Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Terbs on 12 February 2018, 22:06:58

Title: Water loss
Post by: Terbs on 12 February 2018, 22:06:58
Hi all,
You have probably seen the catalogue of events leading to the recovery of my 2.5 Elite estate, that I posted in Gen Discussion.
Today I went out, topped up the water, and started the car. It ran like a dream. As the RAC chap with his tester diagnosed HG failure, should the car run lumpy ?. It runs just like its come out of the showroom. I revved it to 4000, not a splutter or miss in sight. Would this happen with HG failure. The top hose had blown off, hence all the water loss.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: cam.in.head on 12 February 2018, 22:33:14
it centainly sounds ok at the moment.if theres no signs of any water in the oil,( dipstick end,ignore any tendancy to get salad cream in filler neck at this stage )no signs of bubbles or pressure build up in header tank and no white smoke from exhaust i would run car for a few short journeys at first and monitor water level. all may be well.
any ideas as to why hose blew off ? did it have a jubilee type clip or was the original spring clip weak?
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Bigron on 12 February 2018, 23:09:42
Does the radiator top hose feel really firm when up to temperature and engine revved to c2,000 rpm?

Ron.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Terbs on 12 February 2018, 23:25:43
Yes Ron.... :y

Cam in Head......dipstick normal....just a bit of mayo on the filler cap. :y
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Bigron on 12 February 2018, 23:33:38
A really firm pressure could be indicative of a blown head gasket - I hope I am wrong!

Ron.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Kevin Wood on 13 February 2018, 09:58:15
The cooling system should pressurise anyway once it's up to temperature.

Best test is to take plenty of water with you and go for a spirited drive. If there are any signs of the expansion tank cap having vented, or more hoses blowing off, then it might warrant further investigation.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: cam.in.head on 13 February 2018, 10:02:49
A really firm pressure could be indicative of a blown head gasket - I hope I am wrong!

Ron.


this is one thing i was concerned about.
ie what made the hose come off in the first place.   
and if it was pressure why didnt the cap open first.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Kevin Wood on 13 February 2018, 10:09:53
Another possibility is that the water pump failed suddenly. I had my water pump pulley fail at motorway speeds and I think the sudden buildup of pressure as the coolant boiled blew the seal out of the front of the water pump and ejected all the coolant. No sign of the expansion tank cap venting then either.

I assume the Aux. belt is OK?

Might be worth checking the coolant is circulating OK (warms up OK with flow through the radiator and heater working as normal?). Just thinking it's possible that the impeller dropped off the water pump shaft?
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Bigron on 13 February 2018, 11:16:37
I concur about there being pressure in the system normally, but not enough to blow the top hose off! It should still be squeezable when up to temperature. The cap on the expansion tank is screwed on firmly, but if the clip on the top hose was at all weak.....
As I said, I do hope I am wrong.

Ron.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Kevin Wood on 13 February 2018, 11:20:59
The expansion tank cap should relieve the pressure at (IIRC) 1.2 BAR, though.
That's why I'm wondering if it was a sudden overheating event.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Bigron on 13 February 2018, 11:25:22
I stand corrected, Kevin. I didn't know that it had a blow-off pressure.
I'm glad to be wrong!

Ron.
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Terbs on 13 February 2018, 15:33:50
So what happens with this expansion cap. Does it shoot water out of the top if it gets too much pressure.
Whatever happened was sudden and spontaneous. I had driven the car 50miles to Brackley with no problems at all. It then stood for 6 hours. Started fine, drove for ten minutes if that, then engine stopped, steam coming out from front of bonnet. Car restarted but only with throttle, died before I could get to Drive, so started in Neutral, and knocked into Drive. Temp gauge showing normal, kept going for a mile, temp gauge through the roof. Stopped.!!!!
Just remembered, the heater turned to cold on the way to Brackley, so turned it off. :-[
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Kevin Wood on 13 February 2018, 16:29:53
Hmm. Heater going cold might well be a clue that all was not well. Either it was losing water by then, or the pump wasn't circulating it properly.

I also wonder why it stopped? I guess something electrical might have got a dousing in water. :-\
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: cam.in.head on 13 February 2018, 18:01:44
so how did it run today ?
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: grifter on 13 February 2018, 20:50:40
Same thing happened to my senator, water pump impeller split into 3 bits, car still ran great though just loads and loads of boiling water really quickly, cup of T vicar?  :)

(https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/andrew-cars/senator/senator-water-pump.jpg)
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 14 February 2018, 23:17:34
Is this the same one with non starting probs and mirror?
Title: Re: Water loss
Post by: Terbs on 15 February 2018, 12:24:57
No James....the gold estate has started ok, but this is the blue 2.5 Estate.... :y