has my head gone??

[surfer dude]

Pulling a horse box last week and when i pulled into the service the temp went in the red, checked the tank and level was ok. had a coffee and let it cool then carried on, now found out you check the cap not the tank! needed over 2L of water!! since this it has been its harder to start first thing in the morning, needing two goes with the glow plugs and waiting for the click then a good wind over before it fires up, after this it starts fine all day.
Checked it this morning and there is a wet patch on the road just off the center to wards the front on the driver side. checked water and it took another 2L??
The oil is fine and the water has no sign of oil in it? it runs fine when its going, no loss of power or smoke at all, does smoke a bit on first start abit that all?

Any thoughts??

[MattF]

Have you had a look to see where the coolant is leaking from?

[surfer dude]

looked all over and can't see a leak anywhere? my only thought is possibly the water pump? the leak on the floor has been happening for a while and i thought it could be rain water but now I'm not sure. will have to put a bucket out and see what it collects as i have sat and watched and never seen a drip but the patch is sometimes there in the morning?

[BUSHWHACKER]

You could have a pin-hole leak on the radiator, this normally happens along the top seam of the rad. When hot or under pressure, the coolant could be escaping as steam (you won't notice it when driving as it will be blown away.) and when cooling down, sucking air back in.

[skyhooked]

i dunno if the smoke and reluctance on start up would indicate a cracked head, mine does it still even with the new head on. i always thought that was just unburnt diesel being coughed out of the exhaust

when mine went i was putting a couple of litres of water in each time, and the temp gauge was sitting quite stable - although it had been into the red once or twice by this point. other than that there was no indication until i got the sniffer test done, which revealed gasses in the combustion chamber

when i got it done it was only 5hrs in the garage and back on the road again, not a hardship. i got a new water pump put on at same time

have you changed the rad cap and thermostat recently?

[surfer dude]

thanks all,
no sign of steam or warer leaks anywhere? Done the rad cap and thermotat last year when i got it. think its off to the garage to get the head tested then.

[surfer dude]

Well looks like its deffo the head. sent it off to stevo today and left it in his capable hands. Very helpful chap. Can't wait to pick it back up.

[Antshiel]

Well looks like its deffo the head. sent it off to stevo today and left it in his capable hands. Very helpful chap. Can't wait to pick it back up.

Sorry to hear it dude, But Stevo is the right man for the job. It'll come back driving like new.