New Surf new woe

[Jonthefish]

Bought a Gen 2 three litre Surf at the weekend. Great. Very impressed on the run home and all fluid levels were sport on at end of 200 miles.
Two days later it is over heating and the coolant is frothing like a badly poured pint. Mucho pressure and froth in radiator even if run for about 5 seconds from cold. I fear its cracked its head. O dear. Wondering if I should shove it in the nearest large hole? Gloom.
Beer time. Hooray.

[woodwarm]

overheating

Morning & welcome Jon.

Not the usual first post

Private sale or garage.
If you have the funds consider repairing.
New head,gaskets,bolts, belt, radiator,water pump etc £1000. less if you do it yourself.

Loads of info use the "search"

Must be other members close to Fort William who will help.

Good luck.

[Jonthefish]

Thanks Woodwarm. Yeh, I'll consider fixing. I've ordered thermostat, rad cap etc in the unlikely event that it isn't the head. I'll flush the system and we'll take it from there.
Might have a go at the head myself if it is needed, which I reckon will be the case. I used to do my own repairs as a student but that was 30 years back and cars were much simpler then - at least mine were (think Vauxhall Viva and old Escorts)!

[Dobbslc]

Welcome Jon.
Have a look at my recent post in the 3.0 section titled "off with the head"
My Surfs head went but it still ran well only using a bit of coolant . It cost just over a grand to replace it with an AMC head and other new bits but seems to run much better.
If you bought from a dealer throw it back at them if not and you like the truck have a bash at fixing it, plenty of advice on here and it's not that much more technical than an old petrol lump of years gone by.
Hilux's are fairly straighforward and have been designed to be fixed in the bush with molegrips and a hammer.
Dobbs

[Jonthefish]

Cheers Dobbs. It was looking at your thread that made me think "maybe I could have a go at that". I have the Max Ellerly manual as well.

Private sale I'm afraid. I think the car was sold in good faith. Ran great when collected and following day but after a trip to Skye started heating up and now pressurises coolant instantly on starting, even from cold. Seller used it an estate run-about so maybe the shock of long journeys was too much for it!
I paid £850 with 124k on the clock, so I'm thinking that if I could fix it for £700 or £800 it might be worth it. It seems in pretty good nick generally and drives fine. Any likelihood of block being cracked?

I'll post something up in the 3l section if/when I get going. I've no doubt I'll need plenty help and guidance.
cheers
Jon

[shokenore]

Welcome along !!


It's a shame your journey into Surfdom has had a potentially expensive start.

There are plenty on here that are willing to give you helpful advice and point you in the right direction.


Watch out for the humour, although it has been a bit quiet here of late.



Ps, Don't let tashego see that a 3L has failed......

[woodwarm]

Cheers Dobbs. It was looking at your thread that made me think "maybe I could have a go at that". I have the Max Ellerly manual as well.

Private sale I'm afraid. I think the car was sold in good faith. Ran great when collected and following day but after a trip to Skye started heating up and now pressurises coolant instantly on starting, even from cold. Seller used it an estate run-about so maybe the shock of long journeys was too much for it!
I paid £850 with 124k on the clock, so I'm thinking that if I could fix it for £700 or £800 it might be worth it. It seems in pretty good nick generally and drives fine. Any likelihood of block being cracked?

I'll post something up in the 3l section if/when I get going. I've no doubt I'll need plenty help and guidance.
cheers
Jon

Only worth fixing if it's burgundy

Also try searching for "snake oil" = miracle cure,as recommended by our friends in the valleys

[Jonthefish]

It's blue. Guess I'll shove it in a deep hole then : (

Seriously though, I'm going to need a bit of guidance here as I want to be sure the head or head gasket is gone before I start dismantling and spending a load of hard-earned and time.

Gen 2 turbo diesel.

1. On an 80 mile trip the truck was overheating on hills then all the time as coolant was expelled via expansion tank. Bizarrely, as temp gauge went up the oil pressure gauge went down. Both settling to normal on down hill sections.
2. Radiator cap and thermostat replaced today (bit of a bugger getting at that thermostat!).
3. Flushed rad and block both ways (lots of tiny sparkly coppery looking bits in what was flushing out - presumably from radiator?)
4. Filled cooling system (just raw water for now).
5. Ran engine for only 5 seconds then popped radiator cap. Pressure in the cooling system and lots of frothy bubbles.

I can't see where pressure and bubbles would come from other than combustion gases but I'm hoping I'm wrong.
Is the head gone?
Could the block be cracked?
Any other diagnosis is should do before starting to strip down top end to examine cylinder head? Block tester is £35 - any need given frothing radiator?

Thanks in advance.

[shokenore]

For £35 to have confirmation seems like money well spent.
By block tester do you mean combustion gas test?
You may not like the answer but at least you will know for sure.
Sorry

[BUSHWHACKER]

Frothy coolant = cracked head.

Hello by the way.

[Jonthefish]

Frothy coolant = cracked head.

Hello by the way.

Hi Bushwhacker.

Yeh - I kind of feel like froth = busted head so why spend the £35. But if there is any chance at all it could be something else then I'll fork out for the combustion gas tester.

I feel a bit bad joining the site with woes. Would have joined anyway having bought the Surf, but had hoped first post would be somewhat more cheerful.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Save the money and get a new head, there's no other way for the exhaust gasses to get into the coolant other than cracks between the valves/water jacket.

[Bazcam]

It's blue. Guess I'll shove it in a deep hole then : (

Seriously though, I'm going to need a bit of guidance here as I want to be sure the head or head gasket is gone before I start dismantling and spending a load of hard-earned and time.

Gen 2 turbo diesel.

1. On an 80 mile trip the truck was overheating on hills then all the time as coolant was expelled via expansion tank. Bizarrely, as temp gauge went up the oil pressure gauge went down. Both settling to normal on down hill sections.
2. Radiator cap and thermostat replaced today (bit of a bugger getting at that thermostat!).
3. Flushed rad and block both ways (lots of tiny sparkly coppery looking bits in what was flushing out - presumably from radiator?)
4. Filled cooling system (just raw water for now).
5. Ran engine for only 5 seconds then popped radiator cap. Pressure in the cooling system and lots of frothy bubbles.

I can't see where pressure and bubbles would come from other than combustion gases but I'm hoping I'm wrong.
Is the head gone?
Could the block be cracked?
Any other diagnosis is should do before starting to strip down top end to examine cylinder head? Block tester is £35 - any need given frothing radiator?

Thanks in advance.

As the engine temp rises your oil will get thinner, hence the drop in oil pressure.

The pressurised cooling system and frothing radiator pretty much gives it away, I'm afraid the head is 99% certain to be cracked.

From your description of the coolant flush, namely the sparkly coppery
deposits, I'd say the head was cracked before you bought it and the
previous owner has disguised the fact with one of the wonder cure, crack
repair products.

Welcome anyway, if you decide to fix it you'll get all the help and advice
you need right here.

[Jonthefish]

Hi Bazcam
Thanks for that - really interesting. Especially re the wee coppery bits! Doubt I can get any recompense now other than by nitromorsing the seller's fancy Saab turbo, but if he did know of the problem he should be ashamed as he knew I needed the truck for my (self employed) work.

Gonna re-start a thread to the 3L section as getting technical.
Thanks to moderator for patience and to everyone for input. A good introduction to the forum for a newbie like me. Cheers guys.
Jon

[Bogus]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bars-Leaks...item461da16eb1

Sounds like he has used something like this.