Radiator problems 3.0 95 Diesel

[madmanc]

[QUOTE=TonyN]Bad rust in the coolant system is a sign of exhaust gases in coolant, as well as just old weak coolant. I assume your coolant is new, seeing as rad was changed, so the head/gasket would be high up on the list of suspects

Hi Tony well as i have been driving for ages on mine (untested) it seems that it is finally showing me what i did not want to know.

I have had a water leak for some time now and although i was initially refilling with coolant i am now filling with Water.. just recently its started to rust the water up and generally still drinks water. so I refill the over flow tank and keep on top of it that way. Driving it daily and every so often put a few hundread miles on it and as long as i keep it topped up it seems ok.

Reason for posting !!!
Is there a rough guide as to how long this will last?
I know the quotes will be how long is a Piece of String but idealy is it worth just keep driving till it finally gives up.

[yorta2]

Fix the ###### coolant leak! If you are using only water, it is only a matter of time before you suffer much greater problems. Also, you are tempting an imminent head failure every time you drive it.

[madmanc]

LOL if i could find it i would !!!

I have all ready replaced the Water pump, checked all the hoses in the bay and nothing !!!

[NiftyNev]

LOL if i could find it i would !!!

I have all ready replaced the Water pump, checked all the hoses in the bay and nothing !!!

Sometimes leaks will never be found by just looking. You need to pressure test cooling system. I recently tested a Surf cooling system and found five leaks in hoses and joints. Went back and retested when guy said they were all fixed and nothing was leaking and found two more. Pressure test the system. If it loses pressure you have a leak, as simple as that. Finding the leak can still sometimes be a problem though.

Nev

[madmanc]

Thanks for the comments guys and yes i am being lazy about not getting it checked, but the initial question was about the rust thats now appearing in the radiator, is this indicative to the head?

Yes i will get round to having it Pressure tested, I know i fail

[madmanc]

well did a refresh and flush of coolant and now I have steam and white smoke out of the tail pipe. took it round to a few local garages and they all seem to be saying the same. It seems to be a head issue, don't know if the head or the gasket has gone. so now its a case of waiting for cash to build up and try to get it sorted. One very minor positive, I found someone local that has a lot of experiance with surf's and the fact that there was on parked outside and 3 in the workshop shows me that he can be trusted to at least be able to look at my baby.