I am stumped ---- Coolant Leak

racertracer · **Posted:** Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:56 pm

.005 is a figure used as a scare tactic on unknowing CRD owners to donate to the family scholarship fund and the such.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:29 am

Thanks guys. I found this place: http://www.americancylinderheads.com/ that is close to me. They only have one Yelp review but it's positive. I'll give them a call on Monday. Also this place: http://www.robsautomachine.com/#!shop-s ... nder-heads

Do they need any info from me like what it should be machined to, etc or is it a standard thing (make it square)? The dealer is spec'ing 5166483AA which the parts fiche says is the 1.52mm thickness which also looks like the thickest gasket. Could that be? W/ a new head? I'll try to find out what size my current gasket is.

Also, they want to replace the radiator (same reason as racertracer). I'm ok w/ buying a new rad (this dealer is fine w/ me buying stuff from moparpartsamerica) but they want to charge me a bunch of labor to install it. I would think they would have pulled the rad and intercooler in order to pull the head, water pump, etc. Is it standard practice to pull the rad and intercooler or might it still be installed? Just don't want to pay for labor twice.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:26 am

grywlfbg wrote:

Thanks guys. I found this place: http://www.americancylinderheads.com/ that is close to me. They only have one Yelp review but it's positive. I'll give them a call on Monday. Also this place: http://www.robsautomachine.com/#!shop-s ... nder-heads.

Great, I hope that these places are within driving distances to you because if they are not, the shipping costs may make machining the head an uneconomical way to do this repair and place a new head in a better economical position.

grywlfbg wrote:

Do they need any info from me like what it should be machined to, etc or is it a standard thing (make it square)? The dealer is spec'ing 5166483AA which the parts fiche says is the 1.52mm thickness which also looks like the thickest gasket. Could that be? W/ a new head? I'll try to find out what size my current gasket is.

The shop will be able to determine what the new dimensions should be but bringing in the old gasket along with the head will help them determine this. The best scenario would be for the existing cylinder head to be reused without the need for machining.

If you haven't already purchased the parts from the online parts store, ask the parts department at your local dealer to match or come close to the prices you've gotten so far and you may discover that the dealer prices on parts are reasonable because the shipping charges are eliminated.

I did it this way and received further discounts from the dealer because I procured all the parts from the same place where the mechanical work was being done. I just had to hand deliver the parts to the Service department myself, no problem.

Always negotiate the itemized costs and they will work with you. Remember that they are in the business of making money and you are in the business of negotiating to save it.

grywlfbg wrote:

Also, they want to replace the radiator (same reason as racertracer). I'm ok w/ buying a new rad (this dealer is fine w/ me buying stuff from moparpartsamerica) but they want to charge me a bunch of labor to install it. I would think they would have pulled the rad and intercooler in order to pull the head, water pump, etc. Is it standard practice to pull the rad and intercooler or might it still be installed? Just don't want to pay for labor twice.

They do not need to pull the radiator and intercooler in order to do the water pump, timing belt and head work.

If the radiator is full of the leak detection dye and K-seal you poured in, then as a precaution the service manager will not want to reuse it, they will want to replace the radiator so that the system is clean from the start and will add the labor charge to do this.

Make sure that the mechanic realizes that the green colored coolant present in the system now, is from the green test dye you poured in and not the original color of the coolant. The CRD uses the red color HOAT coolant.

Tell them that the system needs to be flushed anyway to remove the dye and K-Seal and they may be favorable to salvaging the old radiator, my dealer was not.

You will be charged for the system flush.

Gather the costs and see which way is best for you.

Racertracer

flman · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:23 am

Looks like the mystery has been solved, warped head. Did you buy the parts your self or did the dealer supply?

Smacker · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:59 pm

Like to hear how this plays out. My 2005 CRD @ 150K is also losing about a quart of coolant every 2 weeks. When she sits for more than 16 hours I get a good puff of white smoke and smokes for about a 1/2 mile, then normal and runs good. Might do that about once a week. I feel it's not going to heal itself, so here I am again! Great thread by the way!

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:43 pm

Smacker wrote:

Like to hear how this plays out. My 2005 CRD @ 150K is also losing about a quart of coolant every 2 weeks. When she sits for more than 16 hours I get a good puff of white smoke and smokes for about a 1/2 mile, then normal and runs good. Might do that about once a week. I feel it's not going to heal itself, so here I am again! Great thread by the way!

white smoke may be due to coolant leaking in the cylinder chamber. Have you experienced a coolant leak in the past that might have caused your engine to overheat?

Smacker · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:27 am

Never had any leaks before,

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:11 pm

flman wrote:

Looks like the mystery has been solved, warped head. Did you buy the parts your self or did the dealer supply?

Looking at my options today - machine my head or buy one through moparpartsamerica or through the dealer (if they can get very close to MPA's price). My Service Writer works Tues-Sat so I'll be figuring it out w/ him tomorrow.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:58 pm

Service write called in sick today so everything's on hold for now.

I did some calling around and I'm leaning towards just going w/ a new head assuming the dealer can match MPA's price (or I'll just order from MPA). I'm looking at ~$500 difference between getting my head fixed and getting a new one and I'd have to take 2 half days off work to get the head to the shop and back and combined w/ the potential warranty issues (if something happens in 9 months the dealer could say the repair was bad and the shop could say the install was bad....) I think I'll just go w/ a new one. Unfortunately I have to send my old head back to MPA to get the $875 price ($300 core charge) otherwise I'd hold onto it in case someone else needed one someday.

fratichelli · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:16 pm

Is the new head complete or bare? If it is just bolt-on and from a reliable source, I think I would definitely go with the new head.

flman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:17 pm

grywlfbg wrote:

Service write called in sick today so everything's on hold for now.

I did some calling around and I'm leaning towards just going w/ a new head assuming the dealer can match MPA's price (or I'll just order from MPA). I'm looking at ~$500 difference between getting my head fixed and getting a new one and I'd have to take 2 half days off work to get the head to the shop and back and combined w/ the potential warranty issues (if something happens in 9 months the dealer could say the repair was bad and the shop could say the install was bad....) I think I'll just go w/ a new one. Unfortunately I have to send my old head back to MPA to get the $875 price ($300 core charge) otherwise I'd hold onto it in case someone else needed one someday.

$300 bucks, that would be close to the cost of one valve or rocker. I would hang on to it for $300.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:22 pm

fratichelli wrote:

Is the new head complete or bare? If it is just bolt-on and from a reliable source, I think I would definitely go with the new head.

Complete - from Mopar. It's reman as I understand there are no more new ones. Hence the core charge.

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:40 pm

Smacker wrote:

Never had any leaks before,

I am wondering if lack of the old turbo cool down procedure may have been the cause.

Was the cooling system ever flushed?

Smacker · **Posted:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:14 pm

Cooling system has never been flushed and the turbo always gets a good cooling just going up the driveway, 8min @ 20 mph.

racertracer · **Posted:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:54 pm

Smacker wrote:

Cooling system has never been flushed and the turbo always gets a good cooling just going up the driveway, 8min @ 20 mph.

What color is your coolant and is there a good strong flow?

Smacker · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:09 am

racertracer wrote:

Smacker wrote:

Cooling system has never been flushed and the turbo always gets a good cooling just going up the driveway, 8min @ 20 mph.

What color is your coolant and is there a good strong flow?

Coolant is orange and not sure how to check flow.

racertracer · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:36 am

Smacker wrote:

Coolant is orange and not sure how to check flow.

A visual inspection of the coolant flow.

You should see an uninterrupted flow of coolant going into the top of the coolant tank coming from a small black hose.

Test the boiling point of the existing coolant to see if it has deteriorated. Use a simple coolant tester or have your local Advanced Auto Parts or AutoZone do it for you.

Are you seeing coolant overflowing into the overflow reservoir located to the right of the plastic coolant tank, that tank should be dry?

When the engine is cold remove the radiator cap and check to see if there is a large amount of pressure escaping.

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:51 am

Well, I have coolant in the overflow bottle again.

I hate to even think about what the consequences are.

I question what the hell is happening here, I just had the head gasket and cylinder head replaced, I need some input.

I think the engine runs excessively hot even if the temperature gauge sits exactly where it's supposed to...... just to left of center.

I'll admit that on the highway, I push the speed limit and the turbo.

One thing I can say is that I do not experience clogged turbo vanes because I blow the crud right out of the exhaust.

But I never allow the turbo to reach the red zone and the temperature gauge never spikes or goes past where it is supposed to be just to the left of center.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:15 pm

Thoughts for what they are worth: 1) check actual temp at top of tstat with infrared temp gauge; 2) invoke gauge cluster test and see if temp gauge goes to the various correct postions; and 3) remember temp gauge is only as accurate as the $10 or so sending unit on the back side of the tstat. Assume for discussion purposes it's really running hot have you check the function of you fan clutch?

racertracer · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:40 pm

papaindigo wrote:

1) check actual temp at top of tstat with infrared temp gauge;

I don't have an infra red gauge. I looked for one on the net and some are very costly, not sure if a cheap 40 dollar one would work? How high should the IF gauge be able to read.. how high do the temps get?

papaindigo wrote:

2) invoke gauge cluster test and see if temp gauge goes to the various correct postions.

Yes it does.

papaindigo wrote:

3) remember temp gauge is only as accurate as the $10 or so sending unit on the back side of the tstat.

I am seriously considering replacing the functioning thermostat with the non functioning failed open thermostat to eliminate cylinder head problems due to overheating.

papaindigo wrote:

Assume for discussion purposes it's really running hot have you checked the function of you fan clutch?

The Fan clutch is new and I have not heard it come on.

I am stumped ---- Coolant Leak

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