Frostycab
Active Member
Right guys really need your advice.
Been reading on here and the various other forums about slipped liners and head gasket problems but have found a lot of conflicting advice on the subject and my head is spinning!
My rangie is a 95 4.0 with a nats hair under 70k on the clock.
Just recently I went out in her and not long after leaving the house the red light came on the dash to warn of it running hot. well before I could pull over it went off again after about 10 seconds and the needle returned to the half way point. I stopped and checked the coolant and it was very low indeed!
Its been using about 2+ ltrs of coolant a week for the past month and it only does shorts runs (about 6 miles a day)
The only sign of a leak is from the overflow on the expansion bottle which lead me to believe it was over pressurising and hence where my coolant was going. I checked the top rad hose when cold and it was nice and soft, started the car and its stays pretty much the same all the way up to normal running temp and stays that way no matter how long its left to idle on the drive. After its been for a run though that hose is solid! After its cooled down again the hose goes nice and soft again.
Now I've read that if its a possible gasket then the hose would stay firm even when cold and inflate quickly when she's started? and if I had a slipped liner it would overheat in a heartbeat but it doesn't?! it'll sit on the drive and idle away happy as larry. it does tap slightly from the drivers side head but only when cold so I'm guessing thats just a tappet.
I'm not sure where to start, it's already had the heater matrix o rings done, a new rad, waterpump and half the cooling hoses changed. Do i get it sniff tested or just rip the heads off and change the gaskets and look for slipped liners or is there something I'm missing?
The only other problem its ever had is the poor cold starting which it still has where it cranks and cranks when cold and smells very rich but not sure if this is connected with any of this.
I'm at my wits end! I'm getting really paranoid about this now, my head tells me its the head gasket, my heart fears its a slipped liner but I've read this hose behaviour is normal and the lack of overheating is, fingers crossed a good sign... or am I just kidding myself?!
Can anyone help?
Been reading on here and the various other forums about slipped liners and head gasket problems but have found a lot of conflicting advice on the subject and my head is spinning!
My rangie is a 95 4.0 with a nats hair under 70k on the clock.
Just recently I went out in her and not long after leaving the house the red light came on the dash to warn of it running hot. well before I could pull over it went off again after about 10 seconds and the needle returned to the half way point. I stopped and checked the coolant and it was very low indeed!
Its been using about 2+ ltrs of coolant a week for the past month and it only does shorts runs (about 6 miles a day)
The only sign of a leak is from the overflow on the expansion bottle which lead me to believe it was over pressurising and hence where my coolant was going. I checked the top rad hose when cold and it was nice and soft, started the car and its stays pretty much the same all the way up to normal running temp and stays that way no matter how long its left to idle on the drive. After its been for a run though that hose is solid! After its cooled down again the hose goes nice and soft again.
Now I've read that if its a possible gasket then the hose would stay firm even when cold and inflate quickly when she's started? and if I had a slipped liner it would overheat in a heartbeat but it doesn't?! it'll sit on the drive and idle away happy as larry. it does tap slightly from the drivers side head but only when cold so I'm guessing thats just a tappet.
I'm not sure where to start, it's already had the heater matrix o rings done, a new rad, waterpump and half the cooling hoses changed. Do i get it sniff tested or just rip the heads off and change the gaskets and look for slipped liners or is there something I'm missing?
The only other problem its ever had is the poor cold starting which it still has where it cranks and cranks when cold and smells very rich but not sure if this is connected with any of this.
I'm at my wits end! I'm getting really paranoid about this now, my head tells me its the head gasket, my heart fears its a slipped liner but I've read this hose behaviour is normal and the lack of overheating is, fingers crossed a good sign... or am I just kidding myself?!
Can anyone help?