indoken Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 hi help needed yesterday i was driving my 300tdi when i lost all coolant and overheated badly. managed to limp home stopping to refill water every 2 miles. the expansion tank had split so i have got a replacement. now however the engine tries but fails to start. lots of smoke comming out the back that looks like unburned fuel but no firing. could this be a symtom of a warped head/blown gasket. thanks. ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Or massive horrible bore wear - pistons picking up on the bores - v expensif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puffernutter Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 When mine overheated I burnt through a piston! Cheers Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Hi I'd pull either the heater plugs or injectors and crank it over to see if you have water where it shouldn't be - it'll squirt out when you crank it so look out If so it is possible to bend a conrod just trying to start it so head off and check it all An initial test would be to pressure the water system 10 - 12 psi and see if the pressure stays (good) or drops (bad) hth Steveb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indoken Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 hi the head is now off. it was the gasket between pots 2/3. luckily there was a partial seal around the pistons so i was loosing compression but no water was getting into the pots. thanks for the suggestions ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt bristol Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Its F'ed anyway so if it was me I would pull the head off and have a look - if the bottom end is OK you will need to change the head gasket and either replace the head or skim, if the bottom end is dead its lighter to get out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puffernutter Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Glad to hear it wasn't as catastrophic as mine! Good luck when it's all back together. I ended up fitting a RR expansion tank with a level sensor in it so it wouldn't happen to me again, or if it did, I would know about it quicker. In the end it turned out that I had a leak on the heater matrix and that was causing the water loss. That was a major pain to change.... Cheers Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indoken Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 hi oh well thats me £500 lighter. new head, new water pump...............+ other parts thats what i call a s***t day ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.