Hello,

Inga (1986 245DL with 246K) has had a slow coolant leak for a couple of years. Never really been able to figure out where is was, new water pump and gaskets, leak checked the radiator, and replaced the PITA heater hoses on the firewall.

Still have a slight coolant smell after a long drive and every three months or so have to add a bit of coolant.

Since all my other cars use the orange stuff for coolant flushed Inga's system and went orange instead of green. Added a bottle of the water wetter when the new coolant was added. After a 100 mile run smelled the coolant odor and popped the hood. It appears that there is a small leak between two and three on the exhaust side of the engine. The heat from the manifold must be evaporating the moisture.

Is it possible to have a head gasket on a B230F leak to the outside? Inga did get very hot three years ago when the fan belts popped off. The needle did hit the top before I could get it shut down.

Possible.

Regards,

Paul

Slow water leak at #3 exhaust side is just the standard failure for a 20-year-old head gasket on a brick. The head is sealing the gap between two metals that expand and contract different amounts at different times. It can only do that for a finite number of heating cycles and a finite number of years.

If that is the only symptom, I would just get a gasket set and slap it in and keep driving. That is what I did several years ago.

I did not even check the head for flatness or look at the valves because I had no reason to suspect any problems. Car is running fine since. No more water leak.

The hard part was breaking the head bolts loose. I split a Snap-On 6-point socket on the first one so I went to OSH and got a 1/2" drive shallow 6 point and used it with my 1/2" breaker bar and a 2' cheater pipe. That got them loose.

The head gasket was not much work and could have been done in 2-3 hours, but I spent several hours cleaning 250k miles worth of carbon buildup out of various passages while I had it apart. It ended up as a Saturday job that ran into Sunday because the EGR needed to soak in SeaFoam overnight to soften up the gunk.

Paul, I can't advise on the head gasket scenario, but - if by "orange stuff" you mean the Dexcool, I wouldn't leave it in there more than a year or so. I did a lot of research into it when a threw a new rad into Son o'Gutz a few years ago, and decided to try it. No probs for almsot 2 years, but then I had a coolant leak from the thermostat housing. It turned out the Dexcool was not compatible with the thermostat gasket material - it had softened to the point of losing its sealing capability, maybe after two years. Not knowing what else it might attack, I flushed it all out and went back to conventional coolant.
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In God We Trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.

This is DEXCOOL compatible, Texaco branded coolant and just added it this weekend. My other car runs on the stuff and has the water wetter added also. I change coolant and do a water flush at least every two years if not sooner, the water wetter suggests changing the coolant every year. With the water wetter added to the orange stuff the needle is staying at 9:00 instead of 9:30 on the temp faker needle on way to work every day. Of course the highs are in the 50's to 70's right now, so not exactly a stress test on the cooling system.

Just changed the gasket on the thermostat this summer during the engine cleanup. Better check it closer to the start of summer and see if it is going to mush. May end up going green the next time around.

The heater tube on the water pump has leaked due to the owner pinching the seal in the past. But right now it looks clean and dry, as does the front of the engine. Of course the manifold heat may be hiding evidence of the leak. Right now it is a slow leak where ever it is coming from. Have a long drive coming up this weekend, will have to jump out with a flashlight to take a hard look around.

This could be a running leak meaning it may be from closer to the front of the engine and getting blown backwards. Have a pusher fan on the AC and a swamp cooler (AKA tropical fan clutch) moving a lot of air across the engine. Do see a steak of orange near the suspect spot.

Thanks and Regards,

Paul

Funny that you mentioned 'going to' the orange stuff. Many mechanics I know, Flush their personal newer cars and go with the Green.

They seem to think it does a better job rust inhibitors and Lubrication. My '89 200 is the newest car I own so I never had to go down this road with any of them.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm

Talked with My Pro and he says that if came with the orange stuff keep it in there. Supposed to be better with AL heads and corrosion. You put green in an GM that calls for Dex and you are supposed to now like the results at all. And you will void the warranty to boot. Asked it there was anything to worry about going orange on the 245 and he said should not be an issue. We will see if the thermostat seal survives it I suppose.

Heard pro's and con's on both, but went with having one color in the garage so no matter what needs coolant you can just add it. My Son In Law and Daughters cars along with the wifey's ride have the orange stuff and that was what tipped the scales. Blue Oval cars have been showing up for repair every couple of months now it seems, Dad's Garage is cheaper. Next week it is a clogged AC orifice on a little red Cougar, better start growing new skin for the back of my hands before starting on that one.

Regards,

Paul

Common up all the fluids and parts you can.. I hear that.

Oil and Anti freeze is the same on all my cars. The kids are home from college so that's 7 cars.
After helping out my son on his '70 Slant Six Dodge, you want to cry when you open the hood of my daughters Blazer and can't find the engine.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm

Hi Paul,

A friend with a 77 (B21) had the leak there. Found the middle head bolt snapped. The leak progressed from a barely noticeable whiff of coolant to a "carry two bottles in the passenger seat" leak in less than a week.

I made a photo while he was in the process of extracting the bolt.


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Art Benstein near Baltimore

A backward poet writes inverse.

Art,

If I may ask, how badly was the head warped? The last time I saw that failure was on a late 70's early 80's Mercedes Alloy V8 engine (450 SEL).

jorrell
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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!

Probably because I couldn't stay with him through the whole job, I can't remember. Vaguely I recall he rope-towed the car to the machinist who then used the electric welder trick to get the bolt remains out. It seems to me he needed some filling done on the head. He had a lot of praise for the machine shop he found hidden away in a small town. I was the unfortunate bearer of the bad news having spotted the leak and verifying it wasn't the rusty heater pipe.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Paul,

Yes, it is possible but somewhat rare that a HG will leak coolant externally, but a significant overheat makes it very probable. One thing to check before popping the head off is the metal tube on the passenger side of the engine, it could be leaking at the pump, or have a rusty pin-hole elsewhere that is spraying coolant on the exhaust manifold.

My money is on the HG though.

jorrell
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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!