FH EX136W water issues

[John C.]

The brand of engine has not be stated yet. Most of the Hitachi excavators in the States have Isuzu engines but I have seen a few with Hino engines. The Isuzu plants are bullet proof but the Hinos are nothing but crap. I've had more than a few headaches with these.

Finding out if there really is a leak as has been suggested is the least expensive item and a very good place to start. I have one of those radiator testers in the truck all the time. It is a radiator cap with a fitting that is connected to a hand pump. Before start up I pump up pressure on the radiator and watch it for leak down. Many times it will leak off very slowly making me wonder if it is my pump. To check that I'll drain off the pressure and then reset the cap. I'll pump up about a pound of pressure and then start the machine. If I'm getting compression it will show up on the gauge right away.

One other thing to do is take an oil sample and send it in for analysis. Anytime a head or liner leaks it shows up there.

Good Luck!

 

[Johnny English]

Hi Guys thanks for all your input, the motor in it is a 3.3 litre cummins, so its as good as it comes! Hopefully, touch wood, crossed fingers etc we have it sorted now, and I shall explain all.

The radiator has 1 steel header tank directly on top of it. The header tank sits on top and then overlaps down the side of the rad by 40mm. The header tank is pressurised by the rad and doubles up as the expansion chamber as well as the header tank.

So the bottom 40mm of the header tank along side the rad acts as the top up and rad level, then the top 75mm of the tank above top of the rad is the room for expansion. The driver was unaware of this as the manual go virtually no information on this. So the driver was filling the expansion room with water and hence when it expanded blew it straight out again.

To add to this the cap on the top of the header tank that pushes up under pressure to release the overflow wasn't long enough to pressurise the spring, so steam was able to escape quite easily along with water quite easily.

So we've instructed the driver on the correct water level to have and put a 5mm deep rubber washer in the nech of the tank to hopefully cure all its problems.

I'm pleased I've finished writing that.

Thanks guys for all the input.

 

[Iron Horse]

If the system does not have an overflow bottle and just has an open hose , the worst thing you can do is to top it up every time it gets down . This type of open system will keep it's own level about and inch or so below the filler neck . If it is filled to the top , it will purge the excess when the water expands when hot . If you keep on topping it up , it will dilute the coolant and cause problems . The quickest way to check for a blown head gasket is to idle the machine with the cap off and fill the radiator to the top and keep it full with a hose etc . Watch for bubbles , be carefull not to add any with the hose . After a while all the air caught in the system will be purged and the water will be clear . If bubbles persist , it is an indication compression is getting into the water .

On edit , i'm sorry i skipped over your last post , it appears you have found the problem .