1 hour ago, Alasdair1 said:

Seems like the way to go. Hope you don't have to take head off.

Alasdair

Im not hopeful! Ha!

So been over to my mates shed, bypassed the new egr cooler and the issue remains, so it’s off with its head!

There’s a place not far from me that a mate uses for his racing car heads and they’ll pressure test it for cracks and if it passes will check it for warps and if needed skim it.

So onwards. The thought of having to pay a garage to do all of this is terrifying, might take me a bit longer but at least it’s a whole lot cheaper.

I have been doing some searching and have come across a replacement complete engine from a car with 47k on it, seriously considering it as an option, might be easier to just throw a new lump in it at this point.

That may be the way to go depending on how much they want for the engine. You will probably need vcds to code it etc. You could always take the head off anyway off the old one first as it may be just the gasket. If its cracked either take head of other engine or as you said drop complete engine in. Depending on how many miles the car is done maybe factor in a clutch change at same time depending on condition and if its an internal slave do that as well. On a temp basis you could chuck a bottle of steelhead in and see if it improves.

Alasdair

The reason I am considering a replacement is the oil consumption, its not horrendous on it compared to some but its more than I would like. So a low mileage engine seems an option, also considering just getting mine fully rebuilt, but it does all hinge on the head, if its cracked then the cost of a new head and rebuild would probably be too much, if the heads warped / not cracked then a rebuild is a very real option.

Its becoming a "while im in there" sort of situation!