Overheating TDI..what to do?

[Williamtaylor33]

Ok folks...I bought this vanagon with a overheating problem.
The coolant system was building alot of pressure when cold so i just pulled the head.
Heres what i've found....
The headgasket was blown between the 3rd and 4th cylinder.
The head is warped .009 mm.
And the water pump is good.
Notice some slight scoring on the cylinder walls.
Heres some pictures i took.




this is a 1 hole gasket correct? (meaning the thinnest)

So the head is off. What should i be looking for now?
This is the same van and engine from this thread.
http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=22666.0

My main guess was that a failed waterpump is what caused this to begin with but now i'm back to square one. The cooling system is different on this van as it has an extra radiator installed in place of a spare tire. I'm thinking an maybe there was an air pocket that found its way back to the engine. Which caused the overheating..which caused the headgasket failure.
Another piece of info is that the coolant bottle threads are messed up meaning the coolant couldnt build pressure.
While i got this one out should i go ahead and replace the plastic impeller'd water pump with a metal one?

[fairweather]

The IC radiator in the spare location and in front of the engine radiator is completely separate from the engine cooling system. The tank is located under the fridge if you need to fill it.

I thought the plastic impeller WP was better, it had a metal impeller installed by a shop which failed at 2k miles.

Are you 100% that the thermostat was opening? I am pretty sure the water wasn't circulating since when it overheated there was no heat at the front heater core.

[Williamtaylor33]

The IC radiator in the spare location and in front of the engine radiator is completely separate from the engine cooling system. The tank is located under the fridge if you need to fill it.

I thought the plastic impeller WP was better, it had a metal impeller installed by a shop which failed at 2k miles.

Are you 100% that the thermostat was opening? I am pretty sure the water wasn't circulating since when it overheated there was no heat at the front heater core.

Thanks for chiming in Tom.
So the two radiators...the one in the spare tire location and the one in front of the stock radiator are not connected to the engine...thanks...
I'm postive the thermostat is good. I tested the old one and a new one in water and both opened at the right temp.
I was under the impression that the metal impeller pumps were better. But i'm thinking i'll just install the same one back in it. Its got low miles on it anyway.

[Quantum TD]

Any warp over .005 will require the head to be straightened. If you don't, you'll be revisiting the problem in short order, or you'll wear the bearing caps for the camshaft, since the warp extends into the cam journals.

TDI heads are easy to mill, but you need to address the warp in the cam journals too.

A full workup should run you about $300-450 at a reputable shop.