Does anyone want my CRD?

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

It's in northern Illinois, it came from Seattle this summer, so it hasn't been subjected to the salt all till now. I believe it has about 150K miles. The odometer reads 148k.

However, it's started losing small amounts of water again. I don't have the money ( any money at all ) to fix whatever it is. I suspect crack in the head, but not one that is under compression, because it simply never builds pressure in the tank and doesn't leak when it's running... Only when it sits cold - and then it steams out the exhaust in the morning a little.

It has new Cooper Discoverer CTS's all around. I just had timing belt, water pump, head studs, updated filterhead and heater, and Suncoast torque converter put in. It has helicoil'd threads in the pan plug and a stant thermostat inline.

I paid 6500 for it, and have put 2700 into it. And now I'll have to take whatever loss. I MUST have a vehicle in order to earn a living. I have a clear title and nothing is owing on it.

Anyone?

fatweasel · **Posted:** Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:44 pm

I had a similar mystery leak a while back.

Mine had a small crack in the steel tube that runs down to the EGR valve. It was really hard to find, but the crack was at the point where the tube bolts to the top of the engine. The new design has a rubber grommet so Chrysler must have become aware of this issue.

I think white smoke at start-up is normal - Don't give up yet until you have confirmed no external leaks!

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

fatweasel wrote:

I had a similar mystery leak a while back.

Mine had a small crack in the steel tube that runs down to the EGR valve. It was really hard to find, but the crack was at the point where the tube bolts to the top of the engine. The new design has a rubber grommet so Chrysler must have become aware of this issue.

I think white smoke at start-up is normal - Don't give up yet until you have confirmed no external leaks!

My EGR cooler is blocked off.

And, for the weeks it didn't go down, it started smoother and steamed only a tiny bit at start when it was real cold. I know the difference between steam and blue smoke. Mine has some blue when stone cold, but goes away once it gets a little bit of heat in the motor. White smoke will happen when there's fuel injected but not burned. It's rare in a high compression diesel like these. Generally either a result of low compression or bad injector nozzle.

racertracer · **Posted:** Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:09 pm

Any foam or bubbles in the Motor oil?

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

racertracer wrote:

Any foam or bubbles in the Motor oil?

Nope. No evidence at all of water in the oil (haven't done lab test). At least not last time I looked a few days ago. No appearance of condensation, no beige crap, nothing.

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:01 am

Did you confirm that there aren't any external coolant leaks by using a dye in the coolant and a blue light as a leak detector or something similar?

Have you removed your skid plate to look up and under the water pump to see if it has coolant leaks or dried up greyish encrusted coolant trails down from the pump along side the block.

When you remove the radiator cap is there any pressure in the coolant tank after the engine has been running for sometime .... any at all?

Also, if you replaced the OEM thermostat, did you make sure that the gasket was on properly and that you didn't strip one of the bolts by over torqueing?

Brianawd · **Joined:** Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:59 pm **Posts:** 130

[/quote] It's rare in a high compression diesel like these. Generally either a result of low compression or bad injector nozzle.[/quote]

Every diesel is high compression. Fact is ours is some what low at only 17.5:1. Most diesels range between 15-22. Its not rare for one to puff white smoke on start up on a cold motor. Cold motor = lower compression and burned diesel.

Try and pressure test you cooling system when the block is cold. If your head is cracked you should be able to find where is coming from if its leaking outside the block

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

Brianawd wrote:

It's rare in a high compression diesel like these. Generally either a result of low compression or bad injector nozzle.[/quote]

Every diesel is high compression. Fact is ours is some what low at only 17.5:1. Most diesels range between 15-22. Its not rare for one to puff white smoke on start up on a cold motor. Cold motor = lower compression and burned diesel.

Try and pressure test you cooling system when the block is cold. If your head is cracked you should be able to find where is coming from if its leaking outside the block[/quote]

I didn't warm up up this morning, just started, idled for a minute or so, and slowly drove off. I did notice, however, that as the motor began to warm, I recognized the odor of antifreeze coming in the heater for a short period. I have never had steam inside, and the windows do not fog, so no reason to think the heater core's leaking.

Once I have some more money come in, I'll get some dye... Get the motor steam cleaned, and see if anything appears.

My wife has a UV flashlight...

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:33 pm

Borrow a cooling system pressure tester from autozone and pressure test the cooling system

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

racertracer wrote:

Borrow a cooling system pressure tester from autozone and pressure test the cooling system

What, exactly, does this do for me? I already know I have a leak.

What I don't know, is where.

racertracer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:29 am

If the coolant only flows out under pressure, it will help find the leak when the CRD is not running.

my1998tdi · **Joined:** Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:41 pm **Posts:** 16

Could it be a cracked sleeve?

geordi · **Posted:** Thu Dec 19, 2013 12:09 am

That would be fairly obvious with water in the oil or oil in the water. The sleeves are "wet" so one side is oil (the inside) and the outside is full of coolant.

The two would meet fairly quick if the sleeve was cracked.

pwrwagn · **Joined:** Mon Jul 22, 2013 2:40 am **Posts:** 192

geordi wrote:

That would be fairly obvious with water in the oil or oil in the water. The sleeves are "wet" so one side is oil (the inside) and the outside is full of coolant.

The two would meet fairly quick if the sleeve was cracked.

If I had perforated or cracked sleeve, I would expect either a lot of water in the oil, or a lot of compression blown into the water. Don't seem to have either of those.

Does anyone want my CRD?

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