, with the pipe split being the fault from the outset...
I still live in hope that this is the end of the drama witht he van. I purchased VW as the other 20 or so our family had as I grew up were all brilliant. Oh- except for the 72 kombi that burst into flames as we left the waltons carpark in Coffs Harbour Thanks to the guy in the hotted up holden ute behind us with a fire extinguisher it was a pretty easy fix apparently...

[Bora Sport]

It is possible that the coolant leak was there when the previous owner had it. He didn't check the coolant as often as you do. The coolant got too low and the engine overheated causing the head gasket to fail.

[Transporter]

Only the mechanic (workshop) who did the job knows what was the cause of the failure, if they're observant enough.
Coolant leak has potential to overheat engine and blow head gasket if the driver ignores the warning, doesn't stop and continues driving. It is good practice to always do the cooling system pressure test, before and after working on the cooling system. But hey, the pipe could split just after they've done the job.

[05gtwagonman]

Just to clear a few bits up- it wasn't any sort of catastrophic failure... The van was driving (what I thought was) perfectly fine until it went into the 'shop... I have to say that I think it was down 5-10% on power now that it is back though- I have chipped this and it will fry tyres in a straight line 2nd gear as it hits max torque if you provoke it enough now...

It's a slightly disturbing thought to think even for a moment that it might have been related to getting hot from a lack of coolant, but I think we can discount that in the sense that the head wasn't warped, and in fact I had the chance to look at the head and block apart and it looked perfect. When i blew a H/G in an 89 Cressida (very common with the ma70) there was a really distinct point on the head and the block where that water coming out actually etched the surfaces ever so slightly. There was nothing like that here. The Cress also had one really shiny piston top. Again nothing like that here. I understand that this isn't exactly sientific in it's reasoning, but with all of this my favorite theory ATM is that the coolant started dropping at the same time as it ran out of factory WTY and you guys advised him when he visited the forum that he was totally screwwwwwwwwed with water pump faliure and he sold it- like running like a school girl- for next to nothing rather than face the problem
I am soooo glad thatyou guys told me to do the pump- that it piece of mind right now...
I suspect that the pipe was always broken, and the H/G was a mis diagnosis...

BTW- are you guys aware that the block has a machined cross hatch on it? Austral had to contact VW germany on that one as they had never opend a T5 128 till mine...

[Jmac]

Yep knew about the cross hatch, never machine these or the head( wouldnt do so to a diesel any way but many do and compensate with the gasket!)
Shame about your muck around, im sure ive spoke to you b4???? If you are the same guy i m sure i mentioned pressure test?
maybe not you
Jmac

[Umai Naa!!]

I'm puzzled at the fact that the dealer was dismissive of there ever being any water pump issues with the R5 engines. There was a campaign at one stage, as well as a couple of technical bulletins. One of which was updated and ammended as late as 4 months ago. Having said that, the last T5 I had this problem with, was buck-passed from workshop to workshop, without ever taking it into consideration. I guess a little product knowledge goes a long way.

Anyways, sorry to hear about the stuff-around, and all the best with your T5, mate.