Thread: Found it.

Originally Posted by knuts2au

Lost a little bit of coolant the other week, just out of the blue, topped it up and been ok since. Today i was hunting around for an annoying oil leak and spotted red coolant crystals at the front of the oil cooler. I was suspicious the oil weep was coming from the cooler as well. i have a 4hr trip to Adelaide for 2 days then home followed by another4 4 hour trip to Burra for a Rally the week after. I don't have time at the moment to do any work on it as i'm away a lot with work in between. Is it likely to just slowly get worse or will it just spew it's guts all of a sudden?

I'm confused by this post. Firstly, when you say you lost a "little bit of coolant", what do you mean? Was there coolant on the ground, or was the level in the bottle lower than usual?

Next, you say you found evidence of coolant in front of the oil cooler. Is that the transmission oil cooler? There is no connection between the two. On the other hand, if you mean the engine oil cooler, then I would suspect you have a radiator problem. Is it possible the radiator is rubbing on something?

Is it likely to just slowly get worse or will it just spew it's guts all of a sudden?

TD5s are great engines, but I have learned not to take ANY risks with them as far as the cooling system is concerned. Find and fix the leak before you go, or take something else. TD5s are unforgiving when overheating is concerned.

Of course, this is just my opinion. Good luck with it.

Sorry should have put a pic up, it's the oil cooler on the side of the block. just noticed the header tank was down a bit one day, normally never alters, put about 300ml in to top up, but hasn't moved since. no big coolant "tracks" any where, just some red crystals. Had green coolant when i got it 2 years/40,000Km ago, flushed and changed to Red OAT coolant. New Radiator and fuel heater O rings not long after. Hoping just O rings.

If it was mine I'd be fixing it as said td5 are very good motors but very unforgiving when it comes to their cooling system.

My D2 too was leaking and I eventually tracked it down to the brass overflow pipe which loosened in its bonding to the plastic top of the radiator on the LHS (That's RHS if you are at the bonnet looking over the rad from the front)
IMG_2300.jpg
Having not much money and great faith in Aruldite I cleaned it all up, filed some roughs into the brass pipe and built up a a sticky mess to envelope the base of the pipe in the tank. It was pretty chilly and I spent a few hours going back to it and coaxing the Aruldite back as it slumped.

IMG_2303.jpg

I was disappointed to find that there was still red fluid dripping. Took the rad covers off again and found that the pipe was securely bonded - no leak there. Then I noticed the wet ooze around the hole that takes the retaining screw for the rad cover. That's it at the left of the first photo. I suspect the there is a moulded cap inside the housing that is maent to take the thread of the screw but it has snapped off inside and allows the fluid to escape up the thread of the retaining screw. For this repair I used an epoxy putty, wrapping it around the thread before screwing it in, with the putty oozing out under the head of the screw. No more leaks!
The leak had not been severe as it was at the top of the system and I had been checking each trip in case a topup was needed.
I don't know if this any help to you knuts2au but wortha look. I don't know what it would cost at the repair shop to have the plastic tank replaced which would be the best option if you have the dosh. Any ideas what I have saved anyone?

Sorry Peter - missed a tread where you said it was the oil cooler. My bad - makes my story totally irrelevant!