Friday, Mar 06, 2009 at 13:07
Gidday Roachie (SA)
Thanks for your interest and help. Much appreciated.
My apologies to all if I appear to be taking over this one.
I have gone to the link you provided and must admit to not having seen that particular device before. I will copy and show it to my mechanic at next service, which is due next Tuesday. In fact I'll phone him today and have him look at it on the web before I meet with him.
Based on a former 'stuff-up' where I blew a hose, I have a warning system for low water. My Early Warning System is an alarm that 'goes ape' when it senses the water below a certain level.
In the days leading up to the 'incident' on the
Moonbi Range my EWS was continually going off. I'd stop to
check and sometimes I needed a top-up and other times it was okay with level but still the alarm rang, which really puzzled me.
Anyway heading North from
Tamworth I knew that the climb would be extremely steep and so I pulled into a
Tamworth servo topped her up with water & took a break before tackling
Moonbi.
On climbing
Moonbi the gauge rose & was heading for the red, so I pulled over and let her cool down while enjoying a cuppa & some lunch.
Despite the levels being checked it just seemed to lose water and the alarm was going off quite a bit on the journey
home.
From memory it would drink more than a litre at a time, after which we'd let her settle and head off yet again. We were puzzled as to where it was all going and thought we had a leak but there was no water dripping onto the ground.
Once
home we got it up to the mechanic who initially felt (with a pressure
test) that it wasn't a head gasket but a crook radiator. So new radiator installed. The alarm still went nuts & after a few days we took her back to be told the bad news that it's almost certainly the head gasket. So that was fixed.
Bottom line is that even to this day I don't know the real cause but I suspect that my original blown hose may have started the thing. Then I've hooked-up an off road CT that's over a ton compared to around 800 kg for my old on road job and then of course I've tossed in
Moonbi for good measure.
I know it's a long drawn out answer and the truth is I really don't know the answer. What I do know though is that after a new radiator and a head gasket repair and me closely looking after the coolant, that all is okay.
Is there anything in what I've said that gives you a clue as to what may have caused the head gasket seal to go?
Hello Roachie are you there? Mmm I suspect the story of my life may have caused a bit of the old zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
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