Radiator Question

Hi All

Is it normal to use a bit of water, about a litre a tank of diesel (td5). I have a mate with a defender (tdi) who also needs to keep an eye on his water level.

Peter

I have no experience of td5's but no way is using a litre of water every few hundred miles normal. It's going somewhere, either leaking or more worryingly your head gasket is shot

How would i know if it is the head, no water in the oil, and no obvioous signs.

Shouldn't be using any water!

petergouvias said:

Hi All

Is it normal to use a bit of water, about a litre a tank of diesel (td5)

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mine dose that, tho not as much a a litre to a tank of fuel.
am ****ed if i can see where its goin an theres no way i can be arsed whippin of cylinder head just on the off chance that its that..

My 01 Td5 with 176K on the clock was losing coolant for a while - finally tracked it down to the top corner of the radiator on the passenger side .On the front of the radiator which made it even harder to spot . Only found it having taken off plastic cowling etc - as it was at the top I think that most of it evaporated before it could get down to the bottom where it would be seen . If you are using the recommended (expensive )coolant it will leave a trace when the water evaporates .
A litre per tank of dsl is not acceptable - the danger with all small leaks is that you get used to topping up at certain intervals . But the leak can get worse suddenly and cause expensive damage .

I hear you, will take a closer look on the w/end, is it recommended to had a pressure test done?

(51 plate TD5) I was topping the coolant up every few weeks until the last service, was worried it was the head gasket but a pressure test revealed that the radiator had a small leak (didn't even show on the garage floor) and also the water pump was on its last legs.
Think the only was to test the system is by a pressure test, it would appear that a leaking radiator is quite common.

Did u replace yr radiator, or just repair it? I am thinking replacement will be heavy, like a hammer to the balls!!! Thx for the help, gotta get to the bottom of this leak soon.

What about trying Radweld or similar? I have a leak in my TD5 also but it isn't as bad as that.

Anyone got an opinion on this?

neva use Radweld - causes more probs than it cures.

replace the radiator - its peanuts, and once it starts to fail, will continue.

could try takin' it to some where like this...
Car Radiators and Wing Mirrors. Car Parts Supplier based in Sheffield - Autorads for VW, Ford, Vauxhall and many more.

We've got one here and they're pretty reasonable with their prices

I fitted a new radiator - too important an item to take chances with IMHO. Repair has not been an option in my opinion for many years due to the materials used in rads . I think you can get recored rads or have your own recored .
And as for Radweld etc I agree completely with mad hat man - I have taken heads off in the past and found the small water passages in head gaskets etc blocked up by some substance or other which had been added to cure a leak .So obviously over time the small bore pipes in the rad etc will get gunged up also leading to overheating etc .

Think yoself lucky - I am orf to get a noo radiator today, fur one of my motors and I wont see any change from £600!

petergouvias said:

Did u replace yr radiator, or just repair it? I am thinking replacement will be heavy, like a hammer to the balls!!! Thx for the help, gotta get to the bottom of this leak soon.

Click to expand...

I had the readiator replaced durin the service, I would never have tried radweld as I think it only adds to problems later on.

just as i thought, that 'stop leak gunk' does not know what is a leak and what is a conduit

thx guys

Hi guys, it seems that I'm also in the same boat. Tonight I've just filled up over two litres in the coolant (the car is an 02 TD5 auto). You mention a pressure test - 1) where can I have that done, a bog standard garage ? 2) I've started taking off the plastic moulding - can I take it off the bulkhead (I think it's called ??) where you fill it up with oil. Hopefully I'll be able to see if there's any build up of residue. 3) what's been happening when I drive is that the temperature gauge suddenly drops into the blue setting off the red warning light and the car loses power dramatically. Picks up power, then loses power, etc. apart from changing the filters what should I test first.

Cheers

Al