Water problems 2009 Kia sedona 2.9 diesel

[Jim R]

Posting here as I think I put it in the wrong place! Sorry, Newbie!

Desperate for help with this one guys as I can't afford to buy another car!
The car over heated on a long run but was pulled off the road as soon as guage went up to the top. There was no coolant left. Tried refilling it but new coolant all seemed to go into the expansion bottle. On a short run, I could hear what sounded like boiling water squeezing round the system. Took out thermostat. Replaced the temperature guage just below it. Filled it with flush and tried to drain the system via the plug but only a small amount of coolant came out. Filled again and with K seal and water which is now squirting out the rad! Probably because of the flush!
I've tried filling it again to see if I can see water being pushed around the system by the pump but it all comes shooting out of the filler cap. When I put the cap back on it fills the expansion bottle straight away.
So before I replace the rad, does anyone have any ideas ie the water pump is gone or something else?

Next day; So to try and test the water pump, I filled the rad up with water (which I'll replace if it works) left the cap off and started the engine. The water and remaining coolant spurts out furiously, so that would seem as though the water pump is working? But also the expansion bottle continues to fill to the point where water is forcing itself out of the cap.
Thanks
Jim

[Megaflow]

Another name for an expansion tank is a header tank, and the coolant doesn't really flow through it as such, it just maintains a head of coolant on the system and allows for expansion of the coolant when it gets hot.

There will be a small flow of coolant through vent lines from the engine, but it is a tiny percentage of the total flow. You should be able to run an engine without the cap on the tank, assuming it was opened when cold, and not really notice anything going on in the header tank, it should certainly not be furiously spurting out, and definitely not with the cap on.

The cooling system is pressurised to 1 bar, generally, so for it to overflow with or without the cap on there has to be extra coolant entering the system, which is obviously not possible or something of higher pressure to displace the coolant such as combustion gas, I think your head gasket has gone.

[chrisman]

I hate to say it but I agree with the previous poster, sounds very much like a head gasket failure. We had a 2006 Kia sedona 2.9 diesel which did exactly the same thing.

[E-bmw]

Pretty much 100% certain you have a massively failed head gasket due to overheating (only other things could be block or actual head) and what is happening is the combustion gases are immediately ejecting the water you are putting in.

[Jim R]

You'll love this one!

Bought a blue chemical test today. Put it on the rad but it stayed blue for over half an hour. Plenty of air coming through BUT

1. Didn't reach temperature after half an hour (even with a new thermostat)
2. Put the heater on full with no fan at first then I put the fan onto one click and the pitch of the engine went up! Tried that a few times and it happened every time.
3. No white smoke from exhaust
4. Oil is perfect. No emulsion anywhere. Engine steady not missing a beat.

Confused

Jim

[E-bmw]

Jim R said:

You'll love this one!

Bought a blue chemical test today. Put it on the rad but it stayed blue for over half an hour. Plenty of air coming through BUT

1. Didn't reach temperature after half an hour (even with a new thermostat)
2. Put the heater on full with no fan at first then I put the fan onto one click and the pitch of the engine went up! Tried that a few times and it happened every time.
3. No white smoke from exhaust
4. Oil is perfect. No emulsion anywhere. Engine steady not missing a beat.

Confused

Jim

Now try & run it at a high idle for as long as it takes to get the engine up to temperature, and the fan to come on.

I had a very similar issue last year on a v40 & it was a mare to get the chemical tester to change, but I knew all along it was almost certainly a cracked block.

It was & I had to be creative to actually prove it before changing the engine, but prove it I did.

[richhead]

E-bmw said:

Now try & run it at a high idle for as long as it takes to get the engine up to temperature, and the fan to come on.

I had a very similar issue last year on a v40 & it was a mare to get the chemical tester to change, but I knew all along it was almost certainly a cracked block.

It was & I had to be creative to actually prove it before changing the engine, but prove it I did.

this, a engine on tick over isnt under load, you need to load it for a real test.

[Jim R]

Thanks E BMW
Drove it up the road to get it warm this morning. Did the gas test but stayed blue. Radiator warmish but not hot. Heater still cold. Expansion bottle still filling and dumping coolant. Oil still good colour. No white smoke. Wondering if there's a serious blockage somewhere in the water system?
Very much appreciate everyones thoughts by the way.
Jim

[E-bmw]

Jim R said:

Drove it up the road to get it warm this morning. Did the gas test but stayed blue. Radiator warmish but not hot. Heater still cold. Expansion bottle still filling and dumping coolant. Oil still good colour. No white smoke. Wondering if there's a serious blockage somewhere in the water system?

Jim

Still sounds like combustion gases pressurising the coolant.

[Jim R]

You're probably right. I'm just trying to convince myself that I don't need to scrap another car! Thinking about trying some K seal next. Getting that desperate.

[Megaflow]

The oil is probably still ok because the failure is between the combustion chamber and water jacket, if the pressure gallery to the head and returns from the head are still sealing then water won't make into the oil.

[njw1]

Sorry to be another bearer of bad news but this sounds a lot like the symptoms I had when my last Transit blew it's head gasket. To add insult to injury with that, I spent a shedload of money and time replacing the gasket and getting the head sorted only for it to start displaying the same symptoms within a month, another strip down and a more thorough check over revealed that the block wasn't flat, the engine had overheated a couple of times previously and this had pulled the head bolt threads upwards hence the new gasket was never going to seal properly.
My choices were; a new/recon/good used engine/having the block decked, or, stick it all back together and give it to we buy any car. I chose the latter...

Also, isn't diesel test fluid purple? Are you definitely using the right stuff?

[E-bmw]

njw1 said:

Also, isn't diesel test fluid purple? Are you definitely using the right stuff?

Don't know what the OP is using obviously, but mine was blue & does both.

AFAIK with either you are testing for the same thing (CO) so don't see why it should be different, I could be mistaken though.