coolant burning inspection..
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Joined: Jul 2001
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
coolant burning inspection..
in reguards to a previous post about my engine with 8500kms starting to burn antifreeze.. I inspected my plugs again and cylinder #'s 3,4,5,6,8 all appear to have a whitish color on the electrode the part that you gap. does this make any sense? if it's burning antifreeze on both sides of the block? would it be an intake leak?
any advice would be great as I'm still pretty ticked off over this issue. especially being the engine was professionally rebuild 2 years ago.. I only drive the thing once a week and it's stored in my garage in the winter. specs are in my sig.
thanks
any advice would be great as I'm still pretty ticked off over this issue. especially being the engine was professionally rebuild 2 years ago.. I only drive the thing once a week and it's stored in my garage in the winter. specs are in my sig.
thanks
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Aside from the obvious possibilities, there are a couple of not-so-obvious possibilities:
If the vehicle has a temperature vacuum switch for either the EGR or the AIR, it may be possible that an internal coolant leak could enter the vacuum line.
Since the vehicle is apparently driven so infrequently, the latent moisture in the crankcase might be creating the steam on intial startup throught the PCV system as soon as the oil warms up. This would not last long, and really should not appear as any more moisture as a cold start up, albiet delayed to some extent.
Similar possibilities via the EGR valve and system.
Then there are the obvious candidates, like intake leakage, head gasket leakage, casting cracks, etc.
The cylinder leakage test and cooling system pressure test results should help identify any of those. If you perform a cylinder leakage test, remove the radiator cap during the test to check for air bubbles being generated in the cooling system. That would be similar to the cooling system pressure test, but in the opposite direction and at a lot higher pressure differential.
If the vehicle has a temperature vacuum switch for either the EGR or the AIR, it may be possible that an internal coolant leak could enter the vacuum line.
Since the vehicle is apparently driven so infrequently, the latent moisture in the crankcase might be creating the steam on intial startup throught the PCV system as soon as the oil warms up. This would not last long, and really should not appear as any more moisture as a cold start up, albiet delayed to some extent.
Similar possibilities via the EGR valve and system.
Then there are the obvious candidates, like intake leakage, head gasket leakage, casting cracks, etc.
The cylinder leakage test and cooling system pressure test results should help identify any of those. If you perform a cylinder leakage test, remove the radiator cap during the test to check for air bubbles being generated in the cooling system. That would be similar to the cooling system pressure test, but in the opposite direction and at a lot higher pressure differential.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 400
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
ok my cousin who is a mechanic stopped by today and looked at the plugs.. he said they all look fine. because they are so new it wouldn't really be apparant if any where burning antifreeze.
he is going to lend me a pressure kit to pressurize the cooling system. he said if I put it under pressure and leave it for a while and then crank the engine over with the plugs out I should get some coolant coming out of whichever cylinder.
he is going to lend me a pressure kit to pressurize the cooling system. he said if I put it under pressure and leave it for a while and then crank the engine over with the plugs out I should get some coolant coming out of whichever cylinder.
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