O Bife

O Bife

Active Member
Hi there,

Our 2.5DSE has been in and out of the mechanics 3 times over the past 4 weeks trying to resolve an over heating problem. At first we thought it was the water pump and / or hoses (which we changed), then another hose seemed to be leaking which we went and changed. After all this the thermostat seemed to be the culprit and it went back to the mechanic's to take it out and plonk in the new one. But here is where the fun starts. The mechanic phoned me up to tell me "Your head gasket has gone!" Now something in the back of my head didn't agree with his verdict, but I shut up and waited for the outcome of a test he was going to do to confirm it being the head gasket. Well he did the test and, so he said, it was the head gasket, but today when we spoke he told me it was something else all together.

He is now telling me that there is water leaking out of the place marked with the red cross on the following image:

leaking%20head.png

By all accounts it´s where one of the fatter hoses from the rad join the cylinder head. He is saying that it is full of rust and that it is spewing water from there.

Another thing he has said that it is a "part" that fits into the head, but he does not know the ref number. I have taken a good look on the micro and it really doesn't look there is a separate "part" and that in fact it is part of the cylinder head. After all this chatter he says that it should be able to clean it up, solder the leak and re-smooth out the hose fitting to clear it of the rust he says is in there.

Does anyone have any ideas? Do I need a new cylinder head or can this be fixed?
 
sounds like a sleeved insert into head-any good machine shop should be able to advise
 
fanatic said:
sounds like a sleeved insert into head-any good machine shop should be able to advise
Click to expand...

...and there lies the problem! A good machine shop in my neck of the woods!?!

But I like the sound of it maybe being a sleeved insert.
 
do you have a car radiator repair shop locally- they should be able to do something.

failing that you want a set of vernier callipers to measure the pipe and it may be possible to freeze pipe and insert it
or
if pipe a tap in fit- freeze it and insert with bush and bearing lock as I did on a nissan
 
The insert is not available as a spare as far as i know. Getting one made is the only option.
 
Clean it up and araldite it back in, you will not be the first to do it. If there is rust, it must be running with either no antifreeze or very old antifreeze.
 
When I replaced the cylinder head in mine, the new head came with that small pipe unattached. IIRC the mechanic who did the job used Araldite or a similar heat resistant glue on it, as Datatek suggested above.
 
But, I can't see why a leak from there would result in overheating (unless it's so severe that it runs very low on coolant, very fast)
 
Datatek said:
Clean it up and araldite it back in, you will not be the first to do it. If there is rust, it must be running with either no antifreeze or very old antifreeze.
Click to expand...

Datatek, how do I go about removing the offending insert?

mcapinha said:
But, I can't see why a leak from there would result in overheating (unless it's so severe that it runs very low on coolant, very fast)
Click to expand...

Well there lies what I think was the problem in the first place. The ruddy thermo was on the blink to start with, but as it did not fail completely and as there was proof of 2 hoses leaking it became a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.

I am picking her up on Monday and I am looking forwards to seeing what happens as the mechanic has removed the dead thermo (he has not fitted the new one as it arrived without the rubber sealing ring) and, as until the thermo going, she would run ok, no over heating or anything like that, I'm hoping there might be no more leaking.

Let's put it this way. I did ask the mechanic today if he had taken her out to see if she was still leaking without the thermo in place and he replied that he hadn't because of the leak!?!?!

If you ask me, any mechanic worth his salt always takes the car in question out for a quick run to check if everything is in working order. (or I am wrong?) But then again, as I just said, any mechanic worth his salt!
 
Last edited:
Hi phil,as Keith said araldite it,in the past I've had some good results with central heating boiler jackets,the secret is its got to be mega clean and I always warmed the jacket before I gobbed it up,I know what your saying about a decent mechanic,around by me if it's not used for working the land they just stand there scratching their head:D
 
Landy lance said:
I know what your saying about a decent mechanic,around by me if it's not used for working the land they just stand there scratching their head:D
Click to expand...

LOL, if it was just as simple as that.... Nah, in this case we are talking about a completely different kettle of fish. I am talking about a geezer who thinks he is a mech and what he says has to be written in stone.

Let's put it this way, when he first told me that it was the head gasket he also told me that he was waiting for some sort of "ample" so as he could test the systems water (by all accounts that was going to prove it was a duff gasket). Well a few days later, and after him posting an image of my engine on his Facebook (stating a blown head gasket) he did said test and phoned me up saying that he was right, the test proved it was a blown head gasket. OK, now yesterday, he says it's the offending "insert"! Nothing about a blown head gasket!!!!

You see where I am coming from don't you Landy lance, oh how I wish it was as simple as what you were on about. Mind you, this so called mechanic has dug a very deep hole and now...

:fighting2:
 
O Bife said:
LOL, if it was just as simple as that.... Nah, in this case we are talking about a completely different kettle of fish. I am talking about a geezer who thinks he is a mech and what he says has to be written in stone.

Let's put it this way, when he first told me that it was the head gasket he also told me that he was waiting for some sort of "ample" so as he could test the systems water (by all accounts that was going to prove it was a duff gasket). Well a few days later, and after him posting an image of my engine on his Facebook (stating a blown head gasket) he did said test and phoned me up saying that he was right, the test proved it was a blown head gasket. OK, now yesterday, he says it's the offending "insert"! Nothing about a blown head gasket!!!!

You see where I am coming from don't you Landy lance, oh how I wish it was as simple as what you were on about. Mind you, this so called mechanic has dug a very deep hole and now...

:fighting2:
Click to expand...

Warm up the engine, drain the coolant or use asbestos fingers, twist and pull on the stub, if you can get a can of freezer as used by central heating engineers to freeze the stub, even better. Clean and refit with high temperature epoxy.
 
O Bife said:
LOL, if it was just as simple as that.... Nah, in this case we are talking about a completely different kettle of fish. I am talking about a geezer who thinks he is a mech and what he says has to be written in stone.

Let's put it this way, when he first told me that it was the head gasket he also told me that he was waiting for some sort of "ample" so as he could test the systems water (by all accounts that was going to prove it was a duff gasket). Well a few days later, and after him posting an image of my engine on his Facebook (stating a blown head gasket) he did said test and phoned me up saying that he was right, the test proved it was a blown head gasket. OK, now yesterday, he says it's the offending "insert"! Nothing about a blown head gasket!!!!

You see where I am coming from don't you Landy lance, oh how I wish it was as simple as what you were on about. Mind you, this so called mechanic has dug a very deep hole and now...

:fighting2:
Click to expand...

Time to change your mechanic I say !:director:
 
The best as said would be a new made up insert , you can have the head removed and have its ports sandblasted to clean out the rust but the cost is not worth it depending on how bad that sleeve is and the waterways are is your decision , if its not that bad bodge it as suggested if it is , it's not going to last long if its that rotten.
 
Remove old sleeve, clean hole, measure, make new sleeve, slight interference fit. Make mandrel, coat inner of hole and outside of sleeve with Hylomar or HT Loctite, locally heat head with blowlamp. Put sleeve on mandrel drive in.
 
wammers said:
Remove old sleeve, clean hole, measure, make new sleeve, slight interference fit. Make mandrel, coat inner of hole and outside of sleeve with Hylomar or HT Loctite, locally heat head with blowlamp. Put sleeve on mandrel drive in.
Click to expand...

That will be fun for a local garage :)

In situ .
 
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