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so...one of our BT's has caught the dreaded disease at 80xxxkm, cracked head...never overheated though. Got a reputable organisation in central doing the repairs for us. recommendations are to replace the head entirely and....put in a bigger radiator. according to the technician there the problem is not with the head but with the stock radiator...its too small so the engine is not cooled properly which eventually causes the head to crack. diesel experts...what do you all think about this?

a company i worked for installed the metal/larger radiators from day one and never had any problems...those vans are well over 100,000kms now...

yes, too small a radiator, and need to flush/clean that system every 50,000km.

Also check clutch fan fluid, and try not to over-rev the engine too much... diesels don't like that.

At only 80k and the head already gave out, I find that so amazing. Even if you never changed the coolant, the factory coolant should still have adequate life in it and I doubt the cooling system would be in any poor state w.r.t rust.

I also doubt the factory radiator is undersized. Manufacturers put a lot of R&D into the design of the cooling system. Generally, a vehicle's cooling system has more capacity than required so that the vehicle could cope in any environment.

If I were to guess, I'd say the thermostat or the fan clutch would be to blame. If the radiator really is undersized, then shame on Mazda..

my 2c

Isnt that under waranty still?

It is really a guess situation with the wlt engines , my 06 ranger is doing 155k right now , never change the radiator , just regular maintenance. My tdci ranger is 76k right now , that one is still under the firm warranty

thanks for the feedback/advice gentlemen...roti102...it would have been under warranty if we were still servicing at southern sales...

just a thought to consider...... if it is the radiator ,shouldnt the temp gauge read higher?

i did think about that...if cooling was/is a problem the temp. gauge should reflect that...some would say dont trust the stock temp. gauge...

Diesels can overheat so fast that you have to time to react. I'm looking onto an option with an temperature monitor that alarms when it has past a set threshold and it monitors the head. Check out this site -

http://www.carsensors.com/Engine_Guardian.html

given it's company van.....could the employees be over doing it by running to redline, which to me puts extra strain on the engine. My old van is like "minded, did 150,000km+ (should be 170,000 and still no issues)

Max torque on a WL is @ 3,500rpm.

wagon r wrote:given it's company van.....could the employees be over doing it by running to redline, which to me puts extra strain on the engine. My old van is like "minded, did 150,000km+ (should be 170,000 and still no issues)

Max torque on a WL is @ 3,500rpm.

So high up!?! Always figured it was around 2500 (by feel)..

wagon r wrote:given it's company van.....could the employees be over doing it by running to redline, which to me puts extra strain on the engine. My old van is like "minded, did 150,000km+ (should be 170,000 and still no issues)

Max torque on a WL is @ 3,500rpm.

it aint reach dey yet, no issues to report doing 167xxx right now ,regular maintenance ,original filters and diesel treatment.

Get some advice on that. Your truck is under a factory warranty as well as a dealer warranty. Two different things, so talk to someone in Japan in Mazda. If they can prove that bad or non service caused the problem, I can understand that but the factory warranty should still stand once it was properly seviced.

3stagevtec wrote:

wagon r wrote:given it's company van.....could the employees be over doing it by running to redline, which to me puts extra strain on the engine. My old van is like "minded, did 150,000km+ (should be 170,000 and still no issues)

Max torque on a WL is @ 3,500rpm.

So high up!?! Always figured it was around 2500 (by feel)..

sorry...bad english, max torque is reached at around 2,000-2,500rpm....i should have said that you gain no more HP nor torque revving past 3,500rpm.

many feel that they have to "run it to redline" to get everything out of an engine. The WLs start to drop off after 3,500rpm....they have a really short band.

steups i starting to hate these vans

where can i get this 3 core radiator to buy .. i from central ? how can i know d difference