Van headlining , and Blow By repair cost

[chris williamson]

What sort of material is the headlining in the van made of? I found a V reg Ledbury van (had No 1003 written on roof behind headlining if that means anything) this week in a scrapyard in Slade Lane, Hall Green Birmingham, and amongst other things it had a marked but generally useable headlining, certainly better than the sagging version I currently have!
Back home I cleaned it with "Vanish" spray and a bubble appeared in the material about the size of a dinner plate. I had to make a slit in it and spray some 3M Aerosol adhesive which has helped, but is it possible to buy the same (or preferably better!) foam backed material and recover the backing shell?

On a totally different subject I have exhausted all breather hose related causes and determined the blow by I am experiencing out the oil filler cap is rings, either stuck, worn or as the engine (2L Perkins) has only done 59000, probably a broken one. I have a mechanic I call on for many jobs whom I trust , but before I ask him to quote a price for the job I thought I would ask if anyone in the club has farmed out such a job, or have charged others to do the same job and what sort of cost is involved, will it be £200+, £300+, £400+ or are we getting into engine replacement prices?

[E_T_V]

If you search for headlining on here you'll see a lot of threads on how to DIY repair it. Wollies auto trip and other places will supply the headlining material A van is very simple compared to a car one due to the size!

what is the problem with the blow by? A fair amount of pressure is normal.

[chris williamson]

I get a blast of white smoke out the oil filler pipe and PCV valve whenever the engine is running. When stopped in traffic I get a white mist as if boiling up accompanied by a strong smell of diesel fumes. I was told it was either the simple problem of blocked breather hoses or the not so simple problem of broken/ stuck/worn rings. I removed every pipe, no blockage so it seems the rings must be the culprits. I am also getting an increase in oil that is accompanying the white smoke/vapour, probably condensing out of it and creating quite a mess where ever I park, another reason to get something done.

[E_T_V]

The mist when removing the cap is perfectly normal. If blowby becomes excessive you'll find it blows the cap off!

if the oil mist is coming out of the PCV valve then the valve is faulty. It should be connected to the oil filler and then on to the air intake under the air filter. If this pipe has come adrift then fumes will be released into the engine bay although they should smell of oil rather than diesel.

If there is diesel being sprayed around the engine bay (or the dipstick smells of diesel), then suspect a faulty fuel lift pump either spraying hte fuel out of the vent hole in the top or filling the sump with diesel which will cause the engine to burn oil as the oil level gets too high.