1 litre of coolant - 120 miles - what's the likely cause...

If it ends up being upwards of 2Gs then just buy another second hand engine try and keep yours for spare parts.
Myself I would just get it tested with a sniff test form a local garage. Not cost much. Then you would know. If Hg going then this would find it. It's a chemical test they do with the water. If comes back ok. Then Pressure test system. Good luck with it matey.

This sniffer test sounds ideal.
Does it really work? I thought the pressure of the coolant would prevent any contamination getting into it.

I'll ask at the local garage though.

What about the splitter test? How does that work?

This weekend, though, I will be sniffing the carpets

Oh dear your not a fellow fitter. Not sure what splitter test is. But sniff test no matter if theres preasure will tell you if its going. Only 5 mins of a job but i think car needs to be warm.
Yes the sniff test will tell you 100 %

nope - nor am I a fitter fellow - mostly because I work in computing
But I own a D2 and try my best with the spannering so I can't be all bad

I'll definitely see what they can do when I next talk to them.

Thanks

Right. It had a sniff test. The engine was left running for 5 minutes and checked again. The blue solution resolutely remained blue.

The carpets were dry and there was no obvious leaks. She's still losing coolant at about the same rate. It can only be the head gasket - despite the test

So I'm having to ask big questions about her future - fix her or flog her. Its not easy

why not just do a HG replacement?
put a weekend aside, rope a mate in and get it done.. not a hard job rly

John FHA said:

Oh dear your not a fellow fitter. Not sure what splitter test is. But sniff test no matter if theres preasure will tell you if its going. Only 5 mins of a job but i think car needs to be warm.
Yes the sniff test will tell you 100 %

Click to expand...

TaDa said:

Right. It had a sniff test. The engine was left running for 5 minutes and checked again. The blue solution resolutely remained blue.

The carpets were dry and there was no obvious leaks. She's still losing coolant at about the same rate. It can only be the head gasket - despite the test

So I'm having to ask big questions about her future - fix her or flog her. Its not easy

Click to expand...

A sniff test is often inaccurate on a diesel. My own TD5 passed several sniff tests when both the head gasket was gone and the head was cracked simultaneously.

If the fault is only showing up after the engine has been put under load it may not change the colour of the liquid when the engine is static on tickover.

TaDa said:

Right. It had a sniff test. The engine was left running for 5 minutes and checked again. The blue solution resolutely remained blue.

The carpets were dry and there was no obvious leaks. She's still losing coolant at about the same rate. It can only be the head gasket - despite the test

So I'm having to ask big questions about her future - fix her or flog her. Its not easy

Click to expand...

Well if it were me, I would be doing a bit of maths: how much is it worth as it stands - **** all to anyone else. How much would it cost me to fix it, worst case scenario? New head £1045+vat, gasket set about £200, bolt set about £100?? Then the car is worth full market value with a new head. PLus a week-end.

No brainer really.

What Ratty said about the sniffer test, when my 300TDi head gasket went I was clutching at all and any straws like you and was overjoyed when the sniffer test said t'was fine.

I didn't have a massive amount of spannering experience but managed it on my own wiv no problems. Go on, get yer spanners out, get yer hands dirty and enjoy it!

Cheers all

I'd love to roll my sleeves up on this one - the only engine I've been inside is the one on the lawn mower. But sadly I need the car to get me to/from the work so it can't be left on the drive whilst I dawdle on its repair. A local mechanic will need to be called in I feel.

On the value front I fear she's worth more now in parts on ebay than she'll be worth as a rolling car afterwards. But I've not come this far to throw in the towel now.

So, whilst the engine is in pieces is there anything else I should get done at the same time? Timing chain etc? She's got 180k on the clock what is likely to be worn?

If the head gasket has gone will I not need to get the head skimmed - or at least checked?

Phone in sick! And go back to work with dirty nails..!

Get a straight edge to check the head. Not sure about the other stuff, I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice...

i was gonna say bout straight edge but sure if it was "the done thing" lol

Put a new rad cap on it sorted mine, they are prone to leaking

get it to rehab, it clearly has a drink problem...

Just before you spend a fortune on HG, i had the same issue on my d2. Last week I decided to do the head gasket myself, I took the engine cover off and looked at the clips on the coolant pipes They were the crimped one,s i got a screwdriver to try and pry it open, when half of the clip come away, it had corroded through at the bottom But it was stuck to the rubber and looked like it was in good condition, I replaced it with a good old fashioned jubilee clip and checked all the others lo and behold one of the bottom clips had gone as well,i replaced that and topped up the coolant, it has not lost any since. I know i was lucky but i had all the check done and they did not show any issues. so hopefully yours will be as simple and cheap to repair

Good luck

Ooh - failed clips that sounds like it could be something to check on the way down to the head gasket - I'll bear that in mind

I'm pretty sure that if the filler cap were a problem there'd be tell tale leaks around it - sadly none - that would've been nice.
Hmm I guess it could be keeping the system over-pressurised and thus finding leaks that woudn't normally be there - worth a try I guess!

I'm still utterly puzzled by the stench of coolant in the cab (the carpets are bone dry) Could the coolant be leaking out the air-con drains but the aroma still getting into the cab?

Or would that be HG denial still?

This may be driving _me_ to drink

Mine did same as what your`s is doing . :censored: was the head gasket. Some say you cant skim the td5 alloy head but i got mine done with no problems it is a big`ish job to do yourself but as with any disco it can be done give it a go :scratching_chin:

Stench of coolant in cab - ?heater matrix leaking...

might be worth bypassing the heater matrix with a hose n test for a bit

if you can smell coolant in the cab its not h g , check heater matrix and the pipes down from it ,leave the motor running till its up to temp, turn heaters on , now check for leaks , check the hose down from the matrix , and foget about h g