Coolant loss clouds of steam

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:04 am

Had the hg done on my 4 v8 discovery, but she is losing water at the rate of a pint per 50 miles or so and intermittently clouds of White smoke/ steam for a few miles after startup but not just from cold. Pressure tests are ok, as are hydrocarbon tests on the coolant. Any thoughts?

Bill

ChrisJC · Post by **ChrisJC** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:38 am

Have you had a pressure test done when hot?

Are any plugs going rusty on the internal side?

Chris.

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:16 am

Yes and no.

Bill

ChrisJC · Post by **ChrisJC** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:27 am

Compression test?

Inlet manifold gasket failure?

Chris.

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:31 pm

Yep should have said it passes compression tests too.

Bill

Ian Anderson · Post by **Ian Anderson** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 4:45 pm

It the smoke / steam coming out the exhaust or is it a leak that hit the outside of the exhaust pipe and thus turns to steam? (I had that on a Triumph GT6 once and always thought it was going via the engine but once I actually found it was a leak (weaping / squirting rad pipe to the heater)

Ian

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:02 pm

Been checked and double checked for leaks not even a hint of one.

Bill

Teesdale_landrover · Post by **Teesdale_landrover** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:06 pm

have you pressure tested the coolant?

and a sniffer test on the coolant?

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:12 pm

Teesdale_landrover wrote:have you pressure tested the coolant?

and a sniffer test on the coolant?

Think I might have mentioned pressure and hydrocarbon tests in my fist post, it passes every test.

The problem is is that the problem seems to come and go, yesterday for instance so much white stuff out the back we could have passed for a fog machine, today when I was taking her back to the garage as good as gold even if I floored her.

Teesdale_landrover · Post by **Teesdale_landrover** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:52 pm

sorry missed that!

you could have meant cylinder compression which is why i asked

its likely to be a liner/porous block issue

they can still run pretty good for a while

some down to earth advice would be try some k seal in it and see what happens

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:15 pm

No worries & sorry I wasn't too clear.

The original diagnosis was liner and I told them to stick a recon 4.6 in but when they stripped her down they found no obvious block problems but HG gone between 7 and the water gallery.

The problem is that the problem comes and goes.

Cheers

Bill

Teesdale_landrover · Post by **Teesdale_landrover** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:17 pm

the block and liner problems arent something which you can see.
Im not even sure if hot pressure tests can be 100% conclusive all the time, but thats down to the engine reconditioners, who have more experience.
i couldnt say

try some k seal in it

ChrisJC · Post by **ChrisJC** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:44 am

Presumably the heads & block were checked for flatness before rebuilding? It's always possible that the head gasket has failed again. Did they follow the procedure for torquing the stretch bolts properly?

Has it changed significantly since the work was done?, or didn't it make much difference?

Chris.

Mogwyth · Post by **Mogwyth** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:16 pm

Yep all were checked for flatness. Yes there is a difference, she doesn't overheat now.

Cheers Bill

Teesdale_landrover · Post by **Teesdale_landrover** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:07 pm

Did it overheat after excessive water loss though?