Hey there…I’m either about to embark on a wonderful semi/vintage journey that will be fulfilling and awesome, or open an infinitely deep money pit. Probably a bit of both…

the coolant reservoir seems to be active in that the coolant is bubbling/flowing in the reservoir (bubbling might be too strong a word). Is that normal? I think it is reading up about the system but of course I want to avoid head gasket issues ya know?

Only have a few hours before I pull the trigger here so any insight is appreciated.

 

Found this thread…confirms my “active” suspicions. I’ll check the oil and smell the fluids and also see if it’s actively bubbling or just flowing.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...ow-tank-10559/

 

$25 to $30 will buy a proper combustion gas test kit. With enough blue juice to test a whole fleet of cars.

 

If the price for the vehicle is right, a head gasket job isn’t huge. A slipped liner would be a bigger deal.

 

head gasket leak until proven otherwise.....

 

Oreailly or Advance has the leak kit. Constant flow in to the bottle is normal, occasional bubbles is too. Constant bubbling and steam is not. Is she running hot? Is she drinking coolant? Do you have an obd temp reader and/or an IR gun? Don't tighten the cap all the way until you are sure you don't have a combustion leak in to cooling system, if it is overpressuring it will split a radiator tank or hose. Tighten the cap full tight and then loosen one full turn - btw I run all of mine that way all the time even with new HG.

 

Oh that's super interesting. Will have to investigate...later...as I bought the truck. I couldn't resist, the price/condition were in a sweet spot for me and even the wife approved without drama. Ran it over an hour home, checked all the fluids, oil was a little bit low so topped that off, then took it to my local mountain to go snowboarding. No issues with overheating, and she ran great.

Assuming you run the cap one turn loose to alleviate pressure in there right? Is that just to avoid over pressurizing the system to hopefully avoid a headgasket failure? I see you have several LR's, so clearly you have more experience than me at this point.

Thanks for the info!

 

I'm in it now, so if a headgasket issue arises, I'll be finding out exactly how huge a head gasket issue can be!

 

Thanks for this info - unfortunately "Ain't nobody got time for that". ;-) Seriously, I hate to admit this, but I had a pretty tight timeline to either get this done or bail, so I had to go with my gut and other empirical evidence. I brought her home - over an hour away in mixed driving conditions without any issues. I think I dodged a potential bullet, but now that it's home I can spend more time getting to know her.

 

Extinct definitely has a lot of experience with these and his opinion is very worth heeding. Personally I wouldn’t run with my cap loose except to get me home with a failing cooling system or for trouble shooting. But Extinct does have more LR experience than I do.