Mountainman wrote:
I edited my above post, as it adjusted my pattern to the left, so now it's easy to see that the front of my head was loose compared to the rest of it. I couldn't get a good read on the HG as to where it was leaking, but when I went to scrape the block clean, it was obvious from significant rust, that the water was leaking around #1...
I think this is really interesting because I torture tested this engine with heavy towing and an inline thermostat (hey, my CRD came with it from the PO
). It didn't leak prior to this abuse, and so maybe those more insightful than myself can draw some good conclusions from this? I think the lag time of the inline is dangerous, and what about the failed stock stat and blocked off bypass. With the bypass closed, would the front of the engine heat up more? I thought someone said that the thermostat area (#1?) should be the coolest?
One last thought. Maybe my E-fan is a bad idea, and maybe the significant air that the mechanical fan blows even when not engaged was deemed necessary by the designers?
I think you head gasket leak had more to do with inadequate torque of the head bolts.
I believe cylinder #1 should be the coolest simply because its closest to the thermostat outlet. Look at it this way, if there was zero thermostat, coolant around cyl 1 would have the quickest path out from the engine. Cylinder #4 would have the longest path.
But when you put a thermostat in there, all 4 cylinders should be almost equally hot until the thermostat opens. The purpose of the bypass is to allow some coolant to circulate and maintain a more balanced temperature until the thermostat opens.
Also, look at all the holes and openings in the head gasket. You will find that cyl 1 only has two openings for coolant to pass from block into the head. Cyl 4 has four openings. Cyl 2 and 3 each have three. This is designed to balance coolant flow across the entire head.
I dont think that an electric cooling fan is a bad idea. Whats most important is that the fan (electric or mechanical) can pull enough air through the radiator (and A/C condenser and intercooler) to keep the engine cool at high load.
You could even wire the electric fan to be ON all the time if you wanted.
I removed my mechanical fan and only use the factory electric pusher fan.
I found that even during 20-30 deg F outside temperatures, coolant temps can still get pretty high when climbing a steep hill at
slow speed.
So, I wired up the fan so that its always on at LOW speed and use a toggle switch to kick it on to HIGH speed when needed.
When using the factory electric fan control settings, there are only two conditions when the electric fan will turn on:
1. engine coolant temp gets above 205 F
2. A/C compressor turns on (as sensed by one of the A/C pressure switches)