Thread: P38 coolant woes

Originally Posted by RR P38

Very common fault with these engines unfortunately.
With 300k on it you most likely dont have the original engine.....without some sort of over haul having been done on it at some stage.
Diagnosing a liner slippage is very hard.
Do you have any signs of weaping (coolant) between heads and block? its very hard to get a good look, but try. If so you might just be lucky and its a head gasket.
I have heard of pretty good results with Irontight being used to sort this issue out.
Radiator; it is possible to pop the top and bottom tanks off as they are only clipped, its risky doing a re assembly, I replace my radiator about 2 years ago as I had damaged the expansion tank inlet on the top drivers side. I pulled my radiator apart just out of interest it was 95% good only 1 tube was blocked and another 50%, I have had my RR for 13yrs and it well worn but well serviced 345,000k now a bit rattly from the engine but she pulls strong uses no oil or coolant at all between changes.

Here is a very good company in the UK.
Read the bottom of the page on liners etc.
RPi Engineering - V8 Engines

Good luck

Great site!

Very informative

Gary

The Rad and water pump are well within any averagely competent DIYer. The hardest part is getting the fan off the water pump. The rad can come out after removing the hoses releasing the top cowling and the two bolts holding the rad down at each bottom corner. The Water pump / Fan split requires a specific tool but I do it with a big adjustable spanner and a home made bar to stop it spinning. Should be available at supercheap or the like or maybe you can loan one
Do you have a copy of Rave for guidance?

I'd be a bit hesitant about condeming the block before I replaced the radiator and waterpump first.

Is it a 4 or 4.6? If it's a 4.6 unless it's been boiled to abosolute oblivion (in which case the rocker gear would be rattly) I would doubt it's a cracked block.

May be worth getting the coolant tested for hydrocarbons.

Radiator, water pump and header cap is what I'd be doing first though.

I do have a copy of rave and have found YouTube has a handy video on how to do it. I purchased the spanner from eBay along with the water pump from the same company in the UK a it worked out cheaper even with postage. Luckily I don't have to use it every day so I can afford to wait a while. The tool that is used to grab the nuts and hold the shaft still I will make up myself.

Benji it is a 4.0 and I haven't allowed it to boil it head off so I'd have to agree with you in trying the rad and so on before opening it up.

I always watch the temp gauge as I had heard a few horror stories prior to purchase so I monitor it quite closely to hopefully prevent major damage if it did occur.

On both of the occurrences of it getting hot it did start to spew out coolant/steam from the cap but I turned it off before it the gauge was at the max.

Have a read of this post to give you some confidence on how simple the job might not be....................

Water Pump Replacement

It tells a very different story to the video posted as a reply. I did laugh, slightly nervously, when reading the post. Thanks!

Hopefully the parts will be here in a few days then it's game on!!

Hi

I read somewhere about using the starter motor to crack the nut. Essentially jam the spanner in somewhere nice and tight, then blip the starter motor!

Good luck with it all !!

Steve