racertracer wrote:
K-seal has not cured the problem... the leak is back with a vengence.
The combustion test kit arrived today and it proved that combustion gases were present in the coolant.
Head gasket problem, cracked head, warped head, anything else it could be?
Not CRD specific but in general for aluminum head engines, head gasket goes first, and head warping second. A cracked head is generally from pushing the temp gauge way up too high and not having any coolant in the head. I have had many aluminum heads straightened (including diesels) by competent repair shops that would bolt the head down onto a heave plate and place the head into an oven, heat it up and let it cool down.
When it comes to cracked heads, some are easy and others are impossible, depending upon the crack. Since manufacturers do not make any money off a repaired cylinder head, they will use all kinds of fear tactics to scare shops and owners into buying a new head.
I strongly suspect Chrysler/VM are going to follow the same fear tactics all other manufacturers do to sell more parts to make money. Unless they do it in their repair center and if their cash register goes Cha Ching, it is then an approved practice.
In the era of the Ford Escort, cylinder head repair shops would weld an Escort cylinder head that was cracked in half back together, just to prove they could. Of course the structure of the Escort head was an open design that could be done.
If I had a CRD head that was warped, I would not hesitate to send it to a competent shop to see if it could be straightened. Cracked, it would depend on where it was cracked, but very unlikely.
Chemical sealants would only work if something like an intake runner or EGR cooler was cracked, if the wonder goo works, you better buy a lottery ticket while your luck holds out.
For the EGR cooler, plate the EGR and bypass the EGR cooler, problem solved.
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