[wb800]

My sierra is blowing a bit of water in to the expansion tank (full after 3 hours driving) No oil in the water or water in the oil. So is it the starts of a head gasket failure.

[MART]

If you mean the overflow bottle connected to the radiator , your radiator cap might need replacing , also once cool do you need to add coolent to the engine , Cheers Paul.

[wb800]

I changed the cap and still the water ends up in the bottle, yes i have to pure it back in the radiator. The sierra has only done 74000 Klm

[sneakydust]

after 3 hours of driving you'd prob expect there to be more water in the overflow tank.. especialy if the 3 hours was on the free way or at high speeds

[wb800]

normal driving. the bottle will go from empty to full if i didnt tip it back in i would end up with no coolant in the radiator.

[31zook]

sneakydust wrote:

after 3 hours of driving you'd prob expect there to be more water in the overflow tank.. especialy if the 3 hours was on the free way or at high speeds

I don't confess to know alot about engines but if there is a small split then it may just be doing it slowly.
IMO a sierra will always have that stupid consistant problem... if all you have to do keep filling up the rad then i would just deal with it

[Rockhopper]

31zook wrote:

IMO a sierra will always have that stupid consistant problem... if all you have to do keep filling up the rad then i would just deal with it

No it won't. I'm sure it was'nt dumping water into the overflow when it was new, so if it's doing it now, it is a problem. It may only be a small problem now, but a small problem will turn into a big problem if you ignore it. Not what you need when you're out in the bush away from civilisation.
The problem could be something as simple as the thermostat not opening fully or a blocked radiator, or even broken blades on the fan or a missing radiator shroud, causing it to get hotter than it should and over pressurising the cooling system which in turn pumps the water into the overflow tank. A more serious problem could be a cracked head, or dodgey gasket, between the cooling jacket and the combustion chambers, causing the compression from the cylinder to enter the cooling system and overpressurising the system. Usually if this is the problem, you might also notice a little bit of water dripping out the exhaust when the engine is warm. Also another thing you can do to check is if you start the car when its cold and squeeze the radiator hose as it's running, if it pressurises real quick, then you have a problem. Also you could check your spark plugs. If one is noticeably cleaner than the others, then that is where your problem lies.
At a guess without seeing it with my own eyes, I'd bet money on a head problem.

[laurie]

from the discription i would say head gasket
what rockhopper says x2
from cold start
with the rad cap off are there bubbles in the rad when engine is running?
or does the rad overflow when running with cap off?
fix it before you have to walk home from
wheel a barra back

[wb800]

Rockhopper i think your spot on, I have bubbles and with the cap off it blows out straight away. it also runs on 3 1/2 on idle. Will pull the head tomorrow.
Thanks Guys

[money_killer]

just found out i have a cracked head or blown head gasket after replacing my raditator cap today. system pressurizes now and oil went milky before the raditator cap was stuff so it was just bubbling into the overflow and woundnt start when hot.

lucky it shouldnt be costing me anything to get fixed. piece of shit, should have stuck with the patrol

[Rockhopper]

money_killer wrote:

just found out i have a cracked head or blown head gasket after replacing my raditator cap today. system pressurizes now and oil went milky before the raditator cap was stuff so it was just bubbling into the overflow and woundnt start when hot.

lucky it shouldnt be costing me anything to get fixed. piece of shit, should have stuck with the patrol

Not knocking the Patrols cause I owned two of them but the tb42 motors were renowned for heads cracking where the welsh plugs were fitted in the head. If I had to have a cylinder head go on me, I'd prefer it was the Suzuki's and not the Patrols cause they're a lot cheaper to fix.

[money_killer]

Rockhopper wrote:

money_killer wrote:

just found out i have a cracked head or blown head gasket after replacing my raditator cap today. system pressurizes now and oil went milky before the raditator cap was stuff so it was just bubbling into the overflow and woundnt start when hot.

lucky it shouldnt be costing me anything to get fixed. piece of shit, should have stuck with the patrol

Not knocking the Patrols cause I owned two of them but the tb42 motors were renowned for heads cracking where the welsh plugs were fitted in the head. If I had to have a cylinder head go on me, I'd prefer it was the Suzuki's and not the Patrols cause they're a lot cheaper to fix.

very true zook's= cheap $$

[money_killer]

Rockhopper wrote:

money_killer wrote:

just found out i have a cracked head or blown head gasket after replacing my raditator cap today. system pressurizes now and oil went milky before the raditator cap was stuff so it was just bubbling into the overflow and woundnt start when hot.

lucky it shouldnt be costing me anything to get fixed. piece of shit, should have stuck with the patrol

Not knocking the Patrols cause I owned two of them but the tb42 motors were renowned for heads cracking where the welsh plugs were fitted in the head. If I had to have a cylinder head go on me, I'd prefer it was the Suzuki's and not the Patrols cause they're a lot cheaper to fix.

very true zook's= cheap $$