Gsxr:

Both. The head gasket sealing ring was eaten through at the vertical cylinder interface, and a few cylinder liners also had varying degrees of corrosion damage at the top of them as well. The worst was on No.5, where the liner was eaten through about one-quarter of the thickness of the cylinder liner at the very top/rear. (I'm crossing my fingers that the new head gasket will still seal effectively -- it looks like it should.)

I have had the car for approximately 10,000 miles – the overheating problems were apparent soon after I bought the car, which was in June of last year. Summers are hot here, with 100+ degree days at the peak. This is my first diesel, so I was not familiar with just how warm/hot they are expected to run; nor how well they should run when they are running properly. No doubt, my ignorance exacerbated the problem.

On my engine, the corrosion was limited to the vertical bore of the cylinder liner, extending up to, and including, the very edge at the block/gasket parting face. The top (horizontal) surface of the block & remaining ¾ thickness of the liner are not damaged, which is why I am assuming/hoping that the new gasket will still seal it effectively.

Could you please elaborate about the damage that you experienced? I am curious about the severity & location of your damage.

RTH