Coolant & oil together look like this

 

@neuropathy you can do head gaskets in the driveway engine in place, it is more work but easily doable. As long as the drive is not a hill a 2 step ladder helps.

I did mine in January in Vancouver in the driveway.
Tools will be the big issue, not expensive stuff just a bunch of little stuff.

You have to be better off than this in CA

 

First of all, I couldn’t find the radiator cap... This is a Nissans radiator. I looked everywhere. Either I’m an idiot or there isn’t a cap. Pictures should help explain - see below. I’ll look up the Nissens radiator online and see if there just isn’t a cap...

I had problems with the pressure tester. I found a fitting that fits the expansion tank and I wrenched it on there tightly, then connected the pump and tried to pump it up. It seems like the air is just going right out the pissing tube on the expansion tank, so I can’t get any pressure into this thing. When I don’t have anything connected to the pump and I begin pumping, it shows that other pressure is increasing and then I can relieve the pressure with the relief button. When it’s on the expansion tank with the fitting, it won’t show that it’s pumping any pressure beyond a minuscule amount for a split second while pumping that I can hear going out the pissing tube - I’m pretty sure this is what’s happening since I’ve tightened the cap fitting on there very tightly and the pump seems to be fine without anything connected as well.



Coolant level today after sitting since yesterday morning. Level is about 3/4” below cold level line.

I can’t find the radiator cap...

Looked for the cap on the passenger side

Looked for the cap on the driver side

Checked oil with dipstick (car has been sitting cold since yesterday) - level looks fine and still looks clean but not sure if I’d be able to determine if it’s mixed with coolant this way. Do I need to run the vehicle for a bit first? Then check a bit of the oil by opening the drain plug?

Coolant expansion tank with cap off - shows some metallic crud floating on surface

Coolant with metallic scum on top after sitting for a day. Coolant hasn’t been drained completely in at least 4.5 years.

That work tent in the snow is inspiring. It’s not as moderate as you might think here - it’s either cold or hot and very windy every afternoon-night in the mountains with all kinds of crap from the oaks getting in your eyes right now, along with vampiric deer flies and mosquitos that will not leave you alone. I’ll do what needs to be done though. I can deal with it - it’s mostly just been struggling to manage work and rebuilding my house with every thing else.

Thanks again everyone

 

Sounds like there is a crack in the reservior, in the threaded portion, which is allowing anti-freeze to flow from the return line to the overflow line. As l mentioned...before...you're pumping fluid direct out of the system with the cap loose...and now...if it won't hold pressure and you hear air leaking from that area...that pretty much indicates an issue...there. which your first video indicated, to me, when it showed fluid well below normal level and it was still pissing fluid out the overflow. Normally, if a system is over pressurized or overheating, fluid is at the top of the reservior and is forced out through overflow...not when it's half empty.

Forget all of the head gasket stuff, for now, and focus on the simple stuff first.

Also, there is no radiator cap...just a reservoir cap.

 

OK thanks, so I guess that means I should pump the coolant out of the bottle, install the new one, then refill it and see if I can test the pressure then. Should I dump the coolant or can I put it back in if I just empty it into an empty coolant bottle I’ve got around?

 

You can filter and reuse just us a paper coffee filter

 

Looks like someone added one of those magical HG repair bottles of fine copper looking dust somewhere in that LR's past.

 

Thanks, I'll see if I can get a coffee filter from a neighbor. The stuff in the bottle looks pretty alright other than the copper on top. There's some sort of metal rod in the bottle too sticking up vertically in there. It looked corroded. I have a new bottle, so I'll replace the old one soon.

I contacted Nissens and lucky8 on ebay about the radiator - apparently no cap... I had thought I pressure test the radiator cap. Guess I can't in this case. Do I need to pressure test the expansion tank cap, or is that what was the instruction all along? If so, I'll see if I can figure out how to test the cap - it's a relatively new genuine LR cap, maybe a year old.

 

Reservoir cap = Radiator Cap on a D1/D2. That metallic stuff is one of those magic in a bottle fixes. All they ever really do is clog stuff up IMHO.

 

You put the pressure tester on the expansion tank in place of the cap. If it then holds pressure you know your cap was/is bad. If not then you have a leak elsewhere, like the tank itself which is known to leak when aged.