2H engine loosing coolant, freeze plugs?. (1 Viewer)

[ThomasMu]

Hello.

I have a 1983 HJ60 with the 2H engine and lately i noticed that it is loosing coolant, at first i thought that it might be because of air in the system since i did a flush not to long ago.
A couple of days ago it decided to suck the expansion tank dry during a 15 minute drive, so i filled it up again with coolant but i could see the coolant level dropping in the radiator and this happens even if the engine is cold and not running.

There are no visible leaks anywhere so i checked the oil dipstick and discovered where the coolant went, oil level is probably 10 centimeters above full on the stick.

Since the coolant level is dropping very fast with the engine off i suspect that the problem might be because of bad freeze plugs since there are no signs of a blown head gasket, and i think it's the freeze plugs behind the push rod covers under the exhaust manifold.

The engine was taken out of the car 8 years ago to change the freeze plugs but i have a suspicion that the mechanics that didn't change all of them, i use proper antifreeze and it has been changed about 4 times during these years.

So my question is if the freeze plugs can be removed without removing the push rods?.

Any other input is appreciated as well.

 

[duncanrm]

Its possible.. you may also be looking at an oil cooler fault if you're confident the head is fine..

 

[ThomasMu]

Its possible.. you may also be looking at an oil cooler fault if you're confident the head is fine..

Thank you for the reply and picture.

The reason i suspect freeze plugs and not the head is because of how fast the coolant drained when i tried to top it up, there must be a pretty big hole somewhere and if it was the top it would probably only happen with the engine running?.

The oil cooler is also on my mind but i hope not, i guess that the IP has to come off and to get the IP off the timing gear cover must be removed which means the whole front of the car must be dismantled. At that point it would be better to remove the engine and overhaul it.

Here are pictures of what came out of the oil sump when i drained the coolant yesterday, the coolant looks very clean and not a lot of sludge but that is probably because the engine was not running?. Yes it's over 10 litres!.

 

[duncanrm]

Wow yes.. it would seem unlikely to be a head issue.