Thread: TD5 Head gasket

If you get it early then yes your head should be all good, but if you leave and overheat the engine too many times, then no it won't be re-usable, the tollerences don't allow for skimming the head if the head has been overheated too many times, you can be lucky though.

Pressurising of the system was our first indicators, at the time no one could could diagnose it(not even on here) I had forgotten to refill the radiator after a service and on the way to get some parts for the D2 I overheated the engine, after I refilled the car it was all good, or so I thought, over time it slowly started to show signs there was a problem, but the damage had already been done, little did I know that the car had been running hot and once I got the first signs of the car really over heating, it was too late.

It would loose power, then the guage would move to the red, so you never got a warning.

When the head was taken off, the old break in the gasket was clearly visable, right next to the new break in the gasket, 18mths apart.

So if you suspect it's on it's way, change it now, I wouldn't worry about the dowels, the old dowels were re-used in our new head and the car was still going strong when we sold it at 320,000ks.

Over pressurised cooling system was the big hint for me. Hoses were rock hard and the coolant tank would overflow.

A sure way is to check inside the coolant tank for bubbles when you start it cold.

Also my fuel economy was above the norm 14 odd L/100km

I suspect mine had been done before. The quality of the work was terrible and I'd almost say they used some kind of gasket sealer on the head gasket.