Thread: 300tdi water pump gone again - HELP!

too right mate. I will definately get one in sooner than later.

definately before we venture into darkest africa again.

Thanks again for all your help Arthur.

cheers

dom

'Fred' got ahead of himself and the wife and I are now waiting in a wet and windy Apollo Bay, Vic waiting for a water pump to catch up.

It didn't take much to upset the 'Fred' apple cart, highway travel with rising ground for several kilometres with a following wind, the temperature rose steadily as we climbed till it was just under the red and when the load came off, it dropped just as slow.
This behaviour of slow changing heat levels is typical of having blocked cores in the radiator or a thermostat not fully opening, but it could also be of a water pump impeller sucking air, I am thinking, that if water can drip out past the bearing, then air could be drawn in causing cavitation especially when the pump should be drawing coolant through the engine.

This was a brand new pump that was installed when I built the motor up less than 10,000 Klm ago that is now leaking, what is going on with these pumps? Is the water pump seal failing because of the higher temperatures due to a partially blocked core or is it the grease not up being to the ambient temperatures we have in Australia?

Or is it some very shoddy company with sloppy manufacturing tolerances that really dosn't care about people in Australia that can suddenly find themselves in trouble in some remote area, with a failed water pump.

I am not impressed with the ultimate cover with my automobile club, it has let me down badly when I have needed it the most, but that's another story!
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Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Went shopping today in the AULRO shop and ordered not one but many sensors!
Have put a order in with Dave's Interesting Things for three sets for myself and another three for some friends, all for 300 TDi's.
After hearing about then seeing that cooked 300TDi motor the other day, I think they are cheap insurance
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Thanks Dave

I installed the low coolant level sensor kit in 'Fred' before leaving for the mainland, whilst I havent lost the coolant below the correct working level, it has given me peace of mind that the head hasn't been damaged with the current overheating issue.
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Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

I think you have only masked the problem by putting that old cap back on.
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Hi Arthur

Not sure how you called it but you did... My Turbo started to make really unhappy sounds & lots & lots of blue smoke on start up... so i booked it in to a professional to determine if it was turbo or blowby... The turbo all but exploded on the way in. It didnt take long to diagnose a shot turbo.

however.... a couple hours later the mech calls to tell me he can see coolant coming through the head by the intake manifold! Nothing like a swift kick in the sweet spot to get your day going right. So a shot turbo & head! Nice! A little confused as to how this happened cause 5000 kms ago they removed it cause i was inexplicably loosing water. It was pressure tested & determined to be fine & just need a new gasket. It was re-installed with new valve guides etc. The only milage i have done is too & from work checking oil & coolant every day to solve my water pump mystery.

All with absolutely no over heating or water loss below the line on the expansion bottle.

If i didnt know the owner of the garage personally & know that the mechanic has 27yrs experience with LR i would smell a rat.

Anyway nothing to be done, just unlucky i guess> Just wanted to say hi

cheers

Dom

Hi Dom

That's awful rotten luck you have had there.
I reckon that your turbo failure is most likely a bad coincidence, unless the engine oil was badly contaminated with water at some stage in the past and then the water would have then marked the bearings.

I have slowly been working through 'Fred's' overheating problems, the waterpump I installed while I was away in Apollo bay is still insitu and I will leave it in for now as it isn't leaking at the weep hole, although I am sure that it does suck air through a seal before the system builds up to it's working pressure.

I have shown those few bubbles coming up in my header tank to a couple of mechanically minded friends, who agree with me that it doesn't look like combustion gasses and it was more likely from the draw created by the pump working pulling air in from somewhere, it stands to reason that if the core is blocked with the coolant flow diminished, the draw of the pump increases on it's suction side.

I have been doing one thing at a time, I fitted a new viscous hub for the fan with a slight improvement but it still overheated on the long pull with the large car trailer in tow.

Yesterday I installed the new radiator, so the next trip with the car trailer will be interesting, if there is no more problems I will be taking the old radiator into a radiator repair place for a rodding out of the core.
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Yeah rotten indeed. I also think the turbo isnt related to the head but i cant help but think the head has been cracked all this time.

As for you bubbles... When i was chasing my water loss i was told to remove only the radiator filler plug & run the engine if there are bubbles its a blown head gasket or head. I also had them test for exhaust gas in the expansion bottle, which is apparently not conclusive cause diesel is hard to pick up. If i was a betting man i would say its the head, but i getting very used to being very very wrong.

Please let me know how you get on, its interesting to find the solutions that go with these dilemas, but also just to know things pan out.

Cheers

dom

Changing for the new radiator has fixed 'Fred's' overheating, yesterday I took the car trailer ( weighs empty 660 Kgs ) to Grove which is south of Hobart to pickup a 80" that's in pieces.
The way there is along the Southern Outlet from Hobart and that highway runs through some steep hilly country.
I pushed 'Fred' all the way and even though the day was warm, the temperature gauge didn't once move off the half way mark.
I'm happy so far whilst that episode is behind me, I'll still keep an eye on those occasional bubbles that do come up in the expansion tank to make sure they don't develop into anything worse.
That Low Coolant Alarm I fitted, really is peace of mind and I urge anyone that has a engine with a alloy head, that they should get one fitted.
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