Back again and this time with possibly not good news. I previously posted that the coolant was extremely low which I remedied. Now I may know why...

I opened the hood to find a little smoke coming from the bottom of the exhaust manifold. I thought maybe a bit of goo was smoldering but then I noticed little bubbles and bits of green coolant coming from the circled areas. Also heard a gurgling sound coming from either the near large radiator hose or the engine. I'm guessing the coolant was running down and hitting the exhaust.

I'm pretty sure I know what this is but I'll let you guys decide.

Facing engine bay looking down to the right:


Closer:


Notice bits of green coolant running down here:

 

I could be wrong but from the pics that looks like its leaking from the base of the head which means you have a big problem. I'd advise cleaning the crap out of your engine bay and then you'll know for sure exactly whats leaking and where its coming from. Build up over the years can fool you when it comes to finding leaks so a clean engine makes it much easier to spot and diagnose the problem.

 

x2 on the clean up and re-check for leak. Could be from something cheaper, like the valley pan gasket.

Other tests - coolant pressure test, rent/borrow tester from auto parts store; also they sell a chemical test to determine if you have combustion gas in the coolant, which pretty much nails it for HG job.

HG parts, gaskets and new bolts (they stretch) are about $300. Machine shop for heads is about $200.

 

I'm a little hesitant to clean it because the coolant is there and I want the dealership to see it. Only had it for two days and was really liking it.

I clearly saw coolant and bubbles coming from the seam where the head meets the bottom (circled in first two pics). I know that's plain WRONG but not exactly what the complete diagnosis is. The coolant running down hitting the exhaust, and then smoking left my eyes feeling a bit sore from the fumes I think.

Worst case scenario, if I have to do it, what's involved in getting it remedied? Just the items Savannah Buzz mentioned? Or more? Can I do it with instructions and basic tools?

I hope the dealership takes care of this, since I JUST got it, but used cars are "as-is".

Crap.

 

Oh I forgot to add this but the oil pressure light came on, and stayed on.

Really wish all this had happened when I test drove it...

 

I doubt dealer will take care of it, but they might be talked into letting you return this one and get something else. Here's why:

1. You probably have a head gasket job waiting - done professionally that is $1500 - $1800, or more.

2. That little tid bit about oil light on - it comes on at 7 PSI. If oil pressure is that low engine is being killed by loss of lubrication. Light should come one when cranked up and go out in 2 seconds or less. If you have coolant running out of the heads, and oil light on, the temp has gotten so high you have to replace head gaskets, and the high temp has thinned the oil to where it can't maintain pressure. So with lack of lubrication, head gaskets become the low priced part - you'll be needing a new engine. Might just need an oil pump, or a new oil filter. Are all your fluids "full"? A mechanical oil PSI test can be done at cold and warm idle and 2000 rpm to verify the pump.

3. Drive this truck at your own risk. The engine could fail at any point. Suggest you contact dealer, perhaps have it towed there. Do not believe the temp guage, plug in a data reading scanner and see what coolant temp really is. You have many serious potential problems.

4. Dealer does not want problems. He can take this back, and get you into something else. This one may need more repairs than the vehicle is worth. You may have to contact an attorney.

5. While you could replace head gaskets with a modest set of tools and learn along the way, rebuilding an entire engine is another matter for a beginning DIY.

 

Does the state you live in have a lemon law? If it were mine and I was in a state with that law, I'd take it back and let the dealer have the headache. If you live in a state where you are stuck with it the second you leave, better get out your wallet. Also if you've over heated it, those torque to yield bolts that hold the heads on like to act goofy when subjected to above normal operating temps. I've seen them back off a tad on multiple occasions due to heat and theres nothing you can do but replace them.

 

Here are some other points, all bad:

You have what is called an external head gasket leak, where coolant is leaving without going into the cylinder and out the exhaust (which makes white smoke). You may also have oil being forced out, could be leaking out of the engine at same boundary.

You could have coolant being forced into oil, will usually change oil to a milky color.

With engine cold, look down inside coolant tank. May be clear, yellow, or green. Clear would be just water, no anti freeze coolant. But what you are looking for is anything that looks like very fine speckles floating in the water. These can be brown, black, aluminum, or copper colored. They are one of the ingredients to radiator stop leak or head gasket "fix in a bottle." These products can be used to cure a troublesome small leak by owners that don't want to spend money on real repairs. But many times they are used to stop the leak for a short time, so the vehicle can be sold, traded in, or auctioned. The "mechanic in a jar", when used for a big problem, frequently fails a short time later. It can clog up a radiator making overheating worse. If coolant jug looks milky or has oil sheen in it, oil is entering coolant.

The oil light staying on - how far did you drive truck with it on? Answer should be just long enough to come to a safe stop. Does light go off if you increase above idle? The light is driven by a switch on passenger side of engine, just back a little from the oil filter. It activates at 7 PSI. Factory spec for PSI is 40 PSI at 2500 RPM, so if you are driving and you are at 7 PSI engine is grinding itself to a deep sleep that will last until it is recycled and reborn as a beer can.

You could have a loss of oil pressure thru the head gaskets, and you would have to notice "fresh" oil on the outside of the engine. With Rovers, this can be a problem, as they are world class leakers.

You could have a bad oil pump. The mechanical oil pressure test will reveal that.

You could have a cheap old oil filter that is clogged up, and changing the filter will get the light to go out. Use WIX, Mobil1, a national brand; avoid FRAM (some swear by 'em, some swear at 'em), and avoid "generic" or "oil change store" brand filters. A good basic oil is 15W40 Shell Rotella. But I would not change anything on this truck until you have dealt with dealer.

You could have an oil cooler section of the radiator that is blocked. Disco 1 has oil cooler lines on passenger side of raditor and I have had one blocked 95% when I got a salvage yard radiator.

You could have a pickup tube in the oil pan that is obstructed by sludge that has come loose, or tube has fallen off into the pan because it got loose somehow.

Of course, the dealer knows none of this. Perhaps. He could have taken it in on trade, in which case the ex-owner had prepped the truck with two cans of stop leak and hoped the dealer would not notice. The dealer could also have purchased it at the car auction, and it the same "prep to sell" issues could apply. The vehicle buyer for the dealer (usually the used car manager) made a bad choice. Some large auctions actualy have rules about concealed damage and will refund the dealer's money, and hold the seller's.

The dealer is going to be unhappy. He was fooled by someone, or he was trying to fool you and got caught at it. It is unlikey that there is enough profit margin in there to cover repairs to the truck. Beware of the dealer taking it back to his shop, then returning it to you "fixed" in short order. If this plays out, ask for the parts that were changed. Dealer could just dump in a double dose of stop leak.... D1s can be had for $2000 or less, so not a lot of profit.

Your cost to repair this truck will be high. One path out might be to get the dealer to take it back, put you in something else, even if you have to pay $500 more. That will be a helluva lot cheaper than the repairs you could be looking at.

An option is small claims court, where you can sue him yourself.

If you decide to keep it, and IDY, re-post so we can start from the top.

 

Please note: Normal temp indication on this truck is 8:00 - 9:00 for the temp gauge needle. 10:00 is too warm, 11:00 is overheated, even though it is still in the marked area of the gauge. Where did you gauge read?

It is quite possible to have an HG leak without overheat, which is good, because there may not be much warp of heads. It is also possible that your low oil pressure is a separate but deadly issue. When an engine overheats, the oil can thin, and the light will flicker on/off at running speeds.

 

It got almost to the top but the temp light didn't come on. I drove home ASAP only about a mile and shut it off. This was a day ago before I noticed the coolant was super low. After I filled the coolant it stayed around or below 9:00. Even when I finally noticed it was leaking coolant from the head, making gurgling sounds, and setting the oil light off, the temp appeared ok.

Another thing to note is it was having intermittent issues starting, but then it'd get going and be ok.

I really appreciate all your guys help. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about this. Maybe I just need to save up for a newer lesser mileage one that hasn't been abused for 160k miles yet.