Hi Folks,
I was hoping that I may be able to get some practical advice on what to do with my daughter's 2002 Prado diesel 3.0L turbo auto. If I can briefly give a bit of background info just in case it's useful.
She bought the vehicle about 3 months ago and it appeared to be good condition, it has around 310,000kms on the clock. I am assuming that the model is in this category (90 series), rego papers say 1KZ series.
A local guy, who is a mechanic elsewhere, offered to service her vehicle on the weekend as we are in a rural area, and with 4 kids and single, it is just easier to have this type of service....although some may say otherwise.
He done a normal service and seemed to be fairly thorough in checking everything over on the vehicle...this included changing oil and filters, topping up coolant, etc. There were no oil leaks found.
My daughter did mention to me that since the service was done, there was a slight delay in starting the vehicle when she turned the key, however, this may be nothing to do with this problem, but thought I should mention everything just in case.
About two weeks later, she was driving around locally and after the drive heard a 'bubbling' sound when the engine was turned off....unfortunately she didn't check the coolant. Then she did a 100km drive to Central Coast and on arriving nearly at her destination, she noticed the temperature gauge go up all of a sudden, so she stopped and had a mechanic nearby have a quick check of vehicle. He topped up radiator with water and put about 2 litres of oil in engine as it didn't show any oil, and suggested that she may have blown the head gasket. He advised her to drive carefully back home and have more water and oil available, which she did.
She nearly got back home, but temperature gauge shot up again around 90kms...topped it up and managed to get it to the local mechanic's place.
He was shocked by what had happened and thought that it may be the head, either blown or cracked, and would check it out over this week, while he is home.
My concern is this, why has both the engine oil and the coolant disappeared? I can understand that if you had say a blocked radiator or faulty thermostat that coolant can escape through the overflow hose. If the head gasket was blown then coolant will get into the oil and turn it a creamy colour. There was no visible oil leak around the engine, so where did the oil go? There was no wet area around overflow hose, even though my daughter had heard the bubbling and there was a need to have radiator topped up.
What tests can be carried out to try and determine what the actual problem may be?
One could pressure test radiator (all hoses seem to be ok), can you do a compression test on the engine similar to a petrol engine?
One assumes it has an OBD connector so could again run test to see what codes show up.
Is there any other tests/checks that can be done before actiually removing the head?
One theory I had was that maybe when the mechanic serviced the vehicle, he may have forgotten to actually replace the oil....someone suggested that a diesel engine can be kept cool enough for local run arounds with just the coolant. I would doubt this, but then I am not overly familar with diesels.
I am hoping to pay the mechanic a visit in the next few days, so I would like to be able to discuss in more detail, what should be tested and perhaps some guidance on what the problems may be. I have the feeling that it's going to be an expensive fix, but that's another issue to deal with.
My apologies for the lengthly 'story' but thought a full explanation of circumstances may assist with any diagnosis...I would appreciate any advice that can be provided, thank you in advance.
Colin
I was hoping that I may be able to get some practical advice on what to do with my daughter's 2002 Prado diesel 3.0L turbo auto. If I can briefly give a bit of background info just in case it's useful.
She bought the vehicle about 3 months ago and it appeared to be good condition, it has around 310,000kms on the clock. I am assuming that the model is in this category (90 series), rego papers say 1KZ series.
A local guy, who is a mechanic elsewhere, offered to service her vehicle on the weekend as we are in a rural area, and with 4 kids and single, it is just easier to have this type of service....although some may say otherwise.
He done a normal service and seemed to be fairly thorough in checking everything over on the vehicle...this included changing oil and filters, topping up coolant, etc. There were no oil leaks found.
My daughter did mention to me that since the service was done, there was a slight delay in starting the vehicle when she turned the key, however, this may be nothing to do with this problem, but thought I should mention everything just in case.
About two weeks later, she was driving around locally and after the drive heard a 'bubbling' sound when the engine was turned off....unfortunately she didn't check the coolant. Then she did a 100km drive to Central Coast and on arriving nearly at her destination, she noticed the temperature gauge go up all of a sudden, so she stopped and had a mechanic nearby have a quick check of vehicle. He topped up radiator with water and put about 2 litres of oil in engine as it didn't show any oil, and suggested that she may have blown the head gasket. He advised her to drive carefully back home and have more water and oil available, which she did.
She nearly got back home, but temperature gauge shot up again around 90kms...topped it up and managed to get it to the local mechanic's place.
He was shocked by what had happened and thought that it may be the head, either blown or cracked, and would check it out over this week, while he is home.
My concern is this, why has both the engine oil and the coolant disappeared? I can understand that if you had say a blocked radiator or faulty thermostat that coolant can escape through the overflow hose. If the head gasket was blown then coolant will get into the oil and turn it a creamy colour. There was no visible oil leak around the engine, so where did the oil go? There was no wet area around overflow hose, even though my daughter had heard the bubbling and there was a need to have radiator topped up.
What tests can be carried out to try and determine what the actual problem may be?
One could pressure test radiator (all hoses seem to be ok), can you do a compression test on the engine similar to a petrol engine?
One assumes it has an OBD connector so could again run test to see what codes show up.
Is there any other tests/checks that can be done before actiually removing the head?
One theory I had was that maybe when the mechanic serviced the vehicle, he may have forgotten to actually replace the oil....someone suggested that a diesel engine can be kept cool enough for local run arounds with just the coolant. I would doubt this, but then I am not overly familar with diesels.
I am hoping to pay the mechanic a visit in the next few days, so I would like to be able to discuss in more detail, what should be tested and perhaps some guidance on what the problems may be. I have the feeling that it's going to be an expensive fix, but that's another issue to deal with.
My apologies for the lengthly 'story' but thought a full explanation of circumstances may assist with any diagnosis...I would appreciate any advice that can be provided, thank you in advance.
Colin
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