Following on from finding a coolant leak in the middle of the RH head to block, I first tried to cure by re-torquing the head down,but no joy.
wondarweld.jpeg
As the leak was not getting in to the oil, I assumed it to be a head gasket issue. My options were, take the head off... yikes and maybe end up with something worse, or try Wondar weld. Having sought people opinions, I thought give it a go. and here is how I got on.
First, I drained out thoroughly the antifreeze / coolant I put in in January... ( very frustrating, but at least as it was bright pink the leak was easy to spot) This took ages... maybe 4 hours of draining and refilling etc...
Then I removed the Thermostat to pour in the Wondarweld via a funnel into the chamber were the thermostat goes it was very thick and gloopy and it was a good job I really gave it a good shake first.. I then refitted another thermostat I had as I did not want the one that was in coated or anything as that was also new in January.
I then went for a 1.5 hour drive. It says between 10 mins and 2 hours or until the leak stops, but where my leak was its difficult to see and as everything was so hot I would not be sure it was cured, so I went for the longer time.
I then let it cool for 2 hours as the leak mainly showed while the system was under pressure, and then drained it down. OMG when it came out you could see the trillions of the red particles... The phot below shows what came out after about 7 flushes.
IMG_2570.jpg
The instructions simply say 'flush it out' well 20 flushes later I am still flushing it out. One of the problems was to get the stuff out the block, after refilling, I had to start the engine, let it run for 2 mins to make sure the coolant was fully mixed, then drain. But this led to the engine getting hotter and hotter forcing me to take breaks to let the engine cool down. There must be an easier way surely? The next question is when is it fully flushed out? The water is always pinky and you can see loads of particles still in there. Maybe it does not need the level of flushing I am giving it, but then in the photo below the funnel looks like its got some of the wondar weld on it, and it just needs wiping...wrong... I left it on the funnel overnight and the sludgey looking stuff is now rock hard and like solid resin! So I want to get rid of the particles as best I can.
IMG_2571.jpg
Another thing I noticed was the bowl started to gain a milky residue on its sides... presumably from the chemicals in the Wondarweld..
IMG_2572.jpg
I think the amount that left in now will not be harmful, and the other chemicals are probably well washed out. I could see inside the radiator and it was still shine and looked the same as before I started. I then took the thermostat out which looked OK but you could see particles around it too. I refitted the original thermostat. I made a decision to not put any antifreeze/coolant in for a few weeks as I will continue to flush it out every few journeys before I throw the towel in and put coolant back in.
IMG_2573.jpg
But you ask, 'did it work?' well the answer is ..yes.. it worked. The leak has stopped, as has probably other leaks that I did not know about either. The main message here is that the flushing out at either ends of the job was the worst part.. it taking forever especially trying to get the stuff back out.
I hope this was a wise move... I cannot tell yet except suffice to say everything seems to be normal at the moment.
I hope my leak stays fixed... an no untoward things follow this excursion.
Dave
wondarweld.jpeg
As the leak was not getting in to the oil, I assumed it to be a head gasket issue. My options were, take the head off... yikes and maybe end up with something worse, or try Wondar weld. Having sought people opinions, I thought give it a go. and here is how I got on.
First, I drained out thoroughly the antifreeze / coolant I put in in January... ( very frustrating, but at least as it was bright pink the leak was easy to spot) This took ages... maybe 4 hours of draining and refilling etc...
Then I removed the Thermostat to pour in the Wondarweld via a funnel into the chamber were the thermostat goes it was very thick and gloopy and it was a good job I really gave it a good shake first.. I then refitted another thermostat I had as I did not want the one that was in coated or anything as that was also new in January.
I then went for a 1.5 hour drive. It says between 10 mins and 2 hours or until the leak stops, but where my leak was its difficult to see and as everything was so hot I would not be sure it was cured, so I went for the longer time.
I then let it cool for 2 hours as the leak mainly showed while the system was under pressure, and then drained it down. OMG when it came out you could see the trillions of the red particles... The phot below shows what came out after about 7 flushes.
IMG_2570.jpg
The instructions simply say 'flush it out' well 20 flushes later I am still flushing it out. One of the problems was to get the stuff out the block, after refilling, I had to start the engine, let it run for 2 mins to make sure the coolant was fully mixed, then drain. But this led to the engine getting hotter and hotter forcing me to take breaks to let the engine cool down. There must be an easier way surely? The next question is when is it fully flushed out? The water is always pinky and you can see loads of particles still in there. Maybe it does not need the level of flushing I am giving it, but then in the photo below the funnel looks like its got some of the wondar weld on it, and it just needs wiping...wrong... I left it on the funnel overnight and the sludgey looking stuff is now rock hard and like solid resin! So I want to get rid of the particles as best I can.
IMG_2571.jpg
Another thing I noticed was the bowl started to gain a milky residue on its sides... presumably from the chemicals in the Wondarweld..
IMG_2572.jpg
I think the amount that left in now will not be harmful, and the other chemicals are probably well washed out. I could see inside the radiator and it was still shine and looked the same as before I started. I then took the thermostat out which looked OK but you could see particles around it too. I refitted the original thermostat. I made a decision to not put any antifreeze/coolant in for a few weeks as I will continue to flush it out every few journeys before I throw the towel in and put coolant back in.
IMG_2573.jpg
But you ask, 'did it work?' well the answer is ..yes.. it worked. The leak has stopped, as has probably other leaks that I did not know about either. The main message here is that the flushing out at either ends of the job was the worst part.. it taking forever especially trying to get the stuff back out.
I hope this was a wise move... I cannot tell yet except suffice to say everything seems to be normal at the moment.
I hope my leak stays fixed... an no untoward things follow this excursion.
Dave
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