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1.9 dg Watercooled leaking
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 09:54
by sevy
any ideas seems to tracking down uner heat shields im worried its the head gaskets , I can get a spanner on the heat shield nuts on the exhaust mounts any tips at all thought or grinding my ring spanner down so i can get it on the nuts as open ended will round off the buggers. Its not a lot just seeping and leaving a little pool uner van , will stop a leak cure as temp til i drop the engine ?
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 11:07
by Hacksawbob
mine looked like HGs turned out to be coming from carb inlet manifoldget in there with a mirror and watch under the carb inlet there is a core plug under there
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 11:54
by sevy
misses make up bag raided and off to the drive be back in a mo ta bob
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 12:05
by jed the spread
this happened to me and it turned out to be a rusted core plug. i was strongly advised not to put rad weld in. actually thinking about it Ive had two other occasions when it was dripping from their first was a split hose from on top of my water pump and the second was a clip needed a little pinch up.
your a*** starts to twitch though doesn't it when you see it drip from their
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 12:44
by sevy
its the right hand head lower part of the head gasket , trouble is how long will it last and whats a head strip and rebuild gonna cost , me thinks it may be a new engine off ebay instead and rebuild this slow time ? its only weeping but how long will it last that the bloody question , any good negine rebuilders in notts ?
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 12:56
by T3teedub
Trouble is you wont know how badly the head studs are corroded until you try undoing them.
Avoid Radweld but you could try Wynns Rad Seal. I have had it in my cooling system for over two years now and no more leaks.
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 12:58
by jed the spread
you cant say how long it will last unfortunately. i think it was elite did a recon rebuild fitted for around the £800 mark but you could be lucky and get the jacket replaced at brickwerks. danwood had his done
jed
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 15:48
by sevy
it's the seal leaking is it not the case of strip rebuild , i've heard studs shear when you try undoing them ? whats the problems i'm I going to incur when i strip it !! its running fine at the moment obviously the weep is evaoparting when running . i get a small puddle over a week , and i mean tea plate size . I have the ability to strip and engine buts its space and cover to get the bloody thing out and the hassle of getting it out , think it may be time for a turbo diesel conversion , i think i may be enlisting the services of phillippacman
Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 18:49
by Dan Wood
Just keep an eye on the levels for now.
Ours went on for about 7 months or so, and the previous owners had also been topping it up all the time they had it, so we reckon it had been in this state for well over a year! It was the frosty winter nights it didn't like, but in the summer it wasn't much more than a drip.
The final failure was reasonably graceful too... a gradual increase in flow, as a warning over a week or so, and then one morning I found the expansion tank had dropped quite a bit. When I unscrewed the cap, air hissed in and water pissed out the bottom!
Still, I was able to top it up and drive it over to Baxter's without losing very much at all.
I couldn't ever decide if once the engine was running it was all evaporating, or whether it stopped leaking - but it was always driveable.
As for getting it changed, the bulk of the cost was Si's labour. The gasket was only 60 quid or so IIRC. Si did it with the engine in situ, but there were problems with exhaust studs and a piston ring that bumped the cost up a bit.
It's a tough decision as to whether to get a new engine or try and repair the old one. The logic I used was that apart from the leak, the engine seemed in good order, and a repair was going to be a lot cheaper (assuming the studs didn't break!!).
But for now, just keep giving the old girl a drink.

Posted: 29 Apr 2007, 19:11
by bigbluebus
misses make up bag raided
did the mascara help you find the leak?
Posted: 30 Apr 2007, 12:20
by sevy
Its gone to Gav near newark he advertises on VZI cool blokr and he rokins should be ok just depends on stude eek , couldnt risk it with vanwest and bashtie coming up , so here goes deep breath and wait a week !!!!