Pressurised coolant tank? Low coolant warning...D3 V60😐

[Japster]

Originally Posted by BobModulin

Japster: sorry to hear that! I was actually enroute to view a V50 D3 when I saw this come up and took a detour. The £35 tax and Bluetooth audio swung it for me but I prefer the stance of the v50! Did you get the HG replaced or get rid? What kind of bill are you looking at for this repair on these engines out of curiosity?

Hi Bob, unfortunately it failed while I was away towing, so totally cooked it.
If it hasn't overheated to the point its warped the head then you may be lucky.

I was not so lucky, the gasket had gone between the 3 middle cylinders and warped the head and was shooting water out of the header tank 6 feet high in the air. So needed to be transported home after my holidays along with my caravan.

Head needed skimming, valve seats needed regrinding due to the head skim and all in all it cost me £1600 to fix.

It went like an absolute rocket after the work was done though, but I then sold it on to get a more powerful V60 D6 which tows like there's nothing on the back!

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by BobModulin

Japster: sorry to hear that! I was actually enroute to view a V50 D3 when I saw this come up and took a detour. The £35 tax and Bluetooth audio swung it for me but I prefer the stance of the v50! Did you get the HG replaced or get rid? What kind of bill are you looking at for this repair on these engines out of curiosity?

Kev: cheers for that. I know the BG245 has nothing to do with the coolant system, but just wondered if it might dissolve the 'fix' from any potential liquid coolant repair that was in the system. Incidentally I've been occasionally revving beyond 3k to assist in BG cleaning and have come to the conclusion that it's only during these conditions that the pressure is building. I had to drive 4hrs to London yesterday and after topping up coolant before setting off and never going beyond 2.5k revs there have been zero issues. Even a sustained 2mile climb at 70mph only raised the coolant to 89 degrees with the average being 84 so I'm hoping I'll be able to stave off a costly repair bill if I'm careful. I was previously only wafting to and from work which also seemed to conceal the issue. Looks like I'm kissing goodbye any dreams of a remap for the foreseeable, although to be fair even at 136hp tune it feels plenty adequate...

I will get it properly sorted at some point but could definitely do without spending the money at the moment if I can manage the issue with sensible driving habits.

Many thanks for all your help 🙏

I don't think the BG would have dissolved the potential cheap fix solution that may have been added prior to you purchasing the car. If there has been anything added, normally that will show up somewhere when the coolant is drained to replace a radiator for example. It breaks off like pieces of chewing gum.

I think its more likely that the cheap fix simply hasn't worked long term, but it was enough for them to shift it on... Sadly, this happens. Of course, its entirely possible that the car simply has developed an issue and no cheap fixes have been used.

Is this a euro 6 engine, so ulez compliant?

Keep your eye on the coolant level and engine temp with the app/diagnostics... I can't stress that enough. If you do that as a minimum, it'll tie you over until you have the funds to fix it properly. Don't let the reservoir get low.

The only downside to all this is summer is approaching. If we get temperatures like we did last year, I think that's where you might struggle. If there is a leak of some sort from the radiator for example, it could easily overheat due to the outside temperature being higher than it is now.

I don't think you have a head gasket problem though, but I could be wrong. I think its more likely to be a radiator issue, leaking thermostat or hose.

[GrahamBrown1]

If your keeping the coolant temp low enough for the engine not to overheat, your not loosing any coolant day to day as you said you had no issues driving it carefully then pressuring the cooling system can only come from exhaust gases. A thermostat issue ie stuck closed would have the engine overheating no matter now you drove it.

Head gaskets have been known to fail on these, there is far less materiel supporting the head on these later engines compared to the first euro 3 variant. There is aLso the possibility the egr cooler could be a cause but I have never known it on them. A cracked liner has also been known however extremely rare.

[Simmy]

just a long shot dose it have the correct coolant tank pressure cap.

[BobModulin]

Simmy: cheers for that, I'll have a look next week as I'm still in London having ditched the car outside the ULEZ...you'd think £35 tax would be 'clean' enough to drive in the ulez eh!

Graham: interesting about the egr cooler! I spoke to a local guy who has the same car running a 200ps remap with the egr disabled in software, which he said stops the build up of gunk in the intake. Would deactivating the egr mitigate the cooler leak if there was one? Surely it would still be connected to the coolant circuit with only the egr flap permanently closed? I have to say my hunch is towards the HG at this point...let's see how I cope through summer!

Graham: yeah I'd be surprised if the guy had added any fix without disclosing it as he was quite frank about the other flaws. Unfortunately it's not ULEZ compliant, although as mentioned it is in the £35 tax bracket so it should be if you ask me. Tired of doing the rape dance whenever I visit London! Oh for the days when you could just drive in and only fear the parking fees...

Japster: uff that's a painful bill! 🙈 I'm happy to drive like a grandad if I can avoid that kind of outlay... I didn't even know there was a D6! Is that a later VEA engined model?

GMcL: nice! That's the kind of map I was toying with along with the egr disable as mentioned earlier. Did you mess with your egr? I read somewhere that it can interfere with how the dpf regens so I'm still unsure. I did clean the crusty intake sensor which was well and truly caked up...I'm sure it runs just that little bit nicer now! I don't think the coolant was recently replaced, there was no mention in the paperwork other than a top up and sensor reset so the seller was definitely aware of an issue. At the time of sale I just assumed it has been sorted as the test drive was sweet. Anyways I'll definitely keep you all posted! Hopefully I make it back north next week without issue...

Many thanks again for the input 🙏

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by BobModulin

GMcL: nice! That's the kind of map I was toying with along with the egr disable as mentioned earlier. Did you mess with your egr? I read somewhere that it can interfere with how the dpf regens so I'm still unsure. I did clean the crusty intake sensor which was well and truly caked up...I'm sure it runs just that little bit nicer now! I don't think the coolant was recently replaced, there was no mention in the paperwork other than a top up and sensor reset so the seller was definitely aware of an issue. At the time of sale I just assumed it has been sorted as the test drive was sweet. Anyways I'll definitely keep you all posted! Hopefully I make it back north next week without issue...

Nope, mine has the five cylinder engine, didn't touch EGR or anything else.

[Japster]

Originally Posted by BobModulin

Japster: uff that's a painful bill! 🙈 I'm happy to drive like a grandad if I can avoid that kind of outlay... I didn't even know there was a D6! Is that a later VEA engined model?

Yes it was a bit of a perfect storm the day it blew, I'd been sat in traffic for an hour on the M5 or crawling along with the caravan on the back.

As soon as I got off the M5 I floored it up the hill and came up behind someone doing 30 mph, got stuck behind them as no-one would let me out, then when I finally got from behind them I got the warning on the dash saying change down as the temp was going up, did that and the header tank exploded. I had to continue on until I could find somewhere to pull in, by which time it was game over.

The V60 D6 is a Diesel hybrid, early ones are called Plug-In Hybrid later ones are called Twin-Engine. Mine's a 2017 model year so called V60 D6 Twin Engine.
(D5 2.4 Diesel engine up front and electric motor on rear axle)
Mine has 230hp/470Nm up front due to the Polestar upgrade and 70hp/200Nm on the back from the motor.

They are quirky beasts but I'm finding it quite good, as I can drive to work on battery, charge it at work. Then when towing use the diesel engine and the 4wd , with extra powerboost at the touch of a button to engage both.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Japster

Yes it was a bit of a perfect storm the day it blew, I'd been sat in traffic for an hour on the M5 or crawling along with the caravan on the back.

As soon as I got off the M5 I floored it up the hill and came up behind someone doing 30 mph, got stuck behind them as no-one would let me out, then when I finally got from behind them I got the warning on the dash saying change down as the temp was going up, did that and the header tank exploded. I had to continue on until I could find somewhere to pull in, by which time it was game over.

The V60 D6 is a Diesel hybrid, early ones are called Plug-In Hybrid later ones are called Twin-Engine. Mine's a 2017 model year so called V60 D6 Twin Engine.
(D5 2.4 Diesel engine up front and electric motor on rear axle)
Mine has 230hp/470Nm up front due to the Polestar upgrade and 70hp/200Nm on the back from the motor.

They are quirky beasts but I'm finding it quite good, as I can drive to work on battery, charge it at work. Then when towing use the diesel engine and the 4wd , with extra powerboost at the touch of a button to engage both.

was that due to the pressure cap relief valve stuck or the bottle damaged ? I would have thought a hose would burst before the bottle.

[Japster]

Originally Posted by Clan

was that due to the pressure cap relief valve stuck or the bottle damaged ? I would have thought a hose would burst before the bottle.

Looking at where the header tank went it was probably due to ageing of the plastic, nothing came out of the cap so it could have been a combination of both. There was no indication of any problem with the cooling system up to that point, no loss of fluid like the OP is getting.

The only thing I did a few weeks prior was put some injector cleaner in the fuel as I was getting the occasional miss-fire as idle.

Maybe it removed the carbon that was holding the whole show together

[pgoldi]

From my own experience, the pressurisation of the cooling system on first starting from cold is most likely the result of compression gases entering the cooling system through; head gasket, cracked cylinder liners or a combination of both.
A cylinder leakage test should show which.