terzo314

hello people

been having a strange problem with my my98,

recently done the headgasket on it, did everything properly, skimmed heads,crack tested etc.. had it back on the road 3 weeks, drove it steady for a while, letting everything settle and did a couple of oil changes to make sure all the crap was out the engine, as i started to give it a bit i noticed the temp started to rise a bit, slow down and it went down, the car never overheated cuz i stopped it before it had chance. i dropped the water out of it and refilled it with antifreeze as the winter is here. bled it up the best i could, drove it steady again and she was fine, run it to work for a week steady and started to give it some again, to my horror the temp went up again, so pulled over and popped the bonnet, i noticed that its been throwing some water out out the coolant hose near the turbo and dripping onto my nice new headers!! i put a new clip on the hose cuz it looked a bit frail and it did it again. i took it to my local mechanic and did two headgasket tests cuz i was convinced it had gone again the coolant tests said it wasn't the head gasket!! i brought another new thermostat and a new radcap and it seams to be alot better! its only when you really tank it that the temp starts to go up!!

theirs an underlying problem thats causing the headgasket to fail, its happened 3 times on two differnt engines, iv'e spoke to so many mechanics and looked on old forum posts, people say airlock, headgasket and some people even say turbo putting presure into the system that way.. that sounds crazy to me though,

this is my last resort on here, hopefully someone will have an idea, if not she's going to dave at api!

any comments will be apriciated

thanks

den

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Replace the leaking turbo hose would help narrow things down?

terzo314

yeah good point, totally didnt think about the hose could be split itself! will have it off tomorrow, thanks m8

stann01

Who done the headgasket change?
did you or whoever done it use new headbolts or the old ones?
were they torqued right?
sounds to me that the heads are lifting on boost imo..........

terzo314

a local friend and mechanic. not a scooby specialist but been a mechanic for 20 years and worked on alot of scoobs...

yeah i brought genuine headbolts and headgasket set mate, and it was done rite cuz im so bloody paranoid of the car now lol, the car is running 1.1 bar on standad td04.. couls this be a problem???

stann01

the only thing i think it could be since the change bud sorry, could be a slight airlock
still in system....

stann01

also it has been known that you need to retorque the headbolts after a while of running too.

terzo314

such a strange one! i know that driving it hard is gonna make it pop again.. just know it... but the only time it shows signs of playing up is wen its driven hard! are the head gasket tests reliable? or could it be gone again? if its lifting the head what would solve it? i have a spare set of heads. would getting them skimmed and using arp headbolts be a way forward??

Matt Sills

iTrader: (1)

Have you checked the condition of the engine block surface ? If no combustion gases are getting into the coolant system you must either have a blockage of some sort (airlock, debris, wrong routing of coolant pipes) or the water pump may be faulty and not circulating the coolant.

Matt Sills

iTrader: (1)

Fix the leaking coolant pipe first tho lol

terzo314

yeah the block was fine m8, the water circulates ok untill it throws it out, then somtimes the fans go cold for a bit, its then like an airlock has occured, sometimes a pig to bleed up!! yeah i will change that pipe 1st off! didnt think about the pipe being split itself. just aussumed the clip was week!! be worth sticking a hose in and flushing water through aswell i suppose!!

thanks people

stann01

i done my headgaskets and changed the waterpump at the same time because is was on its way out, maybe yours is too?

seems strange but alot of possible reasons as its only doing it under full load/boost.

you either have a headache trying to find the reason yourself or as you said ship her off to david.....

terzo314

yeah im gonna try these last few possible reasons, then if she still does it, she's off... thats if the headgasket don't go again 1st!

i really can see why people go all out and do a full forged engine build, buying "recon" engines is just a waste of time after a while! even when this problem is sorted theirs the worry the bottom end will go again, it went on my last engine after the headgasket went!

maydew

iTrader: (9)

have you been refilling the system through the turbo pipe?

have you replaced the rad too

terzo314

yeah i replaced the rad ant the top and bottem hoses when my 1st engine went mate! no i been filling it up through the headertank mate....

rogos

thats the same rule i apply to any engine build that uses stretch bolts after all the name says it all, stretch bolts.

53

iTrader: (41)

Cracked pipes, failed/failing thermostat, airlock, blockage

maydew

iTrader: (9)

drain completely out.

remove rad cap if fitted.
remove header tank cap.
remove pipe(header tank end) that goes down to the turbo.
put funnel in rubber pipe and fill slowly through the turbo.
as water comes up refit rad cap if fitted


by doing it this was it fills backwards and no way of getting an air lock.

leave heater on hot and run till fans kick up with all caps back on

terzo314

thanks mate, will give that a shot tomorrow! spoke to dave at api and he said the coolant systems can be a nitemare to bleed up! so perhaps theirs a really bad air lock,.. just out of interest how much antifreeze do you run in it? is 2 litres fine??

maydew

iTrader: (9)

holds around 7l - 71/2l if remember right

mix up roughly half and half ie 60% water-40% anti freeze and you wont go wrong.

refill in exact way above and see how you get on let us know

gojonnyjo

iTrader: (1)

I always fill up through the top rad hose, then through the tank, run her up, top up tank, get very little chance of air locks then