Several eBay sellers offer K seal or it can be purchased direct from Kalimex who have an interesting website at kalimex.co.uk. Have not used it myself but keep it in mind in case of future problems.

Ken

Hi Ciaran,
If you need it K- Seal was available on mail order last time I looked for £6.99 + £1.60 p&p from ebay shop maxcar1.
Robert.

Going to try this other crap in it tomorrow, but if it doesn't help then K-seal it is, ta everyone for the pointers of where to get it, and kind offers of help

I went and recovered the other donor Xant tonight. Head has definitely had it, which is a real pity, as the engine is very nice, starts first time and drives very smoothly. I was hoping it might just be the thermostat, and I could just fix it up to use or sell on, its pretty cooked though unfortunately.

We arrived and found the coolant tank full of mayo, no surprises there. I topped it up and left the cap off so it wouldn't pressurise. It started with no problem at all, and I drove it the 6 miles home, dad following close behind me, tow rope on standby

As it was mostly empty dual carriageways the temp stayed below 70 most of the way, and only started rising when I was slowing down coming back into residential areas. Turned into my parents street and noticed a sizable continuous puff of steam belching out the sides and front of the bonnet, but to be fair most of that was due to the fact I had left the lid off the coolant bottle. We pulled up outside the house and I let it idle and opened the bonnet. I could hear the splurging and gurgling of the coolant before I even did so
The water was jumping out and doing acrobatics, even with the engine off, so definitely loads of pressure escaping through the gasket. A real shame, as the car drives so well, the suspension is smooth as silk, the steering pin sharp, and the engine actually runs great until it heats up.
Still, operation swap parts begins tomorrow.
Anyone after any Xantia bits?

Ciarán

Why not try some K-seal in that scrap donor Xanthia, you never know it MIGHT fix the HG?

I'm thinking about it, though it seems the emulsified coolant is everywhere now

Been a bit of a bad Xantia day, got the black one up in the air earlier and it is very rotten all over the back subframe, a few spot holes appearing, and rear hydraulic pipes ready to crumble between your fingers. So, as I don't have the time, facilities and space to start tackling this, it is now pretty much scrap too.

I think I might try a bit of K-seal in the blown one, as you suggested. Nothing to loose there really, and at least it would perhaps salvage something from this debacle...

Anyone want a black '95 1.9TD SX?

Ciarán

Local Motaman sold out of K-seal, plenty of Radweld but I don't want that.
They checkout guys comment about K-Kseal "Its good innit" (or something to that effect). They are expecting some more in next week.

I've heard of a local motorfactor that supposedly stocks it, will give them a try on Monday. failing that, I may well have to make you regret your offer Tim

Ciarán

Annnnnd the plot thickens (bit like the coolant-oil mix) .
Managed to get a few bottles of K-Seal from GSF today. Went round to put it in the blue one, and had a bit of a realisation. The crap which spewed from the coolant tank, is light grey, yet has distinctive strong streaks of pure black oil through it. That's nothing out of the ordinary, but when I examine the dipstick and oil filler cap, there's nothing on them but pure clean oil, absolutely no sign of coolant or emulsified stuff whatsoever.

The engine starts on the button (starts quicker and smoother than any XUD I've ever heard, barely one turn), it idles and drives smoothly with no signs of misfiring or compression loss. It sounds good too. There is no sign of any steam or white smoke from the exhaust.

I'm beginning to think, that the head might not be gone after all. The previous owner complained that before this cooling problem started, that the car had a pretty severe oil leak, and he couldn't find where it was coming from. He replaced the usual rocker seals, looked down the back of the engine etc. The oil was needing topped up often and he couldn't see it escaping anywhere.
Given that there's oil in the coolant, but not vice versa, is it reasonable to resume that it may be the oil cooler at fault?

I'm contemplating flushing the whole thing out at the weekend (any recommendations for something good at shifting that emulsified crap welcome ), and sticking an oil cooler in it to see how it runs. Then we'll see if the K-Seal is needed!

Ciarán

Ciaran,
speaking from personal experience, check the oil cooler-especially if it is aluminium rather than copper. They rot internally and leak oil into the water, but as oil is higher pressure than coolant it doesn't go the other way. Just take the water pipes off and join them together, by-passing the cooler, and then look for signs of oil coming from the cooler water pipes (it may take a while) after the engine has been run.
I'm assuming the Xantia uses the same cooler as a 405. I think the early 405 ones were copper and replaced in production with cast ally as a cost cutting excercise. If the engine seems fine otherwise you may save yourself a large job. You could also do a pressure check on the cooling system with the cooler by-passed to give an indication of head gasket state.

Good luck and fingers crossed, Rodders.

Cheers Rodders,

Will try that as soon as I can get all the pipes cleaned out properly.
Is it safe enough to run the engine for a period without the cooler connected?

If it is the cooler that needs replaced (heres hoping ), how do they come off the engine, I presume there are bolts etc accessible with the oil filter removed?

Cheers

Ciarán