S40 2.0 Diesel D4204T White smoke... Blown Head Gasket?...

[Clan]

Originally Posted by TIGERRYES

We've put k seal in and it's not worked. We called them and they were surprised and are sending us a free bottle.

how did you apply it, and where did you think the leak was ?

[guido]

Originally Posted by TIGERRYES

We've put k seal in and it's not worked. We called them and they were surprised and are sending us a free bottle.

I had already drained the old coolant and refilled with de-ionised water (from Tesco) and fresh red coolant. When I did the K-Seal treatment I added it to the expansion tank and let the engine idle with the cap off for about 10-15mins then put the cap back on and left it idling for about two hours (it was a very cold evening!). The smoke stopped after about 20-30mins but I left it longer as the temp guage was only on 3 notches and normal temp is 5. Even after two hours it was still sat on 3 notches but the smoke had stopped and I thought the job was done. I couldn't take it for a drive at the time as the car was still SORN and not insured. After letting it cool down and sorting out the tax/insurance in the meantime I took it for a drive later in the evening and it was smoking again. I was doing short laps around my neighborhood regularly stopping under a nearby flood light to check for smoke. Once the engine got to full temperature the smoke stopped and I haven't seen it since. I assume that on my first attempt the engine didn't get hot enough to make a decent seal.

As mentioned in my previous post I've been driving the car for two weeks now and haven't seen a whiff of smoke. I will likely do the head gasket in summer, if I do I'll post some pics on this thread, I'm keen to see where the failure was and what the k-seal looks like inside the engine. Hopefully it won't create too much more work cleaning it all out...

[Clan]

Originally Posted by guido

I had already drained the old coolant and refilled with de-ionised water (from Tesco) and fresh red coolant. When I did the K-Seal treatment I added it to the expansion tank and let the engine idle with the cap off for about 10-15mins then put the cap back on and left it idling for about two hours (it was a very cold evening!). The smoke stopped after about 20-30mins but I left it longer as the temp guage was only on 3 notches and normal temp is 5. Even after two hours it was still sat on 3 notches but the smoke had stopped and I thought the job was done. I couldn't take it for a drive at the time as the car was still SORN and not insured. After letting it cool down and sorting out the tax/insurance in the meantime I took it for a drive later in the evening and it was smoking again. I was doing short laps around my neighborhood regularly stopping under a nearby flood light to check for smoke. Once the engine got to full temperature the smoke stopped and I haven't seen it since. I assume that on my first attempt the engine didn't get hot enough to make a decent seal.

As mentioned in my previous post I've been driving the car for two weeks now and haven't seen a whiff of smoke. I will likely do the head gasket in summer, if I do I'll post some pics on this thread, I'm keen to see where the failure was and what the k-seal looks like inside the engine. Hopefully it won't create too much more work cleaning it all out...

well the first mistake was putting it in the coolant bottle , there is no real circulation in there to carry the K seal around , I would advise take the top radiator hose off and pour it in there , that way it will stay there until the engine gets up to temperature then will rapidly circulate to all parts of the engine and system .

The second mistake was not driving , the coolant flow is nowhere near fast enough when idling neither can it get hot enough ... a diesel generates very little heat when idling , a new thermostat is needed by the sound of it .

from what you say above i would not be surprised if your problem was condensation in the exhaust , do you do plenty of short journeys?

K seal consists of minute fibres of copper which are carried in suspension , and then settle in the crack , the other additive is a substance which hardens when it gets in contact with the air , so it solidifies around the copper fibres making a permanent repair . It is harmless and will fix any other leaks as time goes by , use a decent volvo coolant it is better quality and value than anything else .

[guido]

Originally Posted by Clan

well the first mistake was putting it in the coolant bottle , there is no real circulation in there to carry the K seal around , I would advise take the top radiator hose off and pour it in there , that way it will stay there until the engine gets up to temperature then will rapidly circulate to all parts of the engine and system .

The second mistake was not driving , the coolant flow is nowhere near fast enough when idling neither can it get hot enough ... a diesel generates very little heat when idling , a new thermostat is needed by the sound of it .

from what you say above i would not be surprised if your problem was condensation in the exhaust , do you do plenty of short journeys?

K seal consists of minute fibres of copper which are carried in suspension , and then settle in the crack , the other additive is a substance which hardens when it gets in contact with the air , so it solidifies around the copper fibres making a permanent repair . It is harmless and will fix any other leaks as time goes by , use a decent volvo coolant it is better quality and value than anything else .

I think you've confused my post with TIGEREYES. I'm the OP and was sharing my experience. Fwiw I followed the instructions on the label and spoke to K-Seal UK for advice before use and I have a successful repair so far. Before the repair I had removed the dpf and cleaned it using Wynn's off car DPF cleaner and replaced the rest of the exhaust system from the dpf back so defo not condensation.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by guido

I think you've confused my post with TIGEREYES. I'm the OP and was sharing my experience. Fwiw I followed the instructions on the label and spoke to K-Seal UK for advice before use and I have a successful repair so far. Before the repair I had removed the dpf and cleaned it using Wynn's off car DPF cleaner and replaced the rest of the exhaust system from the dpf back so defo not condensation.

Sorry you are right , it is confusing sometimes ! What i wrote is still the way to use K seal however . Merry Christmas 🎅