Probably need to replace cylinder head?

[vixentd]

Just wonder if you could have a sticky thermostat or a thermostat that is not fully opening. I have seen that occur with similar symptoms. On VW diesels we would start them up from cold and run them for just a few minutes to see if bubbles were coming through the expansion bottle.

An old trick with a bad headgasket to get you home is to pull the thermostat.

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Yea, we pulled the thermostat right away and tested it. Then we bought another one and tested it too before installing it. No luck there. Seriously thought about keeping it out for the ride home. I bet it WOULD have helped! Oh well. Next time. I was driving my way home from burning man... so i suppose i had a lot to contemplate during that slow ride!

[thedjjack]

I have had bad luck with thermostats recently and now only use OEM....testing new before install is a brilliant idea (nice if manufactures would do this :) )....

I also check the water pump impeller goes the same way once had a parts person sell me the water pump that turned the other direction (same motor with different accessories that resulted in a pump that turns backwards)...that one took a while to figure out what was happening!

I also always add a small hole to the thermostat to add in bleeding air from the system...

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Wow! Water pump turned backwards! Jeepers. My water pump is fairly new, and was sourced from Coombs Country Autos, so I trust they sold me the right one...

I really like your idea of drilling a small hole in the thermostat. But then again, I'm easily seduced by any thoughts of modifying factory components before installing them How small of a hole?

[thedjjack]

small like 1/8" most Toyota 22r thermostats have the hole

water pump was a real head scratcher as I had just installed it filled the radiator and fired up...went in the house to make a sandwich came out 5 minutes later and the truck was in the red!!!

After exhausting everything else pulled the water pump ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

I know it is not your pump...just a reminder to look over new parts carefully!!!

Think you will be golden with the new head gasket

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Hey Everybody! I would like to make a fool of myself in front of everybody by asking a stupid question regarding OEM headgaskets!

Use a Mitsubishi OEM headgasket and head bolts must be new as used ones have stretched past their torque rating. Download and printout the service manual in wiki.

Why does everyone recommend that I absolutely use a OEM gasket? If i buy this one off ebay it will cost approximately 1/3 of getting it from one of our BC shops. Savings of about 200 bucks. Which is a lot of money for a half broke artisan like me!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitsubishi-2-5- ... 256b41ab1e

Thoughts anyone?

[jessef]

visit or call around the local shops (CVI, Coombs, Radd Cruisers) and ask them what they recommend.

When you are talking about over a 4 to 1 ratio in terms of cost for an identical part, usually QC or materials used in production are questioned.

delica canada/uk/aus have threads of aftermarket head gasket issues but you rarely hear of OEM gasket failures when installed correctly.

Posts like this are common

personally i have had gasket failure from a chinese supplied head gasket within a week however, others have lasted years, basically, you take a bit of a chance.

You gain to save some cash or have to redo the job.

Flip a coin and cross your fingers.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Why does everyone recommend that I absolutely use a OEM gasket? If i buy this one off ebay it will cost approximately 1/3 of getting it from one of our BC shops. Savings of about 200 bucks. Which is a lot of money for a half broke artisan like me!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitsubishi-2-5- ... 256b41ab1e

Thoughts anyone?

Hi Jed,

Let me tell you a story about a knock-off mont blanc pen my brother brought back from China. He brought the pen back as a novelty gift. I was impressed with how well it worked ~ until it ran out of ink (which was quite soon). So, I went to replace the cartridge with a Mont Blanc Cartridge.... it didn't fit. It looked the same but the dimensions were slightly different.

I don't recognise the gaskets in the E-bay ad picture as being OEM, they look different.

Why not buy what you need from Glen, or whomever you are dealing with? You may spend a little more but how do you appraise "peace of mind"? Wouldn't you rather spend a little more money on the right products than have a $5,000.00 sword of Damocles constantly hanging over you?

Falco.

[thedjjack]

It is a lot of labour to not go OEM on the gasket...

You got luck and drove home...that tow would be more than the gasket...

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I just have one more question on my mind this evening. The shop I took it to insisted that a pressure test was good enough to prove that there were no cracks. But then someone else I spoke to said that magnaflux was the only way to go.

Which is better?

I'ma be mighty bummed if i torque this baby down and find out that my problem has not gone away.. simply because the headshop didn't want to magnaflux it!

[ccautos]

How did the head refit go ?? Any further issues or is it all good now ??

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Hey thread followers (and esp Glen who reminded me to post this update.) Here I am a couple months later no problems so far. We drove it up to Dawson City Yukon with no major problems surfacing yet. I had Andrew at the local head shop deck the head, bought an OEM gasket set and put it back together with a few new items such as fan blade, and (finally) block heater. Replaced ALL heater core lines. (too cheap to not replace considering the 700+++++ bucks for head decking and gasket set.)

I did have andrew pop the old valve seals back in, and am now wondering if that was a smart move, as a couple weeks ago she developed a bit of white smoke on start up. (first 30 seconds on cold start up - only happens some of the time)

Other than that, I pressure washed the little front radiator there (is it for cooling the transmission???) It was a little plugged up, so that may have contributed to the overheating incident. ALSO i installed a 30 dollar Pyrometer that i bought off ebay. Pretty nice to have at least a general idea of the exhaust temperature!!!

One question. There is a little fan in front of the main radiators. It appears to be run by a tiny electrical motor. I've never seen it run yet. So I'm wondering. What is it? And when is it supposed to run? I'd like to be able to confirm that it is running correctly!

Thanks everybody! It's been a sweet spring so far! Dawson city Yukon is incredible. (I've spotted for Delica's up here so far by the way. Mine, a blue crystal lite l300, a green l300 and a black l400.

[lrp374]

I believe that the fan is controlled by the A/C unit. If you turn your A/C on with the interior fan on you should be able to see it operate. If it doesn't your A/C system likely needs some work.
Larry

[Jedidiahwiebe]

Thanks for the quick reply! That is super good to know. I guess I shall not worry about it then until i get around to fixing the AC!!!

[robinimpey]

So I have pressure building in my cooling system after having my mechanic replace the timing belts, water pump, alternator, thermostat and put on an EGR blanking plate. Thermostat was suspect so it was changed, but still have the same issue. My mechanic has spoken with Combs and everything points towards head gasket or cracked head.

Can anyone tell me if once the head is off if it can be checked for cracks properly or to be 100% sure the leak has been taken care of the head should be replaced? The head is obviously expensive, but not as expensive as replacing the head gasket only to replace the head and head gasket the next week.