Mooky

Mooky

Member
Hello, not sure why it's taken me so long to join this community as I bought my 1999 TD5 110 Defender last August on 84k miles. I use it for my landscaping business so need it to be a daily driver. I'm quickly realising this is not as straight forward as I thought! Since last August it's had a new fuel pump, fuel filter, starter motor, & just recently rad & intercooler. New rad because I was visibly loosing coolant but no overheating. Since the new rad & intercooler (fitted by back street garage) Ive had pressure in the expansion tank when cold. I bought a new cap but still pressurized. I then realized the bottom hose & rad were cold after a good run, the heater was just warm & the temp gauge wasn't TDC as it had been previously. I took it back to garage & they bled the system & did an inconclusive head test. After this I've had no pressure in the expansion tank when cold but bottom hose & rad still cold after a good run. Garage has now replaced the thermostat which has made no difference. They suspect cracked head but not a bad one as power is good, starts fine, no emulsified oil, coolant dosent seem to have oil on surface & no white smoke. Advised if it was a HG it would have blown by now. So of course I'm wondering if this could be anything else before the head has to come off?? ......also whether steel seal or simular is worth a go if as suspected it's a crack in its infancy?? Any advice would be appreciated...although I got a B grade in MVS (motor vehicle studies) I'm no spanner warrior!! Thanks.
 
Engine experts may well be along in a moment but my opinion is, it's a CHG failure or a cylinder head crack, however fine. Putting "miracle goo" in it might work but you may just waste your money. It could last a week or years. You pays your money you takes your chance. Deep down though you know the only way to fix your fault is to do it properly, take the head off, get it pressure tested, skimmed then replace using a very good quality gasket. Maybe not what you want to hear but that's what I'd do. Good luck, let us know what you decide to do and how you get on.
 
Thanks Wireman. Good advice. I am going to get a second opinion next week just to be sure before I go ahead with what I probably know is off with its head!!
As an aside... I again checked the expansion tank yesterday whilst cold and not a whiff of pressure when I cracked the cap. I'm at a loss to work out how initially I had an over pressurized coolant system when cold but now it seems normal? The coolant in the tank dosent seem contaminated. I checked again on start up yesterday - and no white smoke. The only symptoms IMAG6602.jpg I have is a cold bottom hose and rad after a good run. Barely warm heater and heater gauge just off TDC.
IMAG6602.jpg
 
If you have an airlock, you can get pressure buildup. This would also explain a barely warm heater.
 
I had exhaust gases in the coolant, but they only got there when the engine was over a certain temp
 
Funny Mick how good should a defender heater be? Some people have told me it should be hot! It's never been hot. I'd say it's probably not much different now from when I bought it which is just about warm. One thing with the heater I have to drop the heater speed lever right down to get it blowing hard. It's a bit all or nothing power wise. I havent had the tank tested.
 
My old Td5 had a coolant loss that I couldn’t work out. It was eventually traced to a small leak at the back of the engine behind the oil filter housing so wasn’t visible until the housing was removed. It was a failed head gasket.
 
Mooky said:
Funny Mick how good should a defender heater be? Some people have told me it should be hot! It's never been hot. I'd say it's probably not much different now from when I bought it which is just about warm. One thing with the heater I have to drop the heater speed lever right down to get it blowing hard. It's a bit all or nothing power wise. I havent had the tank tested.
Click to expand...
I have a 300tdi and although better than my 200tdi disco engined 110, it's not a patch on modern cars but not bad. It will never heat the interior to the point where you have to open a window, but it will warm your hands or legs and clear the windscreen. As for fan speed, just put it on max.
 
Mooky said:
Funny Mick how good should a defender heater be? Some people have told me it should be hot! It's never been hot. I'd say it's probably not much different now from when I bought it which is just about warm. One thing with the heater I have to drop the heater speed lever right down to get it blowing hard. It's a bit all or nothing power wise. I havent had the tank tested.
Click to expand...
My td5 heater is very good, I have to turn the temp down once the vehicle is up to operating temperature
 
Mooky said:
Thanks Mick. I'll flush the old coolant out & flush the heater matrix.
Click to expand...
Just been speaking to a landrover garage who said some of the newer replacement rads have a 2inch restrictor valve on the bottom drivers side of unit which sometimes causes issues with coolant flow on early TD5s....or in some cases they don't have one where one is needed! That's straight forward then.!!
 
I'm having the water pump checked tomorrow. I'm told the splines can break off. Yesterday I took the td5 on a run & at high revs I got power loss. Backed the throttle off a bit & it was fine.
 
Mooky said:
Thanks Mick. I'll flush the old coolant out & flush the heater matrix.
Click to expand...

@Mooky , be sure to complete 2-3 good long alternating flush and reverse flushes to clear all crud with the heater controls on fully open. It also helps to isolate the heater matrix and flush directly as a crud has a tendency to get stuck in the matrix.
 
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