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is it the head gasket
- Thread starter inishfun
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2003
- Messages
- 4,064
- Location
- Laag Zuthem
- First name
- Renze
- Machinery:
- 1976 5718
1978 5718 35kmh: Work in progress
1967 3011
Not 100% sure, but its sure that you need to take the head off...
If the head is off you can see the gasket is broken, or that a frost bung is rusted through. Both require the head to be taken off.
If the head is off you can see the gasket is broken, or that a frost bung is rusted through. Both require the head to be taken off.
From your description "small steady stream" it is more likely a frost plug, however in that case the water would be coming out between the heads, rather than between the head and the block.
If it is just a frost plug a good quality "stop leak" should make a temporary repair.......... maybe up to 2 years but if it is the head gasket stop leak most likely will not work.
if it is not overheating under full load (assuming there is plenty of water) it is not likely to be the head gasket...... or at least not leaking back into the combustion chamber.
Other tell-tail signs of a head gasket leak are:
Steam out the exhaust (more than usual cold start steam)
Bubbles or foaming in the top tank of the radiator (note this can also be caused by a leaky water pump seal sucking in air)
If 1 frost plug is rusted through the rest will be almost as bad (this is caused by lack of corrosion inhibitor/antifreeze in the water)
in theory if you have 3 individual heads, you will only need to take off every second head (in your case the rear head and the front head....... or just the middle head if you have room between the fuel tank and the back of the rear head) to access all the frost plugs, but i have not tried it on mine yet, i only spied the leak from between head 3 and 4 yesterday, just the odd drip on mine, so will try stop leak first............. Note, never use the whole bottle of stop leak as per the instructions......... only use half, or you could block the (already dirty) radiator
If it is just a frost plug a good quality "stop leak" should make a temporary repair.......... maybe up to 2 years but if it is the head gasket stop leak most likely will not work.
if it is not overheating under full load (assuming there is plenty of water) it is not likely to be the head gasket...... or at least not leaking back into the combustion chamber.
Other tell-tail signs of a head gasket leak are:
Steam out the exhaust (more than usual cold start steam)
Bubbles or foaming in the top tank of the radiator (note this can also be caused by a leaky water pump seal sucking in air)
If 1 frost plug is rusted through the rest will be almost as bad (this is caused by lack of corrosion inhibitor/antifreeze in the water)
in theory if you have 3 individual heads, you will only need to take off every second head (in your case the rear head and the front head....... or just the middle head if you have room between the fuel tank and the back of the rear head) to access all the frost plugs, but i have not tried it on mine yet, i only spied the leak from between head 3 and 4 yesterday, just the odd drip on mine, so will try stop leak first............. Note, never use the whole bottle of stop leak as per the instructions......... only use half, or you could block the (already dirty) radiator
Glad it worked! ......
But do keep an eye on it,
And do keep anti-corrosive in the water...... to prevent further rusting of the frost plugs.
DO NOT use Radiator flush...... until you are ready to fit new frost plugs .......... or the rusty plugs will dissolve in the acid flush, and no amount of stop leak will block a 20mm hole
After a week or so with the stop leak in the system it is safe to flush with "clean water" to remove dissolved rust (acidic rusty water) and then refill with proper coolant (Antifreeze/anti-corrosive)
The best result i got out of Stop leak was about 8 years! but i would plan to do the frost plugs within 2 years if possible.
NB. Dont let it run low on water with stop leak in the system, as it will block the radiator .......... stop leak works by swelling when exposed to air, and plugging the hole.
Cheers
Steve
But do keep an eye on it,
And do keep anti-corrosive in the water...... to prevent further rusting of the frost plugs.
DO NOT use Radiator flush...... until you are ready to fit new frost plugs .......... or the rusty plugs will dissolve in the acid flush, and no amount of stop leak will block a 20mm hole
After a week or so with the stop leak in the system it is safe to flush with "clean water" to remove dissolved rust (acidic rusty water) and then refill with proper coolant (Antifreeze/anti-corrosive)
The best result i got out of Stop leak was about 8 years! but i would plan to do the frost plugs within 2 years if possible.
NB. Dont let it run low on water with stop leak in the system, as it will block the radiator .......... stop leak works by swelling when exposed to air, and plugging the hole.
Cheers
Steve
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