Hey folks,
Been out in the backyards of my town and got stuck in the mud.Took a whole Two hours to get unstuck with help of four hefty lads pushing the truck in reverse. Then I have driven on tarmac for about 20 minutes to residence. On checking the engine bay as routine, I notice that the expansion tank was full to the brim. Yet the temperature gauge never once went up beyond the halfway mark with all the revving that I was doing struggling to get out of the mud. And even now the temp gauge is just fine.
Some advice please, for this baffles me. Second time I have noticed this.

What happened after the first time?

Same thing. the tank was full, the temp gauge was still behaving. There were no signs of overheating at all.

Welcome to the head gasket club

One thing though was that, the contents of the expansion tank had a red looking colour, as if it was rain water mixed with soil (dont have a better way of describing it). Concluded that it must be the radiator that was corroded and I put a water hose into the radiator mouth and run water through it into the engine and out the upper hose till all the water coming from the hose pipe from the engine was clean. Then I topped up with coolant and that was it. Its been fine ever since and the expansion tank has been at the max level ever since till now.

@Greigboy that is one club I thought of not being a member soon.

You can go through the motions of changing the thermostat, radiator cap, EGR cooler, blocked radiator, and even chase the phantom airlock, but 90% of the time it comes back to being a cracked head or head gasket.

Still worth considering the aforementioned, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Quote: ngariama2007 wrote in post #3

---

Same thing. the tank was full, the temp gauge was still behaving. There were no signs of overheating at all.

---

Temp gauge on these trucks are crap mate damage is often done before they move but might be ok

@Jon Grimsby I meant that I did not do anything else other than draining the Expansion tank, topping up the radiator and that's it. Have not experienced same issue till this time around

@Greigboy would a loose rad cap not be the problem here? I figured if it was a head gasket or head thing, there is no way would get stuck in the mud for over an hour and then drive home over a 20-30 minute distance on the highway. Most likely, the temp gauge would have gone through the roof before then

A loose radiator cap would simply spew coolant out the top of the radiator cap under expansion, the fact that it's pushing coolant out the radiator into the expansion bottle ndicates that the system is being presurised, you've also mentioned that the water appeared like rain mixed with soil, which suggests contamination via the gasket, that more than any other symptom suggests gasket failure.
Again it's worth changing the rad cap, thermostat, flushing the radiator and removing the EGR cooler, and chasing the mystical air lock, but it sounds to me as if the head gasket is compromised, pressurising the coolant with combustion gasses pushing the coolant out the radiator into the expansion bottle and contaminating the breached gasket contaminating the coolant, I've seen it a million times on this forum.
It's also happened to me, it wouldn't misbehave at idle only after a good drive and it took about 6 weeks before it started to overheat,

Wenn Sie hier auf Links zu eBay klicken und einen Kauf tätigen, kann dies dazu führen, dass diese Website eine Provision erhält.

Werbung: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/221187578...ps=true&ff13=80
Try this iv'e had it in mine for over a year now with no problems. Mitsi mechanic told me to use it,he uses it on all the taxis he repairs and they go forever.

AD

I have just had the exact same issue with mine. Tried everything but it was the head gasket, Don't use any of the sealants as this just clogs up engine, only thing to do it head off head checked and skimmed new uprated gasket.

Just had mine done and waiting for it to be returned

I tried caps, water pump, egr cooler bypass, bleed valve all no good

Quote: ngariama2007 wrote in post #10

---

@Jon Grimsby I meant that I did not do anything else other than draining the Expansion tank, topping up the radiator and that's it. Have not experienced same issue till this time around

---

Steel seal, Barr's leak etc are all fanny up products, if your keeping it get it sorted properly

This is so not very amusing @Greigboy. Just had new head done and block skimmed, new sleeves to boot, early this year. EGR and Cooler is blanked out though have not done the water heater hose pipe bridge to completely isolate and remove the EGR and Cooler. Thanks for info, following it up

Quote: ngariama2007 wrote in post #17

---

This is so not very amusing @Greigboy. Just had new head done and block skimmed, new sleeves to boot, early this year. EGR and Cooler is blanked out though have not done the water heater hose pipe bridge to completely isolate and remove the EGR and Cooler. Thanks for info, following it up

---

Update:
Turns out the that Rad Cap was the real culprit here. Changed it and been driving truck ever since with no more Expansion tank issues.
Also finally had the water heater hose pipe done. Can hear the turbo whistle as I accelerate and it hits the 1800 RPM mark. Moving like a bomb now and actually feels much easier to drive.

Same problem with mine was the rad cap iv got a spare head gasket set with new bolts though lol

Quote: Ollie1964 wrote in post #20

---

Same problem with mine was the rad cap iv got a spare head gasket set with new bolts though lol

---