rock hard coolant pipes after driving!!!!

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I have a f78 fourtrak that after a longish drive at speed the coolant pipes were absolutely solid and i could here bubbling coming from the radiator!! the temperature gauge has stayed in the same position at just before the half marker it runs as well as it has ever done but this is bothering me slightly as am taking it abroad next wk and will be doing about 3000 miles!!!!
I dont know whether there is a bleed nipple to see if there is an air lock in the system somewhere as i have recently changed the coolant!!!
Thanks for your advice in advice regards Iain

Hi If the temp gauge is read

Hi
If the temp gauge is reading fine I dont think you have anything to worry about. Remember its a pressurised cooling system...if you are worried about the state of the cooling system it would'nt do any harm to give it a good flushing out. At operating temp the coolant will be under pressure..hence the hardness of the hoses.
I take it your not loosing coolant or anything like that Unknw
Not aware of any bleeding device/nipple for the cooling system.
Check the hardness/softness of hoses when coolant is cold to compare.

Hi Mike thanks for the respon

Hi Mike thanks for the response, the temp gauge hasnt budged and im not losing any coolant whatsoever there is no white smoke from the backend and the oil was changed two weeks ago and has no sludge in it. When the engine is cold the hoses return to normal and the coolant that is pushed into the expansion tank returns to the cooling system, reading other members comments from their problems made me think it could be my head gasket not what i want it to be!!!!!!

Cooling system performing as designed.

If there's a head gasket problem, then you get oil in the water, water in the oil, exhaust gas in oil and/or water and oil and/or water up the exhaust. Since you havn't got any of these and the water stays put, I wouldn't be bothered.

Actually the Daihatsu manual recommends that the head bolts be retorqued every 12000 miles (if memory serves).

Generally people don't bother with this and, surprise, surprise, the head gasket goes at something like 80000 miles.

If you are taking the beast abroad, then it might be a good idea to check the head bolt torques as per the book. Another thing to check is that the radiator is clear of muck and flies which can restrict the airflow .... very necessary if in the south of Italy at this time of year !

If you want the info for doing this, there's most of the stuff you need by searching this site. If you're really stuck, I'll get my hands on the manual, and write the proceedure up here.

there no cross contamination

there no cross contamination of oil/water in radiator or engine oil, no mayo iether at the top of the dipstick. no flies or anything else stuck in front of the fins either!!! Have looked through the manual and cant find the head bolt torque figure anywhere?

do a search

Type

head gasgit

into the search to get all the guff I wrote a couple of years ago.

Sometimes guys who can't spell make searches easier HEH HEH !

have just been for another dr

have just been for another drive this morning and the pipes seem okay today, when i lifted the lid of the expansion tank whilst the engine was at normal operating temperature i could see it bubbling, it wasnt boiling i dont think is this normal????

Blown head gasket.

Air bubbles in the expansion tank means your head gasket has failed. Sniff the fumes from the expansion tank ... probably smells of exhaust fumes. I suggest you cancel you hols and get the head fixed ... if you continue driving it will blow under stress. When it completely fails it could cost more than a cylinder-head skim and a new gasket.

Have just booked the car in f

Have just booked the car in for a new head gasket and skim this is going to be one expensive holiday!!!!!

not as sorry as my bank accou

not as sorry as my bank account will be although i love my beast and it has to work hard alot of the time so cant complain really!!!! should have it back by the end of the wk!!!!

HEAD!!!!

well fter booking the car in for a new head gasket i find out that it sadly isnt the gasket its the head itself!!! Its cracked through the middle from cylinder one back to four down the middle!!!! its currently having a new head and ancillaries fitted at three times the coat of the gasket!!!! all down to the previous owner not having the coolant changed atall, well ever actually god damn chimp!!!!!!!!

Thats a real shame ...these e

Thats a real shame ...these engines are bomb proof if maintained properly...if it helps to make you feel better I have just paid £700 for a gear box rebuild on a bloody 3 year old fliat plunto with only 26000 on the clock...bloody main bearing had collapsed...I am livid...and Fliat better bloody pay up...it was 10 days out of warranty...