Very bad day in Delica Land

[Rattlenbang]

My daughter and her partner were pulling out of Osoyoos on highway 3 climbing that crazy hill eastward, and either the head gasket or head blew. They were on their holiday and now this. That head and gasket and rad were put in new less than 6 months ago, and they knew all about taking it easy to not overheat or overstress the rig. Now I'm going to have to try and supply them with parts from Vancouver Island. The good news is her lad helped me put the last head in, so he knows how to do it. But doing a head job while on holiday blows. For the first time I'm seriously doubting these vehicles.

[konadog]

Bummer. Hope you all get sorted out in good order. And that you trust and like you bus again...

[thedjjack]

sorry to hear...keep us posted at what failed?

Was it warmed up? Any symptoms prior to the fail (running warmer than normal)......

It will give them lots of stories about what happened on the Holiday(I still remember having the Flue and replacing a water pump on a 1982 Toyota 22r in a parking lot in Palm Springs (the boarder patrol that stopped me earlier that day thought it was a diesel as I limped it back from the Salton Sea))...

[bbisset]

4M41 Manual
4M40 Manual
4D56 and 6G7 Manual
L400 Manual

Not sure what rig you have, but these are the only Mitsu ones I have, though I'm sure you have what you need already... and please know that if they were further east, I would come help. I only threw these up here as I am pretty sure that whatever mechanic/shop they find in Osoyoos, it won't have the right manual.

It absolutely sucks breaking down on holiday.

Brian

[Yokohama]

This is the type of thing you remember doing forever!

[Rattlenbang]

Apparently no warning; they were taking it easy climbing up that very steep hill towards Grand Forks, when they noticed the temp gauge spiking. Then the rush of coolant out the reservoir. No white smoke though. I've got the manuals and already emailed them to the kids. Fortunately there's a Lordco in town where they can get a head gasket.

[glenn]

Correct me if I am wrong - but didn't you purchase your head online from a UK supplier for super cheap?

[Rattlenbang]

Correct me if I am wrong - but didn't you purchase your head online from a UK supplier for super cheap?

I would only call it super cheap compared to what local retailers are asking for their heads. I recently replaced a vw 1.6 turbodiesel head with a new one (not rebuilt) for essentially the same price from a reputable US supplier.
The good news is the head seems fine, but it was the gasket that failed. I have no idea if the heat, the hill, the driver, or the quality of the gasket was responsible. I do know that others have had head gaskets fail soon after replacement, so I'm not sure what's behind it.

[glenn]

That's good news - sort of. Still a ton of work. Where did you get the gasket?

[Rattlenbang]

The gasket kit came with the head. I don't recall the brand...

[madmazda]

Make sure it's not just the over flow that blew fluid all over. Get them to add water until full and start it up and get to running temp and open the bonnet with a flash light and see if its leaking around the head

[Rattlenbang]

Too late. Head is off, Lordco will have a new gasket to them by tomorrow morning.

[Rattlenbang]

Ouch, the Lordco gasket cost them $220.00. He says it looked beefier than the one he pulled. I sure hope so for that price. But he got it together and it's running great except for one problem; the glow plug relay is chattering like crazy instead of on, wait, off. Any suggestions as to what could be causing this? I'm not familiar with that circuit and haven't seen a schematic anywhere.

[glenn]

A blown head gasket and he's back on the road two days later (minus the electrical prob) - impressive!

$220 seems like a good investment to me, since the last one only lasted a few months.

[Rattlenbang]

Sure but no head gasket should cost that much, just sayin'. But he's a hero all right. 2 days in a gas station parking lot, in above 30 heat and he's on the road again. Apparently lots of old timers came along to see what he was doing and were pretty blown away, as am I. How many people swap head gaskets on the side of the road on a holiday?