Still worried

[gregmilne234]

After doing my head gasket all seems well with no pressurising or expansion tank bubbles but after a 45mile trip to work i checked the levels when it was cold and level in the cap side was bang on but expansion tank had dropped a bit. I refilled it and drove home, checked it the next morning and it was back down at same level again. Where is it going lol? My temp guage stays between 80-90 deg, heater is warm but not the hottest, also takes a few cranks to get going when cold with a puff of white smoke which dissappears as soon as it starts, hoping its just the glow plugs tho and air in the matrix or something?

[NiftyNev]

How much has expansion tank level dropped? If no more than a couple of hundred mill then don't worry. It sometimes takes a few trips for level to stabilise. If it keeps going down after that get a cooling system pressure test to look for leaks.

Nev

[animal]

when you say expansion tank i take it you mean the small plastic tank on the slam panel with a pipe coming from the filler cap area on the engine.
i know this may be silly me saying it or you may know already , but you do know that its not meant to be full , basically as your water heats up and expands past a certain point the filler cap allows a certain amount of water out an into that expansion tank, then as it cools a bit it will suck some water back into the system .
therefore if you are filling the expansion tank up to the top and running the truck , there is no room in the expansion tank for the excess water to go so it will overflow a bit out of the expansion tank. then as it cools and sucks some back into the system , the level will be lower than when you filled it up , therefore giving the impression you are loosing water,
the expansion tank needs to be about half full so it leaves room for the expanded water to fill into .

[dazandcaz]

The coolant always sits about a quarter of an inch under the full line on my expansion tank when cold. It seems to be where it's happy

[gregmilne234]

Thanks folks, yep i know how it works, i only fill it to about a 3rd full and it was dropping by about an inch or so, will take it to work tomorrow and monitor the level again, hoping its just stabilising like you say nev, cheers!

[Albannach]

Did you fit a new radiator cap?

[Wolfracer]

Erm, my expansion tanks never had water in it, bar the expanded bit in the bottom when it does its expansion thing...

Is there a "level" the book says it should be at?

ETA
Sorry just noticed this is for the 2 point somethings...is it the same for the 3 litre?

[Albannach]

It should be about half full when completely cold (after lying overnight). There is a mark, but it's hard to see.

[Wolfracer]

It should be about half full when completely cold (after lying overnight). There is a mark, but it's hard to see.

Ta. will clean the Avalanche mud off and have a look in the am...

[gregmilne234]

Did you fit a new radiator cap?

Yes fitted new cap and thermostat from roughtrax, thermostat wouldnt open, got another stat from halfords, wouldnt open either so gave up and went back to old thermostat n cap as they seemed to work best, roughtrax cap looked cheap n soft compared to original

[Sancho]

Yes fitted new cap and thermostat from roughtrax, thermostat wouldnt open, got another stat from halfords, wouldnt open either so gave up and went back to old thermostat n cap as they seemed to work best, roughtrax cap looked cheap n soft compared to original

This worries me.

[Pete The Tart]

This worries me.

Worries me too, although I have found that if radiator cap doesn't open the Hilux has a great way of letting you know.......it spits off the rad top hose and dumps coolant all over your mates nice clean concrete drive, just as you pull in to say hello.....makes for a dramatic entrance!