Hi again , thanks for the replys regarding my poorly octy, i'm now facing a new dilema !!

Yes my octy is still driving fine with no thermostat in but it seems that this coolant colour issue has been with this car ever since i bought it. It has always driven ok on short and long journeys but you could go up to it after hours of running it and still have a lot of pressure in the cooling system when you take the cap off the expansion bottle. also the level would shoot up as if the hoses were expanding under pressure thus holding more fluid inside and then contracting when the pressure was released.

So, do i get the timing belt and pump changed as planned and put up with the discolouring coolant ( maybe there is an additive that can be added to the coolant to reseal the head leak - doubt it though as the compression is quite high on these engines ), or do i do a full engine swap for a lower milage unit ?

Cost of belt and pump change is £320.

ASV engine off an 04 leon with 68000 miles is £475

Obviously i'd be daft not to put a new pump and belt on the replacment engine as it would be a lot easier whilst its on the floor and this would be more additional cost but would it be for thr better ?

What are your views out there ? am i going a bit extreme here, i just dont want to throw money at my engine if the fault is going to persist.

replys appreciated, Mike.

Id find out if it is the head gasket and see how bad it is first

Sent from my Galaxy S2 not a Crapple!

Have you done the test in post #16?

If the pump is not working, you will be boiling the coolant and this will discolour it.

i had an a3 with an asv lump. had similar problems, started off changing the thermostat (twice) then found out it was the headgasket. head had to be skimmed when the hg was changed, had cambelt, tensioners, water pump, valve stems and guides, replaced turbo with a secondhand one as it was smoking a bit and leaking oil. cost £470 parts and labour. after this the engine didnt ever run right again. the mechanic ended up buying the car off me as he couldnt suss it, he then took it to volkscraft who are known to be a top vag garage, he couldnt sort it either even after another top end rebuild, checking bottom end, replacing original map, new injectors and fuel pump.

basically i would go for the new engine as ive heard of quite a few having problems after having the head skimmed

wow thats alot of work and money!! gulp

Hi again, i've decided to try and repair first so i've purchased a cam belt kit, head gasket, head bolts and new pump with metal impeller. Its on its thickest gasket already which does'nt look good, but i'm hoping that the last gasket may not have been fitted properly - ie not properly cleaned faces - as the leak seems minimal. If i put it all back together and the gasket still leaks then i'll just get the other engine i was looking at and transfer the new pump & belt kit over onto it prior to fitting. Mad logic i know but i'll have only wasted the cost of the head gasket & bolts.

What are your views ? have i lost the plot or thinking sensibly !

Also, should i fit the gasket on its own onto the clean faces or should i smear some instant gasket on also? sounds a bit old school i know but i'm just checking.

I'll keep you posted with the progress when i get started mid week. Wish me luck and thanks for the reply's, Mike.

i would be repairing it too mate, then you know its all done. Be a shame to buy a new engine and the head gasket go on you

Hi again, just thought i'd update you all on my overheating octavia. I decided to don my overalls last week and attempt my first diesel head & cambelt / pump repair. I've done numerous petrol engine rebuilds over the years but never a diesel. One thing i noticed is there is so much clutter in these engine bays these days you spend half your time just digging your way in to get to the problem !

Anyway, when i set the cam and diesel pump up before removing the old belt, the timing mark on the flywheel was out and only just visible in the window / hole provided in the top of the gearbox. I took the old belt off and removed the old water pump. It was intact and had a metal impellerbut had been passing some coolant through the seal which must have been caused by the head gasket going. I delved deeper and removed the head, nothing really to see so i just carefully cleaned the block and head faces. I also cleaned the injector nozzles as they looked all sooted up. Because the head was already on its thickest gasket i smeared on some blue hylomar instant gasket onto the block and head to try and iron out any small inperfections before fitting the new gasket. It was getting late by now so i torqed it down but left the last setting till the next morning to give the gasket a chance to settle in.

Next day, final tighten of the head, fit new pump and belt with flywheel set right this time - all done by the book with the diesel pump and cam pulleys loosened off and reset - then spend ages putting everything else back on again before the final restart..........bloody diesels, it took forever to get it started i was begining to think i'd timed it all wrong !

Anyway, spot on, its the best its ever been since i've owned it, there's no water loss, no pressure build up, it get warm through the heater much quicker than it ever used to and it starts instantly with no hint of smoke out the exhaust. It makes me think that it must have had some kind of fault ever since i bought it, hence pumping air bubbles into the coolant and filling the heater with air instead of water.

It may have took my a while to do it but i'm glad i did it, I dont know how these garages can do it so quickly, it makes me think they must cut corners as time is money to them. Speaking of money, the total cost of parts from a vw specialist garage for cam belt kit, pump, head gasket and head bolts was just over £200, i dread to think the cost of labour from the garage to do all the work ! It was hard work at times as i'm not getting any younger but i feel better for doing it and now have a better understanding of my engine's workings. I now have the much easier job in my eyes of putting a v8 engine into my ford capri - nothing complicated, no clutter, just an engine bay with an engine in it - SIMPLES !!!

cheers to all who took an interest in my topic, Mike.

excellent news mate £200 isnt alot nowadays, in fact youd pay £250 for belt pump change. Lots of years of motoring ahead i would say