cooling woes

[weeds]

well you wouldn't believe i have had a major coolent loss over the last couple of days and i had only just recieved my low coolent alarm yesterday, if only i have brought it earlier and had it fitted

my defender is now parked up at MR automotive awaiting the outcome:(

the last couple of days my mechanical temp gauge has been moving around a bit more than normal, it kinda does from time to time due to the fact that it is sitting in the thermostat housing i.e. when the thermostat opening it gets a rush of differant temp water and the gauge moves around a bit till the temp settles

each day i checked the header tank while the engine was still running and there was always water so i thought all was good

i checked water level at lunch today when the engine temp was cold and had to put 5L of water into the system:o

one problem with having a mechanical temp gauge fitted in the thermostat housing is that when you loose water the temp gauge reads low not high:twisted:must remember that as there is no water flowing past it so it is only reading air temp

a low water alarm would have alerted me straight away

after filling with water i could not find a leak, temp gauge is still reading low though:(

i drove the rig to MR Auto stopping every 5km or so to check the water level

each time i looked into the header tank there was water moving through it, it appeared airated but was hard to tell

hoping i didn't kill the girl

thanks to justinc for taking my call today

[justinc]

well you wouldn't believe i have had a major coolent loss over the last couple of days and i had only just recieved my low coolent alarm yesterday, if only i have brought it earlier and had it fitted

my defender is now parked up at MR automotive awaiting the outcome:(

the last couple of days my mechanical temp gauge has been moving around a bit more than normal, it kinda does from time to time due to the fact that it is sitting in the thermostat housing i.e. when the thermostat opening it gets a rush of differant temp water and the gauge moves around a bit till the temp settles

each day i checked the header tank while the engine was still running and there was always water so i thought all was good

i checked water level at lunch today when the engine temp was cold and had to put 5L of water into the system:o

one problem with having a mechanical temp gauge fitted in the thermostat housing is that when you loose water the temp gauge reads low not high:twisted:must remember that as there is no water flowing past it so it is only reading air temp

a low water alarm would have alerted me straight away

after filling with water i could not find a leak, temp gauge is still reading low though:(

i drove the rig to MR Auto stopping every 5km or so to check the water level

each time i looked into the header tank there was water moving through it, it appeared airated but was hard to tell

hoping i didn't kill the girl

thanks to justinc for taking my call today

Sounds like a head leak to me Kelvin, :mad::mad:

Did you try the cranking test?

JC

[ashman]

Hi Kelvin

Hope the old girl is OK, you have had a good run with her....

Ashley

[Captain_Rightfoot]

That's bad news weeds :(

The problem with those header tanks is that if their is a source of air inside the sealed system then they stop working and don't indicate anything :(

The beast is in the best hands though. Let us know how you go.

[weeds]

Sounds like a head leak to me Kelvin, :mad::mad:

Did you try the cranking test?

JC

yep

cranked for a good 20 sec and the water level did not change

[weeds]

well if only i had of looked for the obvious........a broken hose clamp will do it:o:o

as soon as MR put the pressure tester on the system she sprung a leak.........good thing it was the top hose

now my mechanical temp gauge is not working:( it was a speco but i am going to buy a VDO this time round so that it will screw straight in where the old temp sender unit sits

i brought a new thermostat as well

[incisor]

good to see you made it out okay kelvin!

[justinc]

Excellent news!
Glad its only a hose clamp!

Funny how sometimes no external leaks are obvious:(

Pressure testers are a great tool.

JC

[scarry]

good to see it was easily sorted.

Another thing funny about coolant leaks is you often see them when the motor is stone cold ,& the system not pressurised.

This is an easy way to see them if you are a DIY & dont have a pressurizing thingy.

[awabbit6]

That's good news.
Reading the symptoms, I was inclined to agree with JustinC's suggestion of a head gasket.

A hose clamp is a much cheaper and easier problem to fix.


Paul

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Cool banana!