are all the heads going?

[T1z3R]

i see a few posts surfacing regarding heads and i suspect i might be joining everyone

coming home from work last night and had done about 15 of the 17 mile trip home im in the outside lane with rain lashing down when i hit a patch of standing water. i heard a pop and a little steam/smoke from the grill. i though the pop was a stone or something hitting the wheel arch and the steam was just from the cost hitting the engine/manifold so carried on.
next thing i notice the blowers are cold and my temp guage is heading to the red although it never got there....it started back to normal.

obviously im concerned at this point but traffic is bad and theres no where to pull over so i stick to the left hand lane at about 50. then the check engine light comes on just as im about to leave the dual carriageway but as i break for the upcoming roundabout the truck dies. i managed to pull off the road onto the pavement (and then get a tap on my window and am greeted by the cops although ill save their shenigans for another post). i turned the truck off and waited for a moment then turned it back on and tried to start it but it only for a moment as it seemed to be turning slowly. i got out and by this time i can smell something. not sure what but it wasnt nice. i got out and opened the bonnet to be greeted by lots of steam/smoke which appeared to be coming from the top of the engine although i cant be sure as it was wet, windy and dark.

phoned the AA who turned up within the hour. he had me try and start it which it did then he just threw it on the back of the flatbed and took me home...seems they had a busy night with the flooding round my area so where just getting people home rather than trying to identify problems.

so its at home and im at work. ill be under the bonnet tomorrow but wanted to ask what i should be looking for. the recovery guy said to fill the cooling system and run it to check for the leak but im concerned that if the head has gone runnning it may make matters worse.

what to do?

[christopoher murphy]

Im in the same boat but my flywheel has given up on me also i would do as the AA man said you wont know until you have tried. Im considering scrappng mine for a newer one the cost of getting this one back on the road is about as much as it is worth. But the truck has been good to me never let me down so i am in two minds about her fate.

Chris

[BUSHWHACKER]

Im in the same boat but my flywheel has given up on me also i would do as the AA man said you wont know until you have tried. Im considering scrappng mine for a newer one the cost of getting this one back on the road is about as much as it is worth. But the truck has been good to me never let me down so i am in two minds about her fate.

Chris

????????

[christopoher murphy]

sorry just realised that myself it should of read Im in the same boat myself its not only my head thats gone but my flywheel has also given up the ghost

Sorry folks normal service shall be resumed shortly

Chris

[coolsv650]

i see a few posts surfacing regarding heads and i suspect i might be joining everyone

coming home from work last night and had done about 15 of the 17 mile trip home im in the outside lane with rain lashing down when i hit a patch of standing water. i heard a pop and a little steam/smoke from the grill. i though the pop was a stone or something hitting the wheel arch and the steam was just from the cost hitting the engine/manifold so carried on.
next thing i notice the blowers are cold and my temp guage is heading to the red although it never got there....it started back to normal.

obviously im concerned at this point but traffic is bad and theres no where to pull over so i stick to the left hand lane at about 50. then the check engine light comes on just as im about to leave the dual carriageway but as i break for the upcoming roundabout the truck dies. i managed to pull off the road onto the pavement (and then get a tap on my window and am greeted by the cops although ill save their shenigans for another post). i turned the truck off and waited for a moment then turned it back on and tried to start it but it only for a moment as it seemed to be turning slowly. i got out and by this time i can smell something. not sure what but it wasnt nice. i got out and opened the bonnet to be greeted by lots of steam/smoke which appeared to be coming from the top of the engine although i cant be sure as it was wet, windy and dark.

phoned the AA who turned up within the hour. he had me try and start it which it did then he just threw it on the back of the flatbed and took me home...seems they had a busy night with the flooding round my area so where just getting people home rather than trying to identify problems.

so its at home and im at work. ill be under the bonnet tomorrow but wanted to ask what i should be looking for. the recovery guy said to fill the cooling system and run it to check for the leak but im concerned that if the head has gone runnning it may make matters worse.

what to do?

I would suggest before filling up with water check for any blown hoses or hole in radiator etc. You could start it up without putting water in but dont run it for long (certainly no longer than 30 secs) with the cap off the rad, if the head has cracked it will almost certanly blow smoke out of the cad cap.

I bought a 2.4 with a cracked head, the motor would not start but after copious amouts of bang water (easy start) would run but was blowing smoke out from the side of the engine, where the head gasket had gone. The truck had been driven in a similar was as yours had.

If the heater had gone cold it will be an almost sure fire sign that the truck has lost water.

[BUSHWHACKER]

I'm still confused, how does a flywheel give up??

[christopoher murphy]

the dual mass flywheel has broken up therefore i have no drive

[BUSHWHACKER]

the dual mass flywheel

Thanks, thats all I needed to know as you didn't say it was a manual.

[T1z3R]

I would suggest before filling up with water check for any blown hoses or hole in radiator etc. You could start it up without putting water in but dont run it for long (certainly no longer than 30 secs) with the cap off the rad, if the head has cracked it will almost certanly blow smoke out of the cad cap.

I bought a 2.4 with a cracked head, the motor would not start but after copious amouts of bang water (easy start) would run but was blowing smoke out from the side of the engine, where the head gasket had gone. The truck had been driven in a similar was as yours had.

If the heater had gone cold it will be an almost sure fire sign that the truck has lost water.

thanks mate.
ill certainly check for obvious signs of escapage before i try anything else.

[T1z3R]

so my radiator popped



looks like its been repaired before. i can see traces of oil in the water coming out of the split although its not white and emulsified.

and this pipe popped off...



and threw lots of oil out into the engine bay.

anyone got a rad for sale?

[Albannach]

anyone got a rad for sale?

Yep, me.

Was brand new when I fitted it about a year ago, it's a Roughtrax one, still perfect (well almost, it has one dented, but not holed, core).

£90. Got some other bits you might want too. I'll put a FS ad. up later today.

[cfrizzy]

if it has pressurised the engine on the crankcase side it might be just the head gasket if the head has gone it shouldnt pressurise the crankcase up like
that
just the water side.get the head off get it pressure tested and you might just get away with head set and rad.

[T1z3R]

thanks cfrizzy.

fitted a new rad today and filled the system. followed the steps in the manual to bleed it by setting the heaters to hot and running at 2krpm for 10 minutes.

it took a while before it started. then clouds of constant white smoke. the front heater never got hot but the rear did. i turned it off after 10 mins and i could hear the water bubbling in the expansion tank. i let it cool and checked the water in the expansion tank and it hadnt seemed to have gone down. the level at the rad cap had so i topped it back up and ran it to bleed again. this time there didnt appear to be as much white smoke on startup and it cleared soon after but the front heater still didnt get hot. turned it off again after 10 mins and the expansion tank level still hadnt changed. i topped up at the rad cap again and went for a drive.

the white smoke was back with a vengeance. after about 2 miles the front heater started to get warm. after about another 2 miles the temp started to rise on the guage. i pulled over and parked up just as it was about to hit red. i could still hear bubbling in the expansion tank but i just left it to cool down. once it was cold again i started it but this time it was hard to start again. once it started it appeared to be mis-firing at low revsbut fine at higher revs.

i just took it easy coming home but the temp guage was almost at red again when i got back to the house.

my dads had a nosey round it and reckons i could be looking at just the head gasket but i have to say it looks like a bigger job than im prepared for.

im not a mechanical dunce but ive really only worked on bikes and small petrol cars so the thought of pulling the truck engine apart makes me kinda nervous.

any suggestions on what my next steps should be?

[darkdezigns]

well it does kinda sound like head,but your heaters barely getting hot suggests thermostat but tbh i think it may be to late,ie stat seized then head gone,but might be worth a try,but id still say head,as for it just being gasket,very unlikely,my 3.0 would run fine just slowly push the coolant out,ie i could drive 200 miles before topping up..........every valve was cracked as well as between cylinders,dont be put of cause its a truck at the end of the day its just a 4 pot engine,just a bit bigger

[cfrizzy]

you are going to have to get the head off no doubt about that.
what i have found with 2.4 is that if it hasnt had the modified head it will start cleanly, if it has they tend to run a little bit lumpy for about 5-10 seconds after initial cold start up but that does tell you of the possibility of it having the modded head.