Thread: Replaced radiator, still losing coolant

When my D2 Td5 started to lose coolant, here is what happened:
Replace radiator
Replace radiator hoses
Replace header tank
Replace heater core
Replace fuel cooler
....
It was the head gasket

yep, head gasket

..... or a crack in exhaust port....

Thanks for the replies,
Hmmmm... if it was the head gasket is it not likely that there would be water in the oil?
Any way to check without taking it down?
Similarly if it is exhaust port?
If it is the head gasket, how much of the job can I, reasonably spanner handy, can do myself to keep the cost down?
At 325K is it time to say goodbye?

head gasket : water in oil! Not always.
If the damaged gasket is directly into the pistons, all you're doing is 'steam cleaning' the pistons.
That is, oil and water are still separated.

Further to JC's and Discorevy's comments, maybe a cracked block/liner, and coolant coming back up the liner into cylinder .. and again steam cleaning the piston crown.

Mine had similar coolant losing/expelling issues.
Still a works in progress, so not diagnosed what the actual issue was. Motor died at my hands tho.

Car came to me with a previous owner having given up, and over time many mods done to the cooling system to stop it overheating.
Blocked coolant ports, so basically no coolant getting into the engine at all. The doodad they shoved into the waterpump port had a 5mm opening, as compared to the 30mm or more that the waterpump port is.

They blocked the bypass on the thermostat(this bit actually made some sense), and then I changed the rad with a new one, pulled the old side tanks off the old one to see .. and found it 99.9% blocked up with some sort of stop leak gunk.

I have a coolant pressure testing kit, and while trying to diagnose what the issue may be, from stone cold, pressurised the coolant system, all plug leads removed, hit the starter to see if there was any fluctuations at all in the pressure I'd created in the cooling system.
Either the pressure gauge is just not sensitive enough, or the zero fluctuations reading was dead on.
Also tried it while engine hot, again zero anomalies in the pressure added to the coolant system.
Felt confident enough that the head gasket and or block may have been fine.
I also gave the engine a compression test, all cyls except 4 and 6 came back with about 125-130, and 4 and 6 came back with 115 readings.
Everyone I spoke too reckoned that this wasn't enough to indicate a gasket issue.

Thinking that the blocked port and radiator was the coolant issue solved, and having had it soak test for two hours in my driveway with no problems ... I drove off, it drove well at about 85-90°C for the first hour or so, then rocketed into the 100's in quick time.
I was using the OBD scanner watching the temp reading .. not the gauge. Although the gauge did react quicker this time.

I've consigned this motor to the scrap heap. Have a spare, will do a part rebuild and get the D2 going.

At 325K klms .. still a baby (as the saying goes).
Worth keeping .. depends on the condition of the rest of the car.
If it's a bomb! .. I'd say no.
If it's in good body/interior/no rust condition .. I tend to hold onto them.
Did that with my '79 RRC .. 600K +
At that time body and interior were good, really only thing I would have liked to change back then was the drivers door lock.
I fixed some rust in the drivers footwell early on. Easy to do .. no worries.
Spent tons on the gearbox on it tho. Still kept it.
But eventually life moved on, kids came and a 2 door with very hard to get to rear seats and me with a buggered leg ... car got used less and less, eventually parked up.
That's when the rust killed it!
I reckon it sat for about 2 years then had to get moved, put my foot on the floor near the pedals, felt like spaghetti! AND .. I shouldn't have lifted the carpets!!!
Sold it off to a wrecker a few years later ... now regretting doing that too.

So the Q of getting rid of it, is really a hard one for us to help with. has the car served you well?
Do you owe money on it? If you spend (say) $1K to get it going with heads/gaskets or whatever, do you think you'll get $1K worth of value out of it.
What other options would you consider to replace it(if you mean to replace it) .. etc.

Thanks Arhur for very complete reply.
Sounds as though I could take the head off and still be none the wiser. Spending $7K is more than we paid for the car. The Admiral would be unlikely to support the idea.
I'm tempted to let it go, although just put a new battery, rad and set of tyres on it.
Bodywork is straight other than rear right back panel where I jackknifed the box trailer.
Oh, and the knocked around front plastic bumper.
Anyone here would like it?
Too good for the wrecker!

You could buy a USB inspection camera for $20 off fleebay and remove the injectors and have a look in each cylinder to see whether it's steam cleaned or not ...

Originally Posted by Tinggu

Thanks Arhur for very complete reply.
Sounds as though I could take the head off and still be none the wiser. Spending $7K is more than we paid for the car. The Admiral would be unlikely to support the idea.
I'm tempted to let it go, although just put a new battery, rad and set of tyres on it.
Bodywork is straight other than rear right back panel where I jackknifed the box trailer.
Oh, and the knocked around front plastic bumper.
Anyone here would like it?
Too good for the wrecker!

I had a head gasket replacement, new water pump, new hoses timing cover fan, etc etc by Ritters, in Sept 2015 that cost $6490.60, Labour was $3487.40 DOing this your self is a lot cheaper. DO you have a second car? Can you take the time to fix this? I did not have the time., I only have the one car.
If you cannot find the leak, (Mine leaked through the water pump seal it was pretty obvious) I'd be inclined to remove the head and have a look.

Julian