Thread: Problems in Darwin

My bad was thinking TD5 for some reason.

Thanks to all who posted here. I took the vehicle to Darwin Radiator and Mechanical Service who made up a custom rig to pressurise the oil cooler element in the radiator and sure enough the air leaking into the water jacket forced coolant out through the expansion tank.

So there are things to be learned here.

1) The 300 tdi has an oil cooler in the radiator. The hoses run to it from the drivers side of the block near the oil filter. Oil flow through tha cooler is controlled by a temperature sensitive valve which only directs oil through the cooler when it reaches a certain temperature. This ensures a quick engine warm-up.

2) Don't be too hasty in blaming the head gasket when oil appears in the water.

3) I would not recommend the aluminium and plastic radiator for harsh off road use.

I highly recommend Darwin Radiator and Mechanical Service. 08 8981 3442. They are air freighting the new copper/brass radiator for under $1000. Land Rover in Darwin quoted me $2858 for a "genuine" replacement. Where do they get their prices from??

Again, thanks to all for your help and suggestions.

Eric