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Hi there ppl. I am a new member and have a 1989 Liberty Rx AWD auto

I think it has a blown head gasket, as it is loosing water, with no apparent indication of coolant on the driveway or over the engine, nor any "wet" smells inside the car. I am adding coolant at about a litre a week. Not o/heating tho'

The questions that I have are:
What is a good test to test for head gasket? (pressure test??)

If it show up as a blown gasket, how can I tell which bank of cylinders??

Cheers

u want to find a tester that tests for monoxide gas in the cooling system, thats the easiest way

as for which bank..if u do one bank u do the other....its just a givenn no point in doing half a job:P

dave

D3V1L wrote:if u do one bank u do the other....its just a givenn no point in doing half a job:P

I'll second that!

Bennie

O.K., I get the idea I could also toss a coin I guess.

My manual says to pull the engine and leave the tranaxle in the car. Is the any difficulty with the torque converter falling/moving with the engine out?

I also gues if I leave the drive plate attached to the converter, there shouldn't be any problem with aligning it when the engine goes back in?

creeture3 wrote:O.K., I get the idea I could also toss a coin I guess.

My manual says to pull the engine and leave the tranaxle in the car. Is the any difficulty with the torque converter falling/moving with the engine out?

I also gues if I leave the drive plate attached to the converter, there shouldn't be any problem with aligning it when the engine goes back in?

You should beable to unbolt the torque converter through the start motor hole. From there if you were worried that it may fall out a piece of wire or something through the TC's bolt hole tied off to the gearbox or body of the car should do the trick.

It is possible to do the head gasket in the engine bay, but its a PITA in my opinion. I've always done them with the engine out of the car - after stripping the first engine in the car then deciding it had to come out...

Cheers

Bennie

sorry Elfreddo

Torque convertor is to be undone thru the rubber (hard by now) bung on the opposite side of the Starter motor at rear of engine.

make sure it seperates from the motor as your pulling the motor forwards or you WILL spill alotta Tranny fluid around.

the Convertor will just stay there on the gearbox. also best not to try remove it as they have to line up correctly to drive the Oil pump in the auto otherwise nodrive.

Matatak wrote:sorry Elfreddo

Torque convertor is to be undone thru the rubber (hard by now) bung on the opposite side of the Starter motor at rear of engine.

Ah no worries, I thought they were like other japanese cars... I shoulda kept my mouth shut but was bored - I don't even like automatics, especially behind small 4 cylinder engines!

Bennie

o.k., sounds pretty straightforward: unbolt the drive plate and make sure as you remove the engine that the converter doesn't follow the engine.

Looks like there are no major tricks

I might add that this came about after a radiator flush that was done by a "reputable" radiator crowd here in Airport West.

I think that they had the apprentice do the flush, and sent the car back without checking for airlocks. But I can't prove it (of course)

This is the second time they have stuffed things up, even after giving explicit instructions.


Name starts with "N" and ends in "D". My advice is to give them a big miss. by all means buy stuff off them, but as far as work is concerned......

creeture3 wrote:I might add that this came about after a radiator flush that was done by a "reputable" radiator crowd here in Airport West.

No offense or anything but I read "Airport West" in that line... I've always heard of dodgy fixes around that area.

You never know, could be lucky and just have an air lock. Put the car on a hill or car ramps with the nose up. If you have an old radiator cap, cut the pressure cap out of it so you only have the top cap you see on the radiator left over.
Use this to seal the radiator to the overflow pipe. Fill the over flow bottle and idle the engine til up to op. temp. Rev gently a few times (coolant will come out of bottle for a little bit) then shut down the engine. Fill coolant bottle again then leave the car to sit and cool in this position.

Before using car next time check coolant bottle, replace radiator cap to the functioning unit then off you go. Any air bubbles should now have been expelled to the coolant bottle (if not then the top of the radiator) with coolant being returned in its place in the cool down process.

Its worked a treat for me on several occasions.

Cheers

Bennie

I don't think it is an airlock as I have been putting in water for about a month now at the rate of about a 1 1/2 to 2 litres a week

creeture3 wrote:I don't think it is an airlock as I have been putting in water for about a month now at the rate of about a 1 1/2 to 2 litres a week

sounds like a head gasket or a cracked head that's allowing coolant out the exhaust and not affecting performance...

If you're putting that amount of water in regularly you may not beable to pin point it (if no visable leaks) until you pull the motor down - probabily something you don't want to do if you can avoid it...

Another option would be to get a second engine to drop in and see if there's any change in the situation - places to get these are pick a parts around town. You have to be careful in your selection and also need to know that you're buying the engine in an unknown condition - a risk yes, but the payoff can be worth it.

This way you can have an engine running the car you need on the road and strip down/fix the original unit if its worth fixing without too much down-time on the car itself.

Cheers

Bennie