Coolant Loss

[Steve Sears]

Went to my mechanic today to look at the damage associated with a similar
failure - coolant would spew out of the overflow tank without the temp gauge
reaching 100C, spew would continue sporadically until low fluid warning came
on.
The head gasket adjacent to #5 cylinder blew, and coolant was entering the
cylinder and oil/exhaust pressure into the coolant system.  Resultant warped
head presently being re-machined (plus valve grind, new valve seals, etc.
while-I'm-at-it), mechanic says that there may have been some cylinder wear
from coolant washing off oil coating from cylinder wall (DOH!).  Don't wait
for worse problems to happen and just top the fluid up in the meantime.
Do a compression check on the engine (when warmed up).  #5 was lower on mine
than the rest, but not out of spec. (ref. Bentley Manual).  While I was at
the West Toronto Audifans BBQ at Eddy's place this weekend, I was told by
Craig to get the engine up to temp, then pull the plugs and hold a small
mirror over the plug holes - if the mirror fogs up, then the coolant is
getting into the cylinder.  The plug tip on the offending cylinder should
also be a bit white-ish compared to the others.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 5kTQ
1980 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
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