So, having replaced my head gasket in feb 17, the head itself failed in feb 18. On inspection by the garage they found a crack in the head itself. They also found damage to the cylinder bores in two of the cylinders.
In discussion with the garage, the most economical solution was to obtain a second hand engine, and have the garage fully check the cylinders while fitting a new head gasket, thermostat, water pump and timing chain.
Last night (just under 3 months from picking the vehicle up) the car temperature reached the red and on looking in the expansion tank it was well below minimum. I did note that the area around the expansion tank was damp (the weather on the day was bright sunshine and high temperatures) and there was a pool of coolant below the expansion tank. I pulled over and called the green flag man to get me home. The vehicle starts fine and sounds normal. The only thing I noted was that having topped up the radiator with some water, after 10 minutes of running at 1500rpm and with the temps Normal, the expansion tank was almost full, on inspecting, there was at least some of the original fluid in there (the coolant was bright orange).
Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this?
Al
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Did the garage check radiator flows and clean out the radiator? It may be blocked/damaged.
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Turns out the primary issue is corroded coolant pipes at the rear of the vehicle which has caused a loss of coolant. This has likely resulted in a blown head gasket as well, which isn't covered by the guarantee... b*****!
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The Pathfinder also has a coolant pipe loop which goes through the auto transmission, these can corrode and leak coolant into the transmission oil which trashed the transmission, happened on our work 06 reg one...
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Yes had that happen when I first bought the car.
I think this is going to be the end of the pathy for us.
The head gasket less than 3 months old!
The garage hasn’t checked it yet, but he’s positive we’re looking at a new one, so I think it’s time to find a new car.
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