Thread: P Gasket

i had mine replaced over 12 months ago when i had the belt done and no probs
who are you getting to do this work you would have to worry if the same guy has done it 3 times and it still leaks
are you using a LR work shop

Yep!!!
All my work is carried out by LR Mechanics here an Adelaide!!!
Everytime the Ally/Rubber sort has been used, the same problem occurs,
The mechanic told me last time that they have had quite a few problems of late with the current Ally/Rubber P Gasket!!!
When the same guy's did it originally they used the old paper type, it lasted 18 months, it them began to weep so I paid to get it replaced, they told me about the new fix RE: This new type!!!
Hence my frustration, looks like I am going to be asking for the original paper gasket!!

I only know about them that I read here, but can you be sure they aren't/have leaving/left a piece of old gasket behind &/or dressed the mating surfaces or torquing the screws up correctly?

Seems to me that something else must be wrong & not just the gasket material. It's only 2 mating surfaces after all.

Can a gasket be cut from some other material other than paper & the ally/rubber.
Maybe it's simply down to basic fitting practices & not rocket science?

It's time to find another mechanic, it's obvious that the same people are doing the same things - and not noticing that something else is wrong: either somthing is warped or they are not following torque specs. Admittedly the p-gasket junction is a bit of a soft spot on a tdi. But I've found that (so far... I could be wrong too) if all the bits are OK, then it should hold together.
This time around, try new LR flanged head bolts, an ordinary steel p-gasket, blue silicone, clean the bolt holes and ordinary loctite on the threads.
I learnt the hard way to drain all of the coolant from the block, not just the radiator. ( I think I said this b4)
Perhaps it's time to think about DIY ?

ps: If you do change mechanics, take along a print out of the section about the coolant pump from RAVE ( Or photocopy it if you have the paper version). Mechanics, like the rest of us, suffer from CRAFT too.

All the new steel gaskets still require sealant, I use a wurth silicone product, the same I assemble gearbox casings and fit sumps etc with. It has never failed me yet. I have had some failures/ minor leaks with Hylomar on these though...Unusual for hylomar but this is why I started using the wurth sealant.
Hope this helps.

JC

These guy's are more than trustworthy, by the sound of it they have been using no sealant, they are just as annoyed as I am, and believe me I trust them, they have worked on this car now for 5 yrs, and everything they have done has been exceptional, I don't think it's all the P-Gaskets Fault, the head was replaced 18 minths ago, and has had the Radiator just replaced 3 weeks ago when the P Gasket went.
When they did it 3 weeks ago they noticed some corrosion on the alloy facing, they relaced the water pump housing so that all mating surfaces were like new? The system is not being over pressurised so it makes me wonder what else could be causing it?
I'll let them know about the Sealant though!!!
Cheers
Crawf

I did mine the other day, hope it holds.
I did notice there was about a 0.5mm gap between the block & the wp housing at the bottom, where the 2 bottom bolts are. I spaced this with a piece of gasket paper before doing the bottom bolts up. If yours is leaking at the bottom, this would not be your problem but if the housing is warpt, it may be holding it out at the bottom. The other thing that would be critical, which has been mentioned before, is to drain the block so that the coolant doesn't contaminate the sealant. I used ultra blue because that's what I had.

Ultra blue works well, I just prefer the Wurth stuff for other uses too.

JC