Could be just a head gasket.
Easiest engine in the world to work on.
A few bolts and off comes the head.
 
Pulling the head off will hopefully reveal the ticking noise.
You may find it with just the rocker cover off.
 
I had the cover off last week end, no strangeness at all, stethoscope didn't pick up any strange noises in the head either.
 
My blown head gasket deffo ticked, 200tdi, but you could feel the escaping air when it got worse.
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The head is off, the gasket was breeched on pretty much all the chambers where the hot spots sit, some of the spots are cracked, all of them sit lower than the head face over the combustion chamber but are level over the face of the head, some of the pistons looked as though they were making contact but I cant be sure. All the pistons are cracked but it looks like old wounds. I can see a breech in the exhaust manifold gasket closest the bulkhead, I cant see a breech into the water jacket but its hard to tell.
 

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Still doesnt account for the ticking though, I think that split hot spot may well have been in contact with a piston.
 
The gasket holds it in place to stop it coming down. The cracks would be acceptable to me but depends how far they go, cannot see on the mobile. Some will say complete rebuild and some will say bang in a new gasket.
Nothing better than having the parts in front of you to decide what way to go.
 
Thats the thing, this is a decent one, its one of the last ones built, if I can find a stop gap engine I can pull this one and rebuild it, they are easy to do and parts are cheap. I found a leak in the exhaust manifold which might account for the ticking, all the hot spots are proud of the head over the combustion chamber and dangerously close to the piston, the head is good , no cracks or strangeness , valves look Ok, the thing was coked up badly though, thick on the pistons and bores and around the head.

I put an 85 degree stat in it last week end, Im wondering if that had anything to do with it pressurizing the coolant, I still cant see any breeches between combustion or crank case and coolant though, it could be that the whole or part of the gasket lifted rather than a clean breech.
 
Thats the thing, this is a decent one, its one of the last ones built, if I can find a stop gap engine I can pull this one and rebuild it, they are easy to do and parts are cheap. I found a leak in the exhaust manifold which might account for the ticking, all the hot spots are proud of the head over the combustion chamber and dangerously close to the piston, the head is good , no cracks or strangeness , valves look Ok, the thing was coked up badly though, thick on the pistons and bores and around the head.

I put an 85 degree stat in it last week end, Im wondering if that had anything to do with it pressurizing the coolant, I still cant see any breeches between combustion or crank case and coolant though, it could be that the whole or part of the gasket lifted rather than a clean breech.

Tis prolly the manifold ticking ...

Either that or buy a cheap runabout til the work is done ...
 
Thats what I was thinking, I might just throw a gasket on this and see how it goes first, if it works it will buy me time to find another engine.
 
Sorry to say but that piston with crack most of the way across wont last long. When I opened my old 19j two pistons were gone all the way across. Recon the two haves were rattling. It just amazed me it would still run puffing like an old chuffer with heavy breathing.
 
Those Piston's are ****ed.

As for the gasket blowing, i've had a fair few where they've blown into the outside world.

Being V8's either into the V or into the engine bay..

A very distinctive noise. ;)

I'd rebuild it, or throw a 200 in it..
 
This isnt breathing all that heavy nor does it chuff or smoke, it does breath, but ive seen worse. You would be surprised how these run with cracked pistons, the last one I opened up was just as bad but ran like a sewing machine before it hydrolocked and bent a rod. if the crack is deep into the skirt then you have big problems. Strangely enough I had just put a head gasket on that old motor and had it running lovely the day before I drove it into a pond!
They do need replacing though, the whole thing needs a rebuild, the oil ash on the pistons is a bit of a give away. Im just debating on wether or not I should put new pre combustion chambers in it before putting the head back on.
 

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