BUGGER-coolant leak TD5 HELP!

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joe27979

joe27979

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,354
Location
west Norfolk
Hi guys,
Found coolant leak source when doing oil change today.
I took off turbo shield to change filters and saw a sea of crusty OAT coolant :(

can't work out where it's source is?
There looks to be a plug in side of block-or coming out of gasket/exhaust studs?

only had car a month :(

please look at pics and help me diagnose chaps:

93f5dc02.jpg

0040242b.jpg

08391eac.jpg

9a291fee.jpg

7f7eee7d.jpg

003db3f3.jpg
 
p.s in last pic you can see water on edge of head gasket, if cooler was leaking wouldn't anything above it be dry? I.e the leak has to be above head gasket level?

sorry-not doubting just thinking aloud :(
 
I had exactly the same problem on my 2001 Td5 - and it was coming from that plug in the head.
It took a while to pin it down but having checked all angles I concluded it was from that plug .
Only sorted it out last week - and it wasn't easy .
Having removed exhaust manifold I then set about removing the plug - 12mm Allen key .
The plug was very stiff to unscrew and when I finally got it out I could see I had a 'problem'.
The plug is quite long - and apparently some of the threads extend into the coolant . These threads were rusty and when unscrewed brought some of the threads in the head with them :mad:.
I had to remove the first few threads from the plug to get it to go back in ; took quite a while but eventually got it to screw back in ; it was obvious there was some kind of sealer on the plug originally but it had failed .
I screwed the plug back in and when the flat head of the plug was about 3 mm from the head I packed JB Weld around it , screwed it in the rest of the way and left it overnight .
All fine since .
To be honest if I was doing it again I would leave the plug in place , clean it and head and use JB Weld or similar .
I was very lucky I felt to get the plug back in as the threads in the head were quite badly damaged
 
dooroy said:
I had exactly the same problem on my 2001 Td5 - and it was coming from that plug in the head.
It took a while to pin it down but having checked all angles I concluded it was from that plug .
Only sorted it out last week - and it wasn't easy .
Having removed exhaust manifold I then set about removing the plug - 12mm Allen key .
The plug was very stiff to unscrew and when I finally got it out I could see I had a 'problem'.
The plug is quite long - and apparently some of the threads extend into the coolant . These threads were rusty and when unscrewed brought some of the threads in the head with them :mad:.
I had to remove the first few threads from the plug to get it to go back in ; took quite a while but eventually got it to screw back in ; it was obvious there was some kind of sealer on the plug originally but it had failed .
I screwed the plug back in and when the flat head of the plug was about 3 mm from the head I packed JB Weld around it , screwed it in the rest of the way and left it overnight .
All fine since .
To be honest if I was doing it again I would leave the plug in place , clean it and head and use JB Weld or similar .
I was very lucky I felt to get the plug back in as the threads in the head were quite badly damaged
Click to expand...

Appreciate the post....maybe I should give it to my local garage if its gonna be a pain in the knee :(
 
joe27979 said:
p.s in last pic you can see water on edge of head gasket, if cooler was leaking wouldn't anything above it be dry? I.e the leak has to be above head gasket level?

sorry-not doubting just thinking aloud :(
Click to expand...


You're right that you see pink around the plug in the head and on the head gasket, but you can also see pink around all the fixings and outlets around the cooler for example the runner bung.

Upon closer inspection you may find the head plug needs looking at as well as the oil cooler. However, if you put this into a garage to do, be prepared for a wallet bashing extraordinaire:eek::eek:.

Dave
 
Forgot to say I had fitted a new gasket to the oil cooler on mine before the plug problem .
However when the oil cooler was leaking the 'distribution' of coolant over the engine was different . It was all below the oil cooler level .
The pictures show exactly what my engine looked like when the plug was leaking .
As biglad says if you leave it to a garage you could be facing a BIG bill:eek:. With the exhaust manifold out of the way you have great access . You could try backing out the plug a thread or two , then packing silicone /JB Weld etc under the head and screwing it back in and leaving to set .
My mistake was removing the plug altogether - it is possible that in doing this you could strip all the threads out of the head . And this could turn very expensive if being done by a garage .
I used JB Weld as my brother had used it to seal a 10inch crack on the block of his tractor (caused by severe frost 2 yrs ago ) and its been bone dry ever since :).
 
Had the exact same issue, 2004 TD5 Discovery 120k miles. Sorted for £10 without lifting a tool - K-Seal. Poured into the expansion tank, went for a 10 min drive and not a drip, it was literally running out before. You can see all the mess where it was running down.
 

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Hello Martin, I hope for your sake that the K-seal doesn't block any of the small coolant galleries in the head and thermostat assy. Otherwise your £10 fix could turn out to be a very expensive one. :(:eek::oops:
 
+1 for what the Big Lad said.... IMO if you use that friggin' additive just be silent and don't recommend it to others cos beside that leak ellimination it hurts the whole cooling system bad... you can end up without coolant leaks with a dead engine, as long as you dont have an additional coolant temp sensor which shows you the coolant temp you won't understand... i was stupid enough once to use that kind of stuff, at least i can be proud now with a bran' new AMC head and 1200 quid lighter
 
sierrafery said:
+1 for what the Big Lad said.... IMO if you use that friggin' additive just be silent and don't recommend it to others cos beside that leak ellimination it hurts the whole cooling system bad... you can end up without coolant leaks with a dead engine, as long as you dont have an additional coolant temp sensor which shows you the coolant temp you won't understand... i was stupid enough once to use that kind of stuff, at least i can be proud now with a bran' new AMC head
Click to expand...
i used it to seal a rad leak worked a treat and still is ,true its better to replace the part etc and will be short term if trying to seal a head gasket as head will keep moving but it doesnt destroy engines
 
K-seal is good stuff we use it in the trucks at work, its not the dog turds of old that blocked everything.

Ive personally used it to keep my cracked series 2 rad going for another 2 year before I finally got it recored.
Also a vw passat with leaky rad owner no money lasted 8 yrs before car was scrapped, same on a vw polo and also on a mitsi 200, another workmate used it on his vw he was sceptical but it worked and again lasted for a few years, I cant remember what model it was but rad was very expensive.
Have read people using it for leaky head gaskets etc and I can believe it.
 
lynall said:
K-seal is good stuff we use it in the trucks at work, its not the dog turds of old that blocked everything.

Ive personally used it to keep my cracked series 2 rad going for another 2 year before I finally got it recored.
Also a vw passat with leaky rad owner no money lasted 8 yrs before car was scrapped, same on a vw polo and also on a mitsi 200, another workmate used it on his vw he was sceptical but it worked and again lasted for a few years, I cant remember what model it was but rad was very expensive.
Have read people using it for leaky head gaskets etc and I can believe it.
Click to expand...
I had a coolant to air leak on the head gasket of my old D1 V8 and a leaky rad. I used radweld plus which sorted both and no adverse effects.
 
I'm not saying it will certaily have adverse effects but there is a risk to use such addirives and if in some cases it worked doesnt mean it can't hurt on others... it fixed my leaking rad as well but reduced the head's cooling untill it cracked, it was a liqui moly product which is reliable brand.
 
I've found that when using additives such as Rad-weld, K-Seal or Barsleaks (other cooling system additives are available) the "secret" is to use as little as possible for the desired effect. Having too much of the stuff floating about in the cooling system I'm sure will cause such problems as the smaller waterways getting blocked.
 
we use ground pepper in all of out trucks and machines

I have even used it once on my TD5 the oring seal s leaking on the water pump,,to be honest to lazy to fix ....its been 2 years since it leaked job done

ps pepper does not react to or create any issues to the cooling system ..I even keep a small tub in the glove box just in case I need it for a truck at work or for my own car

pepper will not react to any metals or clog up any gallery's ie its human consumption safe

pepper is a big life saver at work it can either fix the problem full time or just enough time to pull one out the s##t
 
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