The Phoenix is Dead !

[DOCTORBILL]

The Phoenix has died....Rebuilt 25,000 miles ago with pictures
shown of the process on this forum.

Been having a problem with the coolant leaking out.
Had the WP replaced and been losing Coolant ever since.

Had the shop check it - they said it was a leak in a Flushing
connection I had put in at the time of the rebuild 2.5 years
ago.

Was seemingly OK for a week, then started losing coolant again.
Flushing connection is fine.

Today on the way to work, after filling the Radiator, it seemed
I was getting a lot of smoke out the back, only it dissipated
really fast like steam vapor.

At about 2 miles from home the temp gauge quickly rose to the top.

Killed the engine and coasted to the roadside.

Radiator showed no coolant !

Cannot see any coolant leaking anywhere!

Oil is fine and looks good.

Filled radiator and tried to start the engine.

Engine spins but won't start - no sound of any of the
pistons firing.

Had to hitch a ride back home and take my alternate
vehicle - '95 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 to work.

Will tow it home with a towing strap in a few hours and
try to finger out what happened.

I am assuming the Head Gasket has blown and Coolant
is going into the cylinders (that's why no spark).

Will remove the plugs and look for Coolant in the cylinders.

Any suggestions, folks ? !

Edited In Later - had it towed home - in the driveway.
Going to start raining then snowing. Crap !

Will take off Timing Belt cover to see the Timing Belt first.
Plugs will come out to see what they look like.
Will drain the oil to see if any Coolant in the pan bottom.

My poor Phoenix - it WILL rise from the ashes AGAIN - I promise !

When I die, I want them to sit me in the seat, roll it into the
grave and cover it up.
The Phoenix and I will drive around in Hell....

DoctorBill

[smeismer]

Best of luck finding/fixing the problem. Your writeups have been an inspiration, would hate to see the Phoenix stay dead.

[Johnny Mullet]

Keep us up to date!

[DOCTORBILL]

OK...sure.

But - any suggestions ?

Is my approach OK ?

I might add that I'll do a Compression Check.

DoctorBill - Medical Examiner (for the Phoenix)

[Johnny Mullet]

I assume you have a bad head gasket also. Regardless, it seems the head will need to come off to inspect and I can link you with a site that has good head gaskets and re-useable head bolts along with some other goodies.

[Metro Mighty Mouse]

Likely the head gasket. If the timing belt broke the engine would spin really free and sound different, so no need to pull the timing cover unless that sounds like what is going on. That would not explain the coolant loss.

[DOCTORBILL]

If I am going to pull the Head, I have to take the timing belt off...

DoctorBill

[Metro Mighty Mouse]

Agreed, but I was referring to the investigatory phase where you are confirming what has happened. Removing the spark plugs should hopefully confirm the issue.

[DOCTORBILL]

I WANT to get at it, but the weather is not cooperating....

I may have to drive my gas guzzling Nissan Pathfinder all winter (17.6 mpg).

Probably it will be done piecemeal over the next months - I refuse to pay
somebody $75 per hour !

Everything bad always happens to cars in winter.

DoctorBill

[Hugemoth]

Good luck DrBill. Hope it's just a head gasket and will be a quick fix once the weather turns around. My daughters metro had a bad seal on the O ring that seals the pipe that goes into the back of the water pump. It was a pretty easy fix.

Last week the master cylinder went out on my Swift. Had to drive my pickup in the snow for a few days while I waited for the kit to be shipped. Sure is nice to have the little Swift snowmobile going again.

Q

[mowfixer]

Sorry to her about your problems. I enjoyed watching you rebuild it.

I would want to try a compression test to see if that points to anything unusual. Also if you could get the tool to do a coolant system pressure test. It would suck to pull the head just to find you have some sort of hidden external leak.

I wonder if no start is caused by water in cylinders or caused by the overheating. If I remember right ans please correct me if I am wrong but the temp gage is really connected to a sensor that is on or off and you get normal or overheat and nothing in between. If so, by the time the gage pegs out you could have been overheating longer than you think.

Best of luck and let us know how you make out and what you discover.

Mine just hit 245,000 miles and still going strong. plan on doing a rebuild this spring using your posts as a guide.

[DOCTORBILL]

The weather isn't cooperating....

Will the Coolant, if it is in my cylinders, corrode the metal ?

Am worried I'll find the engine all corroded to Hell.

DoctorBill

[Johnny Mullet]

No, you should be fine until the weather clears up.

[Crvett69]

i would pull the plugs, put some oil in the cyl and spin it over if car is gonna sit a while, the water in the antifreeze can cause rust in the cylinders

[DOCTORBILL]

I had to fill the tank on my Nissan Pathfinder XE - V6 today - $40 and I can drive maybe 3.5 times to work on that !

17 mpg....

So that influenced me to work on The Phoenix and see what is going on....

Pulled the plugs...



The number 2 plug (middle cylinder) was wet with what looked like oil.
Wiped it off and the paper towel looked wet with oil.
Twisted the paper towel into a long probe and pushed it into the plug hole.
Got nothing.

Same with the other cylinders.

Did a compression test for 5 sec's each cylinder (no gas pedal) - results shown in plug photo.

Squirted three heavy doses of oil into each cylinder when I was done and spun the engine - spins nicely.

Plugged the holes with a paper towel - to keep the mice out !



Charging the battery and waiting to contemplate the next move.

I have only about 30,000 miles on the rebuild.

Either the Number One Exhaust Valve is AGAIN burned thru or that cylinder has a Head Gasket Leak (or both !).

I'll have to pull the Head in any case.

If it is the valve, I will get Stainless Steel Valves this time.

When I had to do that Rebuild three years ago, the engine died just like it did a week or so ago.

DoctorBill