took my transit to transit centre and was told I need a new engine. It was blowing white smoke and loads of pressure in water system. They said water was in the pistons and in the oil. Ok. But it didn't overheat and didn't loose power. The is no oil in the water system that I can see.. Any chance it could just be cylinder head and gasket or do I need a new engine. Any ideas. Thanks

Before I start Iam new here and me gramma and spelling all over place as adhd and dyslexia don't help me. Well white smoke always a sign of head gasket or cracked head or something that's letting water in where it should not be. Years ago it would be a head off crack test head skim then head gasket clean up and tox it down and away ya go but now we seem to live in a throw away world and I would look on eBay or ya local salvage yard and check price for a complete engine which should be any where from 200 to 350 then fitting on top and removing of old one. The prob nowadays is that head off and test and replace can work out more that a  swap engine. If u do it ur self it's a two day job on ya drive do ya clutch and slave unit at same time. Oi good luck 

thanks for replying. Forgot to say its a 2007 transit 2.4 140bhp. So dearer engine. I wanted to skim head and new gasket but if it's the block when they change it, it will cost more in the long run. But as I said it didn't loose no power and for some reason didn't overheat. But lots of pressure in water system

1 hour ago, katelyndon said:

I wanted to skim head and new gasket but if it's the block when they change it, it will cost more in the long run.

If it is to be repaired, it needs to be by someone you can trust.

I had a HG go on a Vectra. A Vauxhall dealer changed the HG, but they left all inside the camcover gunked up with emulsion, all the breather hoses & system gunked up. I am surprised the internal oilways were not blocked, but they seemed ok. They did not skim the head (said it was ok).

It pumped all its oil out through the cam cover gasket due to blocked breather system, I had to work out the cause & fix it.

The anti-freeze in the exhaust took the Cat out at next MoT (should not be a problem on a diesel, but does it have a cdpf?).

Then it started losing coolant again two years later. K-Seal fixed it, but I scrapped it 6 months later, due to MoT emissions failure again.

Sorry if that sounds a bit bleak, but does indicate the need to do the job really well & thoroughly. And that is unlikely to be cheap. So don't be be tempted by cheap quotes to change the HG!

Is the block cast iron on these? If so, it may be ok. Aluminium erodes very quickly.