[Baffler]

Originally Posted by Black dog

Thought I'd update this one, diagnoses was suspected hg failure but possible cracked head or block. Due to age and cost the owner decided not to investigate further. We purchased the car for a little more than scrap value with the intention of braking it, as it was running we used it for leaving behind when picking up customer cars for repair and still do.
We don't run it any more than 10 miles at a time as we have no need to, it does require a coolant top up of around a half litre every 50 miles or so and the expansion bottle has blackened a bit like it's getting carbon in the system.
However 8 months later and it's still running sweet, bullet proof!

Any excess steam from the exhaust?

Possible early signs of the EGR cooler leaking. Try bypassing the cooler for 50 or so miles and monitor the coolant level.