806 1.9 TD pressurised system ???

[johocomo]

Am having problems with my 806 1.9TD ( 80,000 mls ) It seems that it is creating more pressure in the cooling system than normal
When sitting in traffic the temp guage rises quite quickly and also under load for instance driving up hill using a bit more right foot. Other than that it drives fine.
I have fitted a new stat ( Checked it was working fine before fitting ) a new header tank cap, have also flushed and reverse flushed the whole system and bled thoroughly so there is no air in the system. I have had an exhaust gas check done on the header tank which showed no signs of head or head gasket leakage ( would expect to find air in the system also loss of coolant but this is not so ) There is no abnormal smoke coming from the exhaust. The engine does not "overheat" however the top hose seems to be rock hard and under pressure after driving. I am aware that pressure will build in the system but this seems more than normal and thar coupled with the quick rise in temp and fans cutting in is a concern. Water pump, rad Heater seems to be working fine so I`m assuming that water is circulating OK. Also has anyone ever changed a head or head gasket on one of these ?? I have done a 306 with the same engine but that had a lot more room to work..........in these the engine lays back slightly and is restricted by the bulkhead.......is it engine out job ?

[oldpug]

Your tale of woe does sound like head gasket.If its pumping water out of the overflow pipe prepare yourself for a long job! The head does come off,but as you say its all restricted and is not an easy task.

[johocomo]

That`s the thing that is puzzling me...........It`s not pumping out or losing water whatsoever ? No tell tale signs from the exhaust either ? In every other aspect it`s all as it should be, other than what I would consider more than normal pressure in the system. The top hose is solid !!! As I said before I would expect a certain amount of "normal" pressure to build up but this seems a bit more than that.........do these symptoms suggest a damaged water pump or blocked rad / has anyone had a similar experience. I don't want to start getting involved in replacing parts only to find it`s made no difference. One thing I have noticed is that with the header tank cap removed and the engine being revved there is no signs of coolant swirling in the header tank. In most vehicles this would be the case, however the header tank does sit quite high in the scheme of things......Any thoughts

[oldpug]

If you have replaced the rad cap (with the correct one) the system cannot over pressurize as the cap releases it.A blocked rad would cause overheating at speed.I think it unlikely for the water pump to be introuble as if that was damaged the cambelt would be off (and bang!). I think its the rad getting old and not cooling the engine as it should.