Thread: Am I about to have a TD5 headgasket issue

Hey All

On my recent Simpson trip, the bleed screw on the top coolant hose hadnt been tightened enough after been replaced with a brass unit. I did a long drive from Melbourne to Peterborough (in SA) and noticed the next morning that my coolant had dropped to the bottom of the bottle and coolant had been sprayed across the engine bay. I tightened the screw and topped up the cooant.

Now I didnt lose any more coolant for the whole trip and at no time did the temp gauge go over the normal level. Obviously if the coolant was too low it could have cause the gasket issue....

What should I be looking out for apart from continued coolant loss?

Angus

contamination and breakdown of the OAT....

it should be a lovely red pink colour if its an off brown or it looks like broken ice when you look inside the expansion tank somethings killing it... its either overheating, copping a touch of blowby or youve got a hotspot in the engine somewhere.

If you had it last done at a dealer go and ask nicely for a sample of the coolant that they put in (ideally you want the same batch) do a visual comparison of the coolant if yours doesnt look like whats in the sample bottle something is adrift.

OAT also leaves a really easy to follow trail when it leaks out of a hose fitting so on a nice bright day eyeball every joint on the vehicle and if you still cant find it dust the engine with talcum powder and take it for a drive. let it cool down and then check again.

Thanks Dave. My coolant is still nice and pink, no colour change at all.

Wouldnt it be good to have a central depositry for this info? If you suspected something you could click on the problem and a list of things to look for would just pop up. But I guess we all wouldnt chat as much then...

Angus

Originally Posted by McDisco

<snip>

Wouldnt it be good to have a central depositry for this info? If you suspected something you could click on the problem and a list of things to look for would just pop up. But I guess we all wouldnt chat as much then...

Angus

Some people say that it's The Stig's second home.

We just call it The Good Oil.

If you've got a good idea for a Good Oil thread PM me or Pedro and we'll put it up.

A good idea should include a couple of links to the relevant threads that cover the topic.

Cheers
Simon

Originally Posted by Psimpson7

With regard to the dowels, I will get a set of steel and plastic ones and compare them, If they are different I will make up some steel ones the same size as the plastic ones and use them.

I wont be putting plastic dowels back in.

Cheers
Pete.

My 99 D2 wasn't able to have the LR steel dowels so I made some using the shank of an 8mm drill bit, on the advice of the local engine reconditioners. My 03 D2 (build date 10/02) has plastic dowels that can/should/will be replaced by the LR steel dowels if the head ever gets removed.