 | Home > Puma (Tdci) > Coolant flowing from the exhaust |
 
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23   
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Hello there,
Quite worrying issue on my 2.4, after a day driving off-road with absolutely no issues, I parked the car overnight. The next morning I started the car and it "puffed puffed" but started and got a low coolant alarm on my madman. I decided to not risk it and take another car to go to work. I however refilled the coolant to the right level. In the evening the coolant in the expansion tank was gone, no sign of coolant on the ground. To me it is either head gasket or egr cooler. I bypassed the egr cooler yesterday, toped up the coolant and started the engine... It cranked and lots of water was flowing from the exhaust, I then loosen some exhaust bolts and drained it (about 2L of coolant). I then tried to start the car with success (with strange noises at the beginning though). After 12h the level of coolant didn't move so I assume I solved the issue. Do you think I can safely drive 20minutes to reach the garage? Or any other things I should check before doing so? Thanks in advance, Gregoire |
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12th Nov 2020 6:42am |
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23
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Thansk Jst for your reply
I did check and it seems there is no water in the oil, nor oil in the water but will check once again. Exhaust - I have a straight pipe instead of the center silencer, bolts were the ones between the straight pipe and the tail one. Even with water in it was starting but seeing coolant going out of the exhaust I stopped directly. Starnge noises as the engine was cranking slowly and needed to push the water out of the engine + lumpy engine (felt a but like when my CAT was gunked - I have decatted some time ago) Coolant cap on and vent valve near the heater valve slightly open. I'll recap the steps as I noticed that the first post I wroite on my phone was not 100% clear: 1) driving 6h on saturday no issues at all (madman + BAS interface showing nothing abnormal) 2) sunday morning I tried to start, it puffed, got some noises + low level coolant -> toped the coolant up (noticed a slight water leak near the turbo lever exhaust side) 3) sunday night coolant explansion tank was empty 4) monday until wednesday night: scrathing my head, going through all forums possible & workshop manual to understand the root cause, checking the price of a new engine -> depression 5) wednesday night, I bypassed the EGR cooler, drained the exhaust, observed for 1h then started the engine and let it run for 2 minutes to vent the air in the system (it was showing 40% load on the BAS app, then decrased back to the normal 18/20% and sounded normal as well) 6)checked again this morning, coolant level did not drop now I am between happiness (I believe I fixed the issue) and depression (possible presence of coolant in the cylinders) How can I check the presence of water in the cylinders? I have blanked the EGR on the inlet manifold side. |
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12th Nov 2020 9:11am |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7706 
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bypassed the EGR cooler by connecting the two coolant pipes or by adding a plate to stop exhaust flow?
other than the leak near the turbo it sounds to me like the EGR failed, filled with water, back pressure stopped it starting. draining the coolant and bypassing the cooler, assuming you have joined the two pipes and no coolant level change means coolant is not dropping - correct? if so then its either the EGR cooler and issue resolved (assume EGR mapped out?) or its the head and coolant is leaking into the bores which may not happen when not running anyway. If its the latter the worse you will do is warp the head by driving it if its not warped already. i would start it and let it warm, note how it starts leave it overnight expansion tank off and vent by heater open on level ground with egr pipes connected and see if coolant levels drops. if stays the same then drive it and see if it still uses coolant. if it does then not great (head?) if it doesnt then EGR was the fault. my 2010 90 was eating coolant for a past time, nothing visible in exhaust on startup normally (1 in 5 cold starts would give white clouds) it ran normally, pulled well, started with good compression and temp never fluctuated off horizontal on std gauge. in end head gasket and head! prob did 500miles with it like it, which is why it needed the head i expect. Cheers James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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12th Nov 2020 9:53am |
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23
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EGR mapped out and physically blanked yes
EGR cooler - I bypassed it by connecting the pipes together (not really in fact, I connected one of the pipes to the Tee where the other pipe was connected to). I will check in a couple of hourse to see if the level went down again, will start the engine and see how it goes and finally will vent the air from the system! fingers crossed for the head to be ok! |
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12th Nov 2020 11:13am |
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23
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Hello there,
Here is an update: So after 24h observation the coolant level did not change. Just started the car, everything sounded fine, I just go some water and white smoke going out of the exhaust. After about an hour, stopped and started the car a couple of times, all OK. Some remaining smoke and drops but I assume this is due to the coolant being trapped in the rear silencer and will go over time. The coolant level dropped by a bit, and once it cooled down it went back to the original level so all good there. Monitored the temperature and pressures on the madman, everything looked normal (apart from a high-ish crankcase pressure, injector seals are next on the list) No water in the oil and no oil is the water. I believe I am good to go to the garage still as i need to change the oil to the winter one (5W40 for summer and 4W30 for winter) I'll keep you posted! Thanks again Jst! |
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14th Nov 2020 7:29am |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7706
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if coolant level is staying the same sounds workable at this stage. leave EGR coolant side bypassed as EGR is blanked anyway. i concur that its the residual coolant in the exhaust system working its way out. just monitor things and see how it goes.
At this stage i wouldn't mention it to garage as there is little they can do other than charge you to investigate a fault which is not currently showing any symptoms and is hopefully resolved. Time will tell! Cheers James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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14th Nov 2020 9:13am |
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| Julie Member Since: 07 Oct 2017 Location: Nantes Posts: 421  
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While idling the tdci doesn't reach high temps
I'd check for high temp behaviour before the next long distance trip / off roda trail |
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14th Nov 2020 9:39pm |
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23
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After some more observation time, coolant is gone... It is at the garage now for head gasket replacement...
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16th Nov 2020 7:57am |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7706
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 , thats unfortunate, but why is the next question. Cheers
James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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16th Nov 2020 9:58am |
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| Bourgui Member Since: 15 Oct 2018 Location: Muscat Posts: 23
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Lucky me, head seems to be fine! New head gasket in as well as all removed seals, gaskets and bolts!
Turbo and manifolds look OK too. Very strange thing as I never experienced any overheating. Just got a hint before the summer with a slight but noticeable loss of power (I thought it was because of the 40+ degrees). Anyhow, I hope it won't fail again (fairly pricy to remove the head and put it back), so will be extra cautious with the temperatures! Will report in a couple of days if the power is back! Cheers, |
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29th Nov 2020 4:11pm |
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