Offroad-Express

I have been selling the old mans zuk for him, have had a snag with it though. the bottom radiator hose split on sunday, dropped all the water but dont think it got to hot. there are a few bubbles of air coming through the radiator now. I suspect its done the head gasket, there is no white smoke to speak off. any advice to confirm without stripping it down would be good. also have been offered 5k for it as it is, Should i just take to money on offer and walk away? or is it a easy job to replace gasket.

There are heaps of indications.

Some can be present, others might not be. Makes it hard over the net

Bubbles could be trapped air thats slowly making its way out.

One idea, that could be net proof:

If its still running ok, my advise would be to fill the radiator right up, fill the header tank to its full mark and mark the exact level with a vivid, then go for a good hard run for half an hour.

You will soon know if its the head gasket, it will either blow another hose (so the head gasket probably caused the first hose to blow) or chuck water out of the header tank and once the engine has cooled down, it will have sucked the tank dry, or at least sucked a significant amount of water out of it.

Some where to start anyway.

Is it still running on 4 cycl??

Is there water in the oil??

Is there a oily sheen on the water??

Do any of the plugs look wet??

Is there water in the exhaust??

You could go and get it tested for carbon monoxide ..............

or do a radiator pressure test and pull the plugs out then see if theres any water getting into the cylinders...if there is you get some one to have a look in there for you while you then turn it over and have a good laugh when the water in the cylinder gets rammed out the plug hole all over them... good fun

DieselBoy wrote:There are heaps of indications.

Some can be present, others might not be. Makes it hard over the net

Bubbles could be trapped air thats slowly making its way out.

One idea, that could be net proof:

If its still running ok, my advise would be to fill the radiator right up, fill the header tank to its full mark and mark the exact level with a vivid, then go for a good hard run for half an hour.

You will soon know if its the head gasket, it will either blow another hose (so the head gasket probably caused the first hose to blow) or chuck water out of the header tank and once the engine has cooled down, it will have sucked the tank dry, or at least sucked a significant amount of water out of it.

Some where to start anyway.

Is it still running on 4 cycl??

Is there water in the oil??

Is there a oily sheen on the water??

Do any of the plugs look wet??

Is there water in the exhaust??

You could go and get it tested for carbon monoxide ..............

Still runs fine, no water in oil, no oily water, and no water in the exhaust. I will check the plugs tonight. and test the header tank. Cheers

hey tony you did bleed it properly when you refilled it its not just bubbles coming from the heater ??

De-Ranged wrote:hey tony you did bleed it properly when you refilled it its not just bubbles coming from the heater ??

completly bleed system, the bubbles appear in the radiator when the thermostat opens up, frothy white bubbles. looks like the truck has rabbies.

there an easier way if you're not averse to a bit more work.

take the thermostat out, refill with water, top it up for a few mintues, squeezing the hoses as you do it. Once you're sure that all the air's out, if it's still foaming bubbles, then it's more than likely blown the gasket.

(i should know, i've got two vehicles doing it at the moment )

does sound like it hasnt been bled properly

go to repco and buy a tee k head cheecker pay the $80 and you have it for ever
or borrow a pressure tester presurise the cooloing system when cold start truck and see if it miss
suzuki are not known for do head gaskets

was the front jacked up when bleeding cooling system with heater on

bb402c wrote:go to repco and buy a tee k head cheecker pay the $80 and you have it for ever
or borrow a pressure tester presurise the cooloing system when cold start truck and see if it miss
suzuki are not known for do head gaskets

but the g13a engine is known for cracking heads around the exhaust valve's with the standard manifold.

DieselBoy wrote:

bb402c wrote:go to repco and buy a tee k head cheecker pay the $80 and you have it for ever
or borrow a pressure tester presurise the cooloing system when cold start truck and see if it miss
suzuki are not known for do head gaskets

but the g13a engine is known for cracking heads around the exhaust valve's with the standard manifold.

and the g16a under the camshaft.

Have done the pressure test on each plug, had blown #3 and #4. when we pushed air down the plug it was pushing it back up into the radiator . now i know a few ways to confirm if it happens again. Thanks all for your help

It'l take ya an hour to wip the head off, then you know what your dealing with.

Sounds like it could well be the gasket