Kaput.

[Horatius]

Well, it looks like the old girl has finally given up. Unfortunately from the failure of a trivial and cheap part, ie. the small hose that goes between the EGR valve and the block, which cracked and split, causing it to run low on coolant and overheat on the freeway.

Unfortunately I changed all hoses at 300k kms except for that one lol. Being a particular moulded shape I meant to order one, but of course forgot all about it...woops.

Even more unfortunately I recently removed the low water alarm (alarm goes on once water level drops by about 20-25mm from radiator full level) and the "engine watchdog" that had a thermocouple bolted to the head with a temperature alarm (set at 100 deg C). Yeah, it's a long story...

The wife was driving at the time and noticed a slight "miss", so she pulled over, at which time she noticed the "cracked head indicator" (ie. factory temperature gauge) unusually high. I have a proper analogue temp gauge also which might have given some warning but the wife didn't even know what that was for lol. Anyway, gauges often show a drop in temperature initially when you loose coolant, before alerting you when it's already too late lol.

As if to make sure the head was cracked, after letting it cool down somewhat she started and drove another 5kms or so to a safer area to stop. Though in fairness the head was probably cracked by the time she noticed a "miss". When I got there it took about 6-8 litres of water, so it was obviously gone.

After fixing I drove it back and it still starts first kick (even when cold), still sounds the same, goes well with no difference in performance at all. The problem being that it is pressurising the cooling system and forcing coolant into the overflow. Not hugely, but consistently.

A shame really, I have little doubt it would have been a 500k kms+ car. Unsure what to do with it now. At 400k kms I was looking at retiring it from remote type of trips soon anyway, and those kms don't tell the full story. I have had the speedo wires ripped off more than once and driven it around for extended periods using the tacho to gauge speed. So its probably more like 430k or more kms and even the so many of those have been tough kms off road where it might work its guts out all day for only 30kms on the speedo. It's been put through hell really, without a whimper until this.

A quick look shows replacement heads anywhere from $1350 to about $3000. Anyone had success with the cheapies? It's probably not worth spending a lot on and it's lots of frigging around. Will have to make the decision soon I suppose, probably with a tinge of sadness, which itself is irrational as it's only an inanimate machine lol.

 

[Horatius]

ps. It's the zd30 model engine.

 

[Boogieboots]

Bad luck mate. I feel I should like your post but that is *********

I recommend you get it fixed so that you can continue to participate in this forum, or buy another Nav...
Or if you have no self respect you could get yourself a Hilux

 

[Horatius]

Bad luck mate. I feel I should like your post but that is *********

Thanks mate. I will miss it, it's been a reliable thing for many years. It's been to some places, some where a nav has no right to go! lol.

I recommend you get it fixed so that you can continue to participate in this forum, or buy another Nav...
Or if you have no self respect you could get yourself a Hilux

I doubt they'd accept my internal organs as down payment for a Lolux, as they've depreciated considerably over the years (my organs that is, not the lux's). Getting on a bit, not what they used to be. lol.

Not sure they're as "unbreakable" off road as the advertising suggests either. Have seen more broken lux's on the tracks than anything else (diffs usually). Great for a tradies ute or outback tourer though. As boring as batsh-t to drive as well.

 

[GIJoe]

Thats a bummer. That temperature alarms a good idea, i might have to look into it.

 

[Horatius]

Thats a bummer. That temperature alarms a good idea, i might have to look into it.

They're a great idea. One tip though, is if you are unhappy with where you have the unit mounted and start changing it, don't get distracted by something else and leave it disconnected/out of the car lol. That's sure to be the time you'll need it!

Not a bad idea to check all the smaller hoses occasionally either. Perhaps change the all at certain kms. This one looked fine from the top/part you can inspect. The bottom part which goes under the EGR valve and into the block was perished and one small crack was enough to end it.

 

[Old.Tony]

There's always the option of using Chemweld or equivalent. I've heard some people (who didn't admit to ever having this problem) say it's **** and stops you from repairing the motor. I've had a couple of people (who have had this problem) tell me they put the stuff in "a long time ago" and it's still running. I can't say "it's great, go for it" because I've never done it.

What I have done is replace my head with a "cheapy". New head is amazing, car is running cooler and has as much power as it had before. I did choose to replace the water pump and the belts at the time. The old water pump looked brand new inside, but I didn't know that when I asked the guy to replace it.