cracked head

[danos]

hey
my vn overheated the other day and i think i may have cracked the head. water is leaking from near head although it is hard to see from exactly where.
how can i tell if i have or not?
its going ot the mechanics on monday bit i would like to have a rough idea of what it could be before i take it in.
cheers

[1991_Vn2nV]

Check under the radiator cap for bubbles in the coolant... If theres bubbles you have probably cracked the head.

Run the engine and have a good look to find where its leaking from though... Could just be a heater valve or something.

[danos]

my car doesnt have a radiator cap lol. i dont really have much of an idea with cars tho. but where i put the coolant and water there is no bubbles.

[danos]

oh yer, and how much will it cost me if i have cracked the head or blown the head gasket?

[1991_Vn2nV]

If you have cracked the head, you're looking at alot of money to have it fixed... Its not cheap man. But if you just put some second hand heads on you could get out of it easier... Great thing about commodores is second hand parts are reasonable in price.

You must have a radiator cap? The radiator cap is the cap in the middle of the red square in the attached pic... Its a VL engine bay but the radiator cap and radiator is in the same spot on both cars anyway..

[1991_Vn2nV]

Also if you cant SEE radiator coolant under the radiator cap then there is a blockage in the coolant line, or radiator. Make sure there is sufficient coolant in the overflow bottle tho (where you fill the coolant normally).

[danos]

yer there is no radiator cap where you said, my dad and i found it odd aswell. his vt has one in a similar position to that picture but my doesnt have one at all. the overflow bottle is the only place where we can add coolants. and that is bone dry at the moment because whenever i put water or coolant in it just runs straight out of the leak.

[1991_Vn2nV]

Well normally when you have a cracked head, the coolant leaks into the engine oil, so use your dipstick to check your oil in your car and see if theres any signs of coolant on the dipstick or in the oil. If not its probably just leaking from somewhere else.

Best bet is to try filling the coolant again and finding exactly where its leaking from.

But i'd be putting a radiator cap on soon if I was you.

[danos]

yer ok, cheers for your help anyway man.
just hope its nothing too major.

[danos]

oh yer, and is it ok to run the car, and poor coolant in while its running to try find out where it is coming from? cheers

[1991_Vn2nV]

Yeah it should be fine to just check where the leak is coming from. As long as its not driven or run for extended periods of time. Only running the car for a few minutes to check for leaks wont cause it to overheat or do any more damage.

Best of luck man, hopefully its nothing too bad
It doesnt sound like a cracked head though to me so thats one good thing I think...

[s_pack]

Hehe, the Series I doesn't have a radiator cap, or opening on the radiator for one. Coolant is filled through the overflow tank, which goes into the surge tank from there.

I never used to understand it when people said their Series I VN's had no radiator cap until i got one

[maginoodle]

yeah what he^^^ said about the radiater cap

[1991_Vn2nV]

Ah interesting... That would suck though, you cant check for bubbles or the coolant level under the radiator cap to see if there might be a blockage in the radiator etc...

[aussieghostrider]

If you cracked the head or head gasket the car would run like dogs balls and there would be milky white oil or lots of oil in the coolant bottle...

Mate Its your Thermostat and probably the hose at back of throttle body has got a crack or hole in it and leaks coolant once the engine heats up and thermostat opens... If it leaks when engine is on cold start then thermostat is stuck open and needs replacing it causes the hose to blow and car to overheat.

so had to replace the thermostat and put new hose ... costs me $40

But if your engine heats up quick even though you have plenty coolant topped up then thermostat is stuffed for sure .. have look at back of engine behind throttle body where theres a hose,see if its leaking from there...JUst keep topping up the water until you get fixed.

If you have owned the car for a few years and never had thermostat replaced then it sounds like thats the problem to get it done by mechanic should cost no more than $70 so get few free quotes ( call few places for free quote)

to replace the coolant cap lid that has o ring just rub some multipurpose grease and rub into o ring this will help you get a good seal then put back in cap & tighten slowly & replace the coolant bottle hose).

your engine looks like mine ?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...les/engine.jpg

[ashzv6]

hi,
i thaught i cracked my heads or did the head gasket afew weeks ago.
turns out it was a heater hose, it melted on the exhaust.
All fixed now though $50 dollars later including coolant.
check your heater hoses.

[defa]

sometimes a head can be cracked or the gasket can go, but still not putting oil in the water and vice versa. sometimes there will be a leak into a cylinder so there water won't go into the oil. i know a bloke with that problem right now..

[PaRaDoX]

nice to see you got it fixed, i got a rooted head gasket, its cookin my engine

gotta fix it when i slap the new heads on

[danos]

yer my engine does look similar to yours aussieghostrider just with a different air filter and without that bar thing lol.
but yer, took it to the mechanic and it turns out it was the timing case or something. one of the pipes was blocked and caused it to crack or break or something. so yer, not as bad as first thought.
sorry bout the 'somethings' i dont really no what it was, just a few key words i heard haha.

[NORTI]

yep, we did thr timming case on our series 1 VN too.... prick to work out!! lol took us a while checking all different things til we found it.


Ah I love VN's but I would never have another series 1



D.