Thread: td5 - Please don't tell me its my head gasket again!!

Must say i am feeling a little more positive at the moment, but still no success in correct diagnosis...

have had the Hawkeye hooked up when i went and got 3/4 tonne of wood, towing up hill, pushing it to keep speed up and the temp didn't rise above 90.4 degrees.. (must say it was only about 14 degrees outside) .. by the time we got back home i could hear the air/coolant trying to push out through the overflow pipe....

Have to say, I would have thought that if hot exhaust gases were leaking into the coolant, the temp should have shot up????

Rang Whyatts in Gero, W.A. still excellent service, always happy to assist over the phone - highly recommend them... first suggestion was to check the small hose from top let of radiator to overflow wasn't blocked and that it was flowing into reservior as that can cause pressure build-up.. checked that and unfortunately it was working fine... now have to call them back this morning to see what the next step is..

Fingers crossed we come up with something before having to remove the head...

slowly sorting through it

End result was the head gasket was absolutely stuffed and had cracks through the gasket!!!

But, it also was now slightly warped which made things worse.

With all the deliberations of whether they can or cannot be skimmed, as i was saving considerable money doing it myself, i decided to go with 'can be skimmed, but only up to 10 thou..

Had it skimmed 8 thou and valves re-seated. put all back together and so far so good. no overheating, no coolant loss, no excess pressures etc etc etc..

All up cost for machine work and gaskets about $1200 (still waiting for final invoice for gaskets as the head gasket may be under warranty still!! so could be less)

NOTE: if you do this yourself, put a new thermostat in when you put it back together, my new one seized as it was left dry for a week or two (put it in before pulling it apart!)