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TD5 leaking coolant

L

Lansdownalex

In Second Gear
Hi,
I have 1999 Defender with a td5, and I see that I lose about 100ml of coolant every time I start the engine from cold. When the engine is hot, it does not lose any coolant. There is pressure in the coolant system when it is cold. I do not see white smoke. I assume that there is a problem in the head gasket, but what I wanted to ask , is that is it possible to just tighten the head bolts an 1/8 of a turn or so to solve this problem. Has anybody tried it???

Thanks for any advice.
 
No that will not work, and will only cause long term problems.

Check it is not just a hose or some thing small before pulling head off.

Or take some where that they can do a full system check.

Andy
 
Thanks for your quick reply. I appreciate that it is not a normal solution and of course if the head gasket is broken, then tightening the head bolts will not help, but given the symptom that when the engine is up to temperature, no leaks occur, it seems to me that it is just possible that the head may not be sufficiently tightened down. Of course I don't want to damage anything and I am just asking around to see if anybody else has tried this. I know that the tightening procedure is a mixture of torque settings and I think another 3/4 turn, but is there a torque figure for the head bolts after everything has settled????
On your points, I took it to a Landy centre (Dunsford) and they confirmed Hydrocarbons in the expansion tank and they could not find an external leak.
 
If Dunsford say Hydro's in the coolant then it is head gasket.

But I would not think that tightining head would cure this, due to the gasket being damaged. And would recomend getting the gasket done ASAP, before any damage is done to any thing else, such as cylinder head (which should not be skimmed) £1000, or injectors £300 each.

But this is just my uninformed oppinion.

Andy
 
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