qha_vn

Thanks RA40, my car does not have the steam that bad. smoke is clear in normal condition, during rain, there is steamy-look smoke but still not that bad. I notice my friend's GX470 sitting next to my car showed the same. So its unlikely the head gasket?

qha_vn

dont get it mate, sorry

RA40

iTrader: (6)

With the car idling, does it drip or leave any signs of coolant on the ground? As far as your replacement head gasket, so long as it was the correct gasket, heads-block are not cracked-warped in any way and the heads are torqued to proper spec, it should be good. If the car has overheated since the replacement, it is a suspect again to be replaced.

Does the inside of the car smell like coolant?

qha_vn

There is no visible sign of coolant on the ground, or maybe very little to catch my eyes.

since I have to top up coolant every week, I use bottled drinking water instead of coolant, so nothing smells like coolant inside the car

qha_vn

I found the song (by Paul Hardcastle) but I dont want to dig it up. war is bad anywhere by any reason.

I am not going to get it back to new, just want to keep it run fine long as possible.

Largefarva

Possible if they were severely warped, in which case they should have been replaced, but a regular small skim of the heads would cause no issues. If the car had overheated it would have needed to be machined. What kind of gaskets were used? If it was an MLS (multi-layer steel), it NEEDS to be machined as the surfaces need to be nearly perfect for them to seal.

qha_vn

I am not sure about the new head gasket, but it was after market and relatively cheap. I couldnt afford OEM one at the time because of both cost and delivery time.

yesterday I unintentionally notice a hardened hose returning coolant from radiator, I got it replaced, let see if it reduces coolant loss.

Largefarva

A hard hose could definitely be the cause, good find.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

that poster is in Vietnam, he has to pay high tax, parts price, and shipping to get OEM parts iirc.

qha_vn

Thank you PureDrifter, you got the point. we normally have to pay double the price on ebay for tax, shipping and 2 weeks for delivery. I did however mention about OEM head gasket set, which would easily cost me around 700 bucks delivered.

Kram

Someone mentioned radiator cap but did you replace it ? that is a cheap fix and maybe the problem.You will lose water and you will not see it because the leak will only happen at high speed and the water will just wash away.The pressure cap is only 1 lb.

dicer

If you can't replace the block in your country what happens if say the block is ruined from a major internal failure? That statement makes no sense in the automotive manufacturing and dealer world. Because lets say you buy a new car and some major failure occurs to the block with in the warranty period the warranty would replace said engine or block. And they would simply move what ever number over to the new part.

qha_vn

in rare cases, factory or big dealer could replace the engine, they would need to submit tons of paper work to prove it legally. the process would kill any individual.

qha_vn

it is very like that the hard hose was the cause. I got it replaced and monitor water level for 2 days. Loss isnt significant as it was before. wish me luck :-)

qha_vn

the hard hose wasnt the only cause, I am still losing coolant hix