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1 of these things is not like the others
Having slept on the van for a bit longer over the weekend and trying to distract the issue I wanted to unequivocally determine that there was a head gasket issue and not a fuel issue.
with a clean bottle and fresh diesel I bypassed all the fuel lines and set up a direct feed line to the refreshed injection pump.
Cold start the van fired up into life and began to idle about as good as serviced injection pump could...
eventually the diesel IV would run out but i repeated the top ups a few times and maybe there is air getting onto the lines but I am ruling out the pump.
On the 4th run up I filled the coolant expansion tank and started the van which resulted in a foam up...So I have no doubt there is a head/gasket issue.
I wanted to try a compression test but non of the included kit fitting matched the thread pitch...
However when I went to take out the glow plugs I could hear what I can only describe as a coffee peculator drip and steam fizzling inside the engine as it had now built up some temperature.
I looked at the glow plugs and it appears cylinder1 is sick.
however whether it was a fueling issue that might have caused the headgasket failure is a chicken/egg conundrum.
suffice to say I think the Van had a mid life crisis at 250000km hobbled home, sulked in the garage and decided it wanted a full comprehensive service.
The Head is definitely coming off.
However the #1 cylinder down is a bit more forgiving than a 2 cylinder cross over in terms of possible damage.
Looks like my week is fully booked.
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