Head problem? (moved post)

[broseph]

Hi,
just bought myself a nice hilux surf L plate, 3.0td manual . . love it to bits.

BUT!!! . . Bubbles come up the rad when revved - not foam or oil . . just some medium sized bubbles, oil weeping all along head gasket(not dripping), discoloured aluminium above one of the cylinders ( previous overheating??) and yesterday morning a puff of white smoke from exhaust followed by 5 or 6 seconds of lumpy turn over. Temperature was below zero - (Aberdeenshire)

This morning it wouldn't start! just made one "click" noise every time i turned the ignition? hydrolock? . . any way i let it roll out my driveway whilst lifting the clutch in gear. . . tried ignition again and it started on the button?! it then blew out a small amount of white smoke as i drove to work, untill engine was hot. . .

Is this cylinder head crackage/warpage/seepage? ha ha . . better laugh than cry!

[Hazzo]

You need it sniffer testing to confirm/not the cylinder head, I'd first be looking for air in the coolant system by burping it, there's a guide on here.

The "click" starting issue is another problem these have and the immediate fix is the starter motor refurbish kit from roughtrax, its a pig to do but stops this issue. H

[Justbrad]

Water bubbles and white smoke.......................ha te to say it but it doesn't sound good to me.

[broseph]

Update . .

I took the hilux to a garage today . . the mechanic just took the cap off the radiator whilst hot and then said it was fine, he said if the head had gone then there would be far more pressure in the system. . . dont know if he knows the surfs very well though.

To be honest i couldn't really tell if it were steam or just your usual exhaust fumes. . i may just be paranoid? It was dark and the car behind me was illuminating the fumes with its head lights! Still seems to be losing coolant from the expansion tank though, although i did flush the coolant an replace stat just last saturday. It runs at a good temp according to the guage?

[TonyN]

.......Still seems to be losing coolant from the expansion tank though......

try a new rad cap, if it still does it then it is over pressurising the system which is a clue that something is wrong, you need to get a exhaust gases in coolant test done.

[broseph]

try a new rad cap.

I don't understand? would the coolant leak out as vapour? there is no residue visable?

[TonyN]

nope, if the seal goes hard or spring is weak, then it will let coolant out to the expansion tank at normal running pressures, instead of only opening when the truck gets really hot and the coolant expands to much for the system capacity which is what it should do.

[broseph]

Ahh, i should have worded better. . What i mean is the radiator seems to be steeling more and more coolant from the expasion bottle every time the engine cools, i keep having to top up the expansion bottle. Coolant is not being pushed out of the expansion bottle. . .

[TonyN]

ok, if its using water and has no leaks then you have to suspect the head or gasket, kinda goes back to the original advice. Get it checked out properly and find out for sure.

[broseph]

Will do. Thanks for the advice . . and enlightenment regarding the operation of a rad cap!

[broseph]

little update. So... The problems are;
1. Coolant level dropping 1cm after every days driving(about 20 miles, 15mins of standstill traffic).
2. White/grey smoke until PROPERLY warm, worse at idle/moving off.
3. Lumpy starts, not difficult just misses a couple of times at most. runs smooth after ~5 seconds.
4. After starting, once i move off there is a brief but audible sound of rushing/moving water.
5. As mentioned before there seems to be an oil leak from the cylinder head gasket.
6. localized Discoloration on cylinder head.

I don't see the point in a sniffer test as there are no bubbles from the radiator and the pipes are not over pressurizing. The engine runs sweet! no cross contamination of fluids. Plenty of power, at least i think it has? Recently replaced coolant and oil, thermostat, diesel and oil filter.
The 2 mechanics i've been to see can't really be bothered helping me, i got a strong hint that from one that he didn't want anything to do with disassembly of the head.

this problem is driving me round the bend! Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks for the advice so far!

[KERRSURF]

This last post contradicts your first where it states there are 'medium sized' bubbles in the rad when running. So are there or are there not any bubbles?

If I had £10 to bet then I'd bet yer heads cracked.

[broseph]

You are correct, Bubbles have vanished, must have been an airlock.
I'm pretty sure it must be cracked, bl$*dy mechanics telling me otherwise!

Ach well, nae christmas presents fer naebd'y this year!

[Hazzo]

You still need to have it tested, presently your only assuming its the head because its losing coolant. Having done the head on mine in the summer I keep checking the rad at least twice a week, the other week I noticed the level was down again, my acknowledgment of another busted head went f*&^ f%^& f*&^, till I inspected the bl00dy plumbing system and found a drip coming from the rear heaters pipes, I isolated the pipework by replacing the two branchpipes with straight throughs, losing the rear heaters and its no longer using coolantthank f**k, I suggest you do a full inspection of all the plumbing, then have it tested if you find nothing before writing the head off. H

[KERRSURF]

Good shout Hazzo, I did the same as you and binned the rear heater, the pipes under truck were badly corroded and loosing coolant.