300Tdi overheating. Customer reported boiling. But was it? Part 1 

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This man is a dying breed of actual mechanics….. most mechanics that are churned out nowadays are just parts fitters…. Nice work that man

I know you ate a guru but i love that you are a guru in the style of tommy cooper and i mean that as a high complement .

Mike, I wish you had been my journeyman when I was an apprentice.

Good video Mike! Primary reason why we stopped using part providers that will not say where items are made, prior to purchasing from them. Cheap is cheap is a heap. So cheap often turns into expensive. "Do it once, do it right" Keep the video's coming you are entertaining even us (DCRovers) who also work on Defender's 6 days a week.

I noticed signs of cylinder over pressure right at the start of your video when you ran water through radiator to water pump. The top hose was visibly bulged mid length, I have had the same symptoms on TD5 discovery in Australia which had the equivalent hose split. I replaced it and next minute I had a volcano from filler tank. Lady had driven it 20km a day like that for 6 months. Thanks for the video.

Wish I had learnt that lesson about blasting out the holes with the air gun earlier. Learnt my lesson the hard way with Injector bolts on a fiesta and snapped one a few years back. Greetings from Ireland.

Another very interesting and entertaining video. Thanks Mike. Looking forward to the next one. 😊

Thanks Mike.......'getting a prick out......not me!' Comment as just ensued me cleaning up the floor of good quality Yorkshire tea! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Good timing with Jim turning up. Your customer will faint if he watches this video and hears about the ‘deposit on a 2020 Defender’. Lol.

Always follow your gut feeling Mike? Thanks for the honest vlog👍

@18.28 Mike gets a free bath 😂

Absolutely excellent video mate 👍👍

You can use a multi-meter + the heat gun to test the fan thermal couple switch as well (MPi Engine). The heat gun easier to handle than a pot of boiling water.

I have to say Mike I look forward to each new video that you put out but having say that if I was thinking about buying a Defender seeing the money pits that the last ones have been I think it would put me off unless you can afford to buy one in tip top condition but that is not cheap one reason why I got a Jeep.

My memory from running a 300tdi many years ago was that the engine naturally ran cool and any sort of "overheating" was most likely head or gasket.

Love this channel Sorry but i did laugh out loud when you got a face full of water 😂 that’s the sort of thing that happens to me all the time 😂

Had a td5 in what had gone up like volcano, looking at it it had a new gasket and new head, after asking the customer he said its been to 2 shops before us and they couldn't fix it from boiling, so I took the head off to find a perfect gasket under the new head ,but when cleaning the block I saw a patch in one of the bores ,a cracked block which no one spotted caused by the first overheating quite common on td5s

Just love your videos Mike. On the thread cleaning I have used a bolt the same thread etc as would normally be used but with a couple of slight angled longitudinal hacksaw cuts, when you put this bolt into the blind hole the cuts pickup rubbish and it's not as harsh as a tap...Thanks for what you do love your style of presenting and for freely giving so much info. PS tried to buy one of the flat steel pry thingey but your out of stock please let us know when there back. Cheers

Best thing you could have done with asbestos gaskets was put them in the puddle, it probable saved you because it kept the dust down. Interesting video, that was a two mugs of Yorkshire tea that one. There is a tool you can use to smell combustion vapour in the cooling via the expansion tank. Looking forward to the diagnosis when the head comes off. Chinese head? mmm?

If have had the same problem. at least after YEARS we found the problem. It was a piece of fabric cloth IN a water channel of the Motorblock which blocked PARTLY the waterflow.

The grease on a gasket tip is one of the best tips I've ever used. I bet main dealers never use it.

What happens when the head gasket goes is that combustion gases under high pressure enter the coolant jackets in the block and head and begin circulating through the cooling system. The system becomes overpressurized to above 15psi and coolant begins to be ejected through the reservoir cap, which is designed to release coolant at that pressure. Anyone looking at this will assume that the engine is overheating and boiling over, but it’s not. Of course, if this goes on for a while and enough coolant is blown out of the reservoir cap, eventually the coolant level will drop below the level of the thermostat and the coolant temperature sensor, which are mounted high on these engines, and your temp gauge will rapidly peg out. This can happen very quickly, so beware! Eventually, the coolant level will also drop below the level of the water pump, and then you’ll lose all cooling and you’ll very quickly destroy your entire engine, not just the head. The head is aluminum and can crack and warp. The block is cast iron and is quite robust, but no engine can last for long with inadequate coolant. As I said previously, most folks will assume they have a leak or some other failure in the cooling system when they see coolant in their engine compartment being blown out the reservoir cap, but that won’t be the actual problem if you have a bad head gasket. You can replace the radiator, hoses, water pump, heater core, reservoir and cap; literally everything, and the issue will remain unresolved because those things aren’t your problem. So how do you know for sure if you have a blown head gasket that’s venting compression gases into the cooling system? Easy! Get yourself a head gasket combustion leak test kit. They’re available on Amazon and elsewhere for about 40 USD. The kit will “sniff” your coolant and the test liquid in the kit will change color if combustion gases are present in your coolant. It’s easy and idiot proof. If gases are present, you have, at a minimum, a bad head gasket. Pull the head and test it for cracks. If it’s cracked you’ll need a new head as cracks are not repairable. Also check the face of the head for flatness. If you caught it in time and the head is not cracked but is warped only slightly, you can take it to a machine shop and get it skimmed if it isn’t warped beyond certain specs, but you’ll need a thicker head gasket to compensate for the loss of head thickness that occurred when the head was skimmed. Alternatively you could also buy a new head and start clean, which is the safest alternative, but of course more costly. The upshot is that if your reservoir cap is “boiling over” and your temp gauge pegs out for unexplained reasons, get yourself a tester and see if a blown head gasket is your real problem before you start ordering any cooling system parts and replacing items that are probably not your problem. And one more thing…use quality parts! Don’t buy Chinese cylinder heads. They’re junk! Also buy a quality head gasket, Mike has videos of his success with gaskets that are actually comprised of multiple layers. These are better than to original gaskets because they compensate for the expansion differences between the aluminum head and the cast iron block. I’d also add that pulling a head and replacing a head gasket or the head itself isn’t particularly difficult. Get a good manual and follow the instructions methodically. Don’t skimp on quality parts., otherwise you’ll be doing the job all over again a lot sooner than you would like.

Thanks!

Great video Mike 👌 it's not looking good. No water no oil, think she maybe toast.👍

thank you for share detail video

Hey Mike, I really like love your video and gained knowledge about 300tdi. Last month I overhauled and rebuild my defender 300tdi. I also had heating problem before and after rebuild. The cause was thermostat. I used britpart thermostat (ERR3291) with 88 deg rated one. I think thermostat suppose-to close the by-pass line when water temperature at around 88. But I checked the thermostat in a boiling water with thermometer around 88 celsius and it open fully. I boiled water around 100 celsius and insert to thermostat housing without rubber seal and it doesn't close bypass line. I thought thermostat was little bit short. So I bought two more from different local shops. Those two were also same. I live in Sri Lanka, We don't have cool climate below 20. In my part has 27 average. So I removed the thermostat and used nylon plug with small hole(3 millimeter) and reduced the water flow to the by-pass line. Then problem was solved but reaching time to working temperature increased. But it never pass 60% of the gauge. I tried to use thermostat after rebuild and then same happened. So I remove the thermostat and used nylon plug. If there any wrong please let me know. I hope you get anything.

Mike mine was overheating long time ago. So I took rad in and between the top rad hose and the bottom rad hose in the rad there's a divider that the coolant goes through rad then comes out the bottom. And my rad guy found a stock toonie sized hole in the divider. So he welded it up and cleaned my rad. So what was the problem was the coolant was just circulating through divider hole 🕳 instead of going through rad and was overheating. Now no problems in 5 yrs

Hey mike doesnt matter what you do if you remove the pump that p gasket is allways disturbed. Mite take 6 months to 12 to start leaking..

Had exactly the same thing on mine, replaced everyting like in the vid, but what i didn't find out till it caused the head gasket to go, was the new radiator was only using half of the radiator, as the other side was blocked off, but it was still circulating, just not enough to keep it cool

Im in the same boat with mine i hope to check everything over when ive got a few days hasnt boiled over but every now and then the temp needle almost goes into the red but the sender connector does look a bit corroded so gonna start there i think as its cheap

Cylinder head got crack. Due to water tank damage by shock absorber. That's the time all water was drained. And the cylinder head got cracked.by over heating

Definitely a csi situtation .. get the orange saftey cones n tape out .. throw all the bits over the neighbors fence n start agins .. im glad weees worked that out squadron leader.. oh and ya might wanna by ua neigbour a pilth hat what with all these mankeys n stuff .. 😁

I had a weird cooling issue that I traced to a pebble in the return outlet of the expansion tank.

18:45 I'll assume you'd opened the heater tap, Mike😂

As one said below I warmed the pump to check if it works and even when hot it works That is to say when turn outside inside turns also...even when hot

I once had the impeller come loose on a 2.5na, at low speed and temp it worked fine but at higher speed and temperature it would slip and not pump properly. Pull over and cool off then it worked again... it took me a while to figure it out. I assume the metal impeller was expanding enough to slip on the metal shaft at higher temps and loads but was tight enough to move some water at lower temps and loads.

Ha-ha, Saturday night is bath night!

This episode played out like a classic whodunnit book

Mike, have you ever tried a head gasket sealant liquid? I haven’t, I’m just curious.

If he’s really lucky it could just be gasket- was the block cleaned properly before it was fitted etc? The pressure test puts a LOT less force on the gasket than the compression of a diesel does so it might be able to hold for the coolant test and not hold compression. Also direction of the pressure can be relevant- I’ve seen a failed gasket get “pushed back together “ by a coolant test and hold tight, then let go when compression pushed it the other way. Good luck with it anyway!

Hello,I've got a mix of oil in the water in the reservoir tank.Surprisingly when drain the oil from sump,not even a dot of water. Change 4times the cooler(radiator),fault still occurs. Advise

whats hot for a TDI300 in C?

Mike have you got a "combustion gas in coolant tester"? That's one of the first tests our mechanic will do for an overheating engine. That will save time pointing straight to a head gasket leak or cracks on the combustion chamber side of the head or cylinder block.

Yes those water pump bolts break. I’ve learned to add anti fretting paste as you do when replacing those bolts as well as timing case bolts.

Hello Mike I afraid I have the same pb as you Pressure un the tank and even water pump works water does not go thrue The heater inside the car does not warms ans thermostat cheked So ????? What appened ?

Is the engine block water galleries blocked?

What about corrosion inside the block? That could be inhibiting flow

I had trouble before with over heating it turned out to be heater matrix was blocking up the glow

on a petrol car I'd say: running too lean. I don't know if a diesel can have similar issues? Like too high of an exhaust temp? ha.... and now I watched until the end, ooops

Hey mike I’ve got a strange dilemma with my Land Rover it’s a 2.5 naturally aspirated your favourite lol anyway I had the core plugs replaced because 2 of them was leaking had them done and I’m still losing water the mechanic said it could be air in the system because the water in the in header tank dropped. I’ve been driving it and the water level dropped again I put about 1 ltr of water in and it’s still dropping there’s no over heating runs at its operating temperature once it’s warmed up. Strange thing is the waters stone cold when I’ve been running about in it in the header tank. Obviously it smokes when it’s cold with blue/ grey smoke then once it’s warmed up there’s no smoke could you shed any light or give me any ideas what it could be or is it because it’s been drained when the work was done? Tom

Would a combustion gas tester have worked on that?

I was just waiting for that hose to spurt... Sorry had to chuckle - had a few face washes myself. Usually the hose or the pressure washer but I think hosing the heater radiator got me once too. 😂

Maybe wrong head gasket blocking the journals causing the head gasket to fail

Block jacket sounds clogged probably just passed the pump or dodgy engine gasket next problem temperature gauge??? Confused.com

Has someone used Celit

Hey mike hope your keeping well what was the end result for this motor did the customer get the work done or did he end up selling it? Mike do you have an email address I need some advise about mine

Somethings not right with a land rover? Impossible!

Weak water pump or running out a tooth

Ask the owner if there was a man on the wing while driving ... then the cause is obviously Gremlins.

that green 90 seems as neglected as the white ones from the continent that can't be named

That was a mess of funnins squadron leader..😁😎pip pips and carryon

Plastic impellers? Turn to BMW if you want to see those

Checked the radiator cooling fins? - They fall out, the cores don't have enough surface area to loose the heat and the engine overheats, it's a common fault. - 23:08 Crankcase pressure getting in the cooling system? - er . . . how's that possible then Mike?

Just because the water poured through the radiator doesn't mean that the lower half of the radiator isn't clogged.

This man is a dying breed of actual mechanics….. most mechanics that are churned out nowadays are just parts fitters…. Nice work that man

This man is a dying breed of actual mechanics….. most mechanics that are churned out nowadays are just parts fitters…. Nice work that man