Thread: Coolant Leak,Big Dramas

There are no water jacket holes in the block or head near number 3 so that really rules a gasket problem out. The only holes are at the ends of the block at numbers 1 and 4. Have a look. Even the inlet manifold only has holes at each end near 1 and 4.

From your photos the appearance is a classic case of cracked block and slipped liner, but who knows there COULD be some other explanation.

Regards Philip A

hi Phillip,i thought the same thing,its sitting in the drive way now,tank cap off,oil cap off andthe spark plug out,so theres no pressure at all anywhere in the motor,i turn the motorand a big shot of water shoots out the plug hole,if i let it sit for half hour it fills up again,i cant understand if it is a sliped liner or a cranked bloke how it can fill the cylinder with out any form of pressure build up,its like its dribbleing in from above somehow,

Sorry to hear of you problem, I think your next exercise is to follow Dave's advice with the compressed air, easy enough to make a fitting out of an old plug, good luck.

G`day Brad3000

It has a crack behind the liner , the liner movement may not be easily seen but a closer pic of the top of that hole could help to point it out .

It is not uncommon in 3.9s

The spark plug from that hole was probably also nice and clean .

The mufflers may be holding more moisture that normal .

When first started from cold it will show signs of moisture , which will be heavier and last longer than normal warm up .

Normal running will be as usual , after it has warmed up , the only real sign will be a loss of coolant that can`t be found and this loss is occuring after it is shut down .

If it were mine i would follow the instructions , ie drain all the coolant from the block and flush ect , and try chemi-weld , i have heard of success in its use if used as directed in a 3.9 and also a 4.6 .
It is also the cheapest option .

Cheers

hi Phillip,i thought the same thing,its sitting in the drive way now,tank cap off,oil cap off andthe spark plug out,so theres no pressure at all anywhere in the motor,i turn the motorand a big shot of water shoots out the plug hole,if i let it sit for half hour it fills up again,i cant understand if it is a sliped liner or a cranked bloke how it can fill the cylinder with out any form of pressure build up,its like its dribbleing in from above somehow,

Unless you have a cracked head the only place it could get in is via behind the sleeve. AFAIR , you said you had the heads checked. The top of the block is below the normal water level in the radiator, so it is still entirely possible for water to just well out of the join between block and head.

Remember that the head gasket fire ring does not cover the join between the sleeve and block. It must be really bad if it leaks without pressure.

The only way to check whether a block is leaking normally is to make up covers for all the water orifices and then pressurise the block with 60-100 PSI, but in your case it sounds so bad that if you placed the cylinder at TDC firing and did a leakdown, ie pressurise the cylinder , my bet is that you will have bubbles blasting out of the radiator.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Remember that the head gasket fire ring does not cover the join between the sleeve and block. It must be really bad if it leaks without pressure.

Regards Philip A

G`day Philip ,

I have a 3.9 that has a liner shift , the liner is still sitting up .

The gasket that came off it is the factory 10 bolt gasket .

The gaskets fire ring has the indentation of the liner all around it`s inner surface and the fire ring is the usual shape other wise .

This proves that the fire ring does sit over the liner , i`m still not high tech enough for pics but take my word for it , i have no reason to not be factual .

Cheers .

Peter

I have a 4.0 DII which slipped a cylinder liner. When the workshop took the old motor apart and pointed me to the cylinder that looked like it was steam cleaned, I looked and looked and still couldn't see how the liner had slipped. I can't remember which cylinder it is, sorry.

Although it was a slipped liner, I just couldn't see it. Maybe I just didn't know what I was looking for. It wasn't as obvious as Ron's picture where there's at least 1mm gap where the liner used to be. On my motor, I couldn't even feel the gap.

Anyway, I've got a replacement block now with top hat liners so the slipped liner issue won't ever be a problem again. Hope nothing else goes belly up.

I had a similar issue with a David Brown tractor years ago and eventually found a lateral crack in a liner that wasn't visible until you looked at the back of the liner (after removal).

Will be interested to hear what you find!

Cheers
Peter