Technical 2.3 multijet with headgasket issues.

[brokendonkey]

I bought a 2011 2.3 120 flatbed chassis cab last week, was driving it home on the motorway at about 55 for 2 hours then as everything seemed ok with it i sped up to 70mph for a while until i heard a beep from the dash and looked down to see i was overheating. Hard shoulder investigations revealed the top hose had split causing the coolant to escape, we bodged up the hose and topped up the coolant but it just chucks the coolant out when i try to run the engine

Is changing the headgasket with the engine in situ a realistic option?? ive been offered a complete running engine for £600 so am a bit stuck on what to do.
If the head is coming off and getting skimmed the injectors will probably have to come out and ive heard they are likely to snap off so im worried about it just being a total pain of a job. Do these tend to warp heads when they get hot?

hmmnn engine or headgasket.

 

[AnthonyH]

I don't understand why a hose breaks and you want to change the head gasket?

 

[deejays]

I don't understand why a hose breaks and you want to change the head gasket?

Perhaps warped head from overheating is probably a good reason.

 

[jackwhoo]

Hi,
Will you be doing the work yourself?
J

 

[jackwhoo]

Is it the 2.2 ford engine rather than 2.3 fiat engine?
Post photo when you have made 5 posts

 

[brokendonkey]

It looks like the 2.3 iveco engine. it says iveco on the heat exchanger.

I was planning on fixing it myself unless i can find some who isn't going to charge me tonnes of money. Or i need loads of specialist tools etc..

A hose split whilst doing 70 on the motorway and it over heated. I bodged up a temporary fix, poured a load of water back in once it had cooled right down and it basically spat it all back out of the expansion bottle. So i would say the head gasket is cooked.

So i was asking which is the least worst of a job, doing a head gasket or sticking a whole new engine in. Both would get a timing belt kit, water pump etc..

I mainly mess around with RWD petrol sports cars so this is a bit alien to me. Hence asking about diesel injectors etc..

Regards

Gary.

 

[jackwhoo]

if you can get the injectors out easily ,probably fix in situe , though that's a long shot.

If you can get a known good engine for reasonable money that sounds good route.

Note the codes on each cylinder injector that will be required to "tell" the ecu after fitting.

Having written the above if injectors don't come out of existing head undamaged then good used engine could end up being cheaper.

I asked if 2.2 ford engine because if yes injectors far less likely to seize in head so repair options different.

 

[brokendonkey]

weird, id typed a reply but it didn't seem to post it for some reason.

I've not much day light hours this week to mess about with it, but i did soak the injectors in penetrating fluid Tuesday morning.

there is an engine on ebay for £600

I had a poke around it yesterday and the front of the engine/ sump is rusty and it seems one of the core plugs must have rusted through, So im going to fill it up with RTV as when i topped it back up after bodging the hose i could see water leaking out from underneath where the hose was.

if i have to fit new injectors can they be coded with a (newish) snap-on code reader? or do i need something fancier?

 

[theoneandonly]

The goto scan tool here is Multiecuscan a windows based program with a usb dongle/adaptor. It can be used with all ecus on the ducato not just engine. I would hope a snap on tool could do the job.

 

[brokendonkey]

thats fantastic, thanks for the heads up.
im new to fixing fiats, i got a panda for my mother years ago but thankfully it never missed a beat so i never touched it.

 

[jackwhoo]

Rtv in a rusted out core plug will fail under normal system pressure.
How many miles on your engine?

Engine from ebay would be a gamble as is any used engine but you may have too go down that route.

 

[brokendonkey]

i just stuck some rtv in it to help fault find. As i had loads of coolant leaking out from under where the top hose connects to the engine at the front and i wanted to be sure it wasn't just there that was leaking.
i topped it up and bled it and as soon as i started the engine it was chucking it out the front of the engine and firing it out the expansion bottle so its definitely in need of a headgasket.
the front of the engine is pretty corroded. to the point where its almost shocking, i was looking at the core plug boss on the block and i don't fancy my chances of getting a new plug to work.
So i think i might just fit an engine. I see a guy breaking a van with 40k on the clock because of a snapped cambelt so im half tempted to message him to see if he will sell me the engine for scrap money and build an engine out of the two.

The £600 ebay guy says he will leave the injectors in which is a bonus.

 

[jackwhoo]

Of course used engines come with injectors.....injectors nigh on impossible to remove

 

[brokendonkey]

i had visions of it turning up with half an injector in each hole.

whats the deal with these when they snap cambelts? do they usually destroy everything or do they just kill the rockers and can go again?

seems these old euro 4 ducato engines are thin on the ground compared to iveco ones.

 

[jackwhoo]

Appear to bend valve /valves , possibly also require cams/cam box if lobes sweated on.

Look into cost of a recon head , injectors and the alleged low mileage engine with snapped belt