Thread: Td5 rapid coolant loss, passenger side, EGR valve.

By the left side, do you mean the passenger side??

I have just recently gone through the very expensive exercise of replacing my whole cooling system, including the oil cooler. Mine has 300 000ks now so I guess there will be others in the same boat.

No overheting issues just chasing a water leak - coolant on the ground under the engine bay. My water pump was first replaced, only to then discover once back together the little O-ring behind hadn't been replaced at the same time. All back off again. Then it was a hose about 1yr old sprung a leak, then it was in the area of the oil cooler......located a pin-hole from a 'water jacket'. With all my faith gone but seeming to be ok, the final straw came when left for a short camping trip and temp gauge climbed. Eventually found a leak in radiator......new one of those put in too........has been 2 mths now and FINALLY all is good. Unfortunately initial work done by a shop I once trusted.........only ecause I couldn't get the care to a mate, very good mechanic about 6.5hrs drive in Traralgon. Then discovered that the original mechanic hadn't picked up my exhaust manifold was warped and had dodgy repair done on not one but two broken studs.

Find someone you trust, who is good, and get the whole system checked and replace everything if even the slightest unsure of it's integrity......you don't want to be aking off all that gear more than once.

Hi, Thanks for the reply. yeh left/passenger. i see a whole lot of coolant residue there and very very wet from all the water thats been leaking (but not alot of residue on the ground ???). Ive got a good mechanic who ill ask otherwise I'll ask the guy who just replaced my rear diff, seemed ok, if he cant he may know someone. Ill just get a pressure test done I think and go from there. I would love it if I could go 6 weeks without having to do work on this thing; i love it but the love isnt cheap.

Doesnt sound like you had much luck with yours, thats why I try to do what I can by myself but sometimes you just can't. Mines got just over 210,000 on the clock so its probably time anyways. This is the last thing I need after blowing a whole wad of cash on a rear diff last month.

Thanks for the good advice, if I can't find the leak/fix myself I'll have to get my mechanic.

Originally Posted by trevor

Also maybe a stupid question but is the throttle supposed to have hose connected to it? I cant tell if mine has been off for a while and is subsequently covered in gunk or whether its just a breather or something?

It's actually the EGR valve (visible in the first pic). Unless it's been disabled, there should be a pipe running across the front of the head to the exhaust manifold. The will also be a vacuum hose running back to the EGR modulator on the drivers side wheel arch.


The pipe work on the passenger-side inner guard in the pic's appear to be the refrigerant lines for the rear A/C. You shouldn't be getting coolant leaks from these pipes so you'll have to look for a possible source within spraying distance.

Check the short hose that connects to the oil cooler. It's near the back of the block behind the turbo. That hose is in an ideal spot to spray coolant into that area of the engine bay. That said looking at the pics again I'm not so sure - I can't see how one hose and the inner guard could be coated and the other hose unmarked if it was spraying from the hose to the oil cooler.

Thanks for that info. I will have a look at the RAVE manual etc tomorrow and see what I can figure out. What would happen if it wasn't disabled and wasn't attached? because at the moment the only problem I have (knock on wood) is the loss of coolant?

EDIT: actually my engine does get unusually hot nowadays. perhaps thats the problem, and occasionally there is the bumping/lurching sensation when I put my foot down. There is a bunch of gunk in that hole so might clear it out and determine what Im gonna do.
Also, probably a real silly question; where is the throttle body heater? Im hoping that is where my leak is coming from but I just can't find it, all the diagrams Ive found havent matched my D2 td5? are petrol and diesel different? I just want to stop losing so much coolant so I can deal with whatever other problem arises.

Originally Posted by trevor

Thanks for that info. I will have a look at the RAVE manual etc tomorrow and see what I can figure out. What would happen if it wasn't disabled and wasn't attached? because at the moment the only problem I have (knock on wood) is the loss of coolant?

EDIT: actually my engine does get unusually hot nowadays. perhaps thats the problem, and occasionally there is the bumping/lurching sensation when I put my foot down. There is a bunch of gunk in that hole so might clear it out and determine what Im gonna do.
Also, probably a real silly question; where is the throttle body heater? Im hoping that is where my leak is coming from but I just can't find it, all the diagrams Ive found havent matched my D2 td5? are petrol and diesel different? I just want to stop losing so much coolant so I can deal with whatever other problem arises.

It wouldn't run particularly well as you'd be leaking boost straight to the atmosphere. The EGR has a blind hole which is part of the casting; it's unlikely to anything worth worrying about.

TD5 and Petrol are different.

The TD5 doesn't have a throttle body, and therefore no throttle body heater.
If your TD5 is 2002 or later you could have an egr cooler at the front of the engine.

Have a look in RAVE at EMISSION CONTROL - TD5 > Description and Operation > EGR system components - type 1 (for pre-2002) or type 2 (2002 onwards).

Originally Posted by OffTrack

I can't see how one hose and the inner guard could be coated and the other hose unmarked if it was spraying from the hose to the oil cooler.

I totally agree. is it possible that the green coolant has 'soaked in' on the A/C and upon filling with plan water its 'washed off' the other pipe?

Yeh mines a 2002 but I think early 2002. It has a centre diff lock if that differentiates it from the later model. I will check behind the turbo tomorrow morning and hope thats my problem. Thanks for the direction to the RAVE manual.

EDIT: I can't say for sure but upon looking at the engine this morning I would say I have the EGR cooler as i think i remmeber seeing a cylinder there as oppised to a pipe.

what volume do you leak over what time frame?


i had a slow leak from the water pump (LHS TD5) which was almost impossible to see except for the traces of green spread everywhere when looked from underneath.

i needed a mirror probe to get right in and find the source, and place hand underneath wpump when cold and it felt wet.

Only leaked any real amount when engine was running.

just a thought.

cheers

Originally Posted by alpick

what volume do you leak over what time frame

Honestly it varies. When i Posted this it had pretty much ran dry in a day. but i drove an hour this morning and was excatly the same level? when i leave I will check before i drive and when I get home.
I also only notice it when the car is running, no drips (at least from coolant) when parked