Help with head gasket required, please

[affablebob]

having recently purchased my 406 2.1 dt, i noticed that the water temp was only just reaching 75 to 80 after 30 mins, and after loooking at the engine noticed a lot of oil/diesel under the intake manifold, also it has been thirsty on the coolant 250ml for a 30 mile round trip,
am i right to suspect the head gasket and if so how easy is it to replace, i have only appeared to have this problem for a short time so what do people feel are the chances that the head wont be warped and it would just be a straigh gasket change
any help would been graely appreciated.
thanks

[nipper76]

good luck pal, i believe you have got to lift the engine out to do that?

you seem to have to lift that engine out for most things lol, it a pig, and i own 1!!
although they are nice to drive, and the engine if pritty bullet proof.

have you done a coolant pressure test?? to see if your coolant is leaking from anywhere else??

as for the oil, it could be leaking down from the valve cover gasket, as mine had split and was leaking all down that way.

have you got white smoke comming from your exhaust... (steam)

and before you go crazy, and rip the enigine out, it might be worth doing a cylinder compression test, then you will know for sure if your head gasket has gone.

good luck

[jasper5]

having recently purchased my 406 2.1 dt, i noticed that the water temp was only just reaching 75 to 80 after 30 mins, and after loooking at the engine noticed a lot of oil/diesel under the intake manifold, also it has been thirsty on the coolant 250ml for a 30 mile round trip,
am i right to suspect the head gasket and if so how easy is it to replace, i have only appeared to have this problem for a short time so what do people feel are the chances that the head wont be warped and it would just be a straigh gasket change
any help would been graely appreciated.
thanks

Firstly, if your head gasket had gone you would have used a few litres of water for 30 miles, the temprature would be very high (off the scale in red), and steam coming out the exhaust, not to mention a possible misfire.

I would suggest that you check for a minor leak somewhere, or whether you have over filled the coolant tank.

The best way of confirming a head gasket failure is to get a chemical "sniffer" test, this is a test where a chemical is added to the cooling system and if it changes colour there are exhaust gasses in the water, hence a blown gasket.

The oil is probably a leak somewhere.

[affablebob]

thanks all
after further inspection it appears as Nipper76 mention to be coming from the valve cover, so hopefully nothing to major. still i will get the coolant pressure tested and heres hoping all is good, also what temp should the coolant read after a 30min stop start journey as i suspect i have faulty sensor. once again thanks for the advise.