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[Darth Loo-knee]

Matt, if what you are saying is right, that there is not still a slight oil leak from the passenger side Cam Cover, that the HBV now isn't leaking, but you still have steam coming up from behind the Plenum, I would be looking at lower down at the coolant bridge, this way if it is leaking down there you won't be able to see it as the Plenum, inlet manifold all hide it..
The coolant Bridge is at the back of the picture going from one side of the block to the other... you can just see the coolant pipes going to it...
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1192574209

[omegalord]

Looknee,

Makes sense i suppose. Could the oil cooler do this to the coolant system? , as the crap in the header tank was a browny stuff , but was told on here that it might just be burnt water. I might have a go at replacing the oil cooler and then i will have a look at the coolant bridge then whilst the plenum is off.

How much is an oil cooler?

Matt

[ffcgary1]

 :question  1  Are you still topping up the coolant bottle
                2  How many small pipes are there on the coolant bottle [ 1 or 2]
                3  Does the car over heat when being driven
                4  Can you see pink coolant leaking anywhere on any hoses.
                5  Have you checked thoughly for cam cover oil leaks.


 As to ?  no 2 the 2 small hoses on the coolant bottle this type of system is self bleeding and do not require the rad cap off to bleed the system.

It does require the bottle to be checked for level though after cooling down to cold.

 You need to approch this with a bit more care and start at the begining AGAIN. Good luck.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Looknee,

Makes sense i suppose. Could the oil cooler do this to the coolant system? , as the crap in the header tank was a browny stuff , but was told on here that it might just be burnt water. I might have a go at replacing the oil cooler and then i will have a look at the coolant bridge then whilst the plenum is off.

How much is an oil cooler?

Matt

Oil Cooler about £100.... But you maybe jumping the gun......

Are you losing water? Are you losing Oil? Is there oil in your Coolant Reservoir?

If not wouldn't suspect oil cooler failure...

When I put that Forte Coolant Cleaner stuff in I kept getting a green mucky stuff, as well as brown in the water reservoir and cap.. Like I said before it took me a few weeks to get the water perfectly clear, diluting each time I flushed with clear water.. only when I was sure did I put in the new red anti-freeze.

[omegalord]

Well,

I drained the coolant and left cap open. Then put heaters on full whack and run engine as i was pumping constant water in the header tank. Did this for about 10-15 mins till the water coming out was clear. Definitely no oil leaks off the gaskets , i have run my fingers around the sides and no oil. Coolant is dropping slightly but i think this might be down to how hot the coolant is when the car is running. It doesnt overheat as the fans do come in at 96 but the car just seems to run hot.

The header tank is brown but from the past coolant and is brown crap in , looks almost like sand if you know what i mean.

I might get a new header tank from greenhous as only £25 and do a complete coolant flush every day for about a week , see if that does it.

Matt

[Darth Loo-knee]

Why do you think your car is running hot? mine with the heaters on hot, temperature gauge sits about 92-93... with heaters on cold 94-95... sitting in traffic temperature gauge will go up to 97 then fans kick in to bring the temp down again.... You said yours does this and your temp sits at 92! I wouldn't say that was running hot....
Before going and spending any more money unneeded, put a washing up bowl under and drop your water when cooled down through the red plug at the bottom of the radiator.. you will see bits at the bottom of the bowl....Leave the plug out, refill with clear water until the water that is now coming out is as clean as when your putting it in... tighten the rad plug then refill your reservoir with clear water. Use the car as normal get home and repeat..
What you are doing is diluting the Forte and Anti Freeze you have put in. It took me a couple of weeks to do this.
I no longer have the green mucky stuff or brown looking water.    

[justme]

Right...

Had steam coming from the back of the plenum. Turned out to be rocker gaskets. Replaced the gaskets with genuine gaskets, sealant and o rings. Then i noticed the smell of coolant , and it kept flashing "coolant low" on the MID.

So... went on for a few days and noticed steam coming from behind plenum but this time not an oily smell , more of a hot water smell.

So asked on here and was told it might be HBV.

Changed that last week and it had a white stain on the back of the HBV so was probably leaking. Pipes definitely on right as asked marks dtm and no leak at all from there.  Did that and did a coolant flush until it was running clear water out of rad.

Put 5ltr of genuine red vauxhall coolant in and then topped up the following day to mak level.

Still smells of coolant, still flashes up "coolant low" , and thats after sitting for half hour with cap off to get rid of airlock.

Today just pulled off and after 3-4 mins of driving , smoke/steam coming from the passenger side of the bonnet , by the wing.

So pulled over after about 1-2 mins and jumped out and openend bonnet. Not a sign of steam/smoke water leaking or anything , but a strongish smell of coolant again.

Matt   :-/

A white stain on the back of the hbv, the hbv was not split :question then there must be a pipe leaking there, again dont forget with that temp and pressure a slight weep will be like an aerosol you are looking for something small.

[ians]

Please do not go investing time and money in swapping things blind.   That's an expensive way to not solve the problem (if indeed there is a problem).

In my experience , when cam cover seals have gone and been replaced, it takes quite a while for all the old oil that has already leaked to find its way onto the exhaust and burn off.  So intermittently you'll get oil smoke /smell. (likely for a couple of weeks or more - don't worry about it.) - that sounds like what you are seeing.

As I understand it, you are not losing coolant,  but there is brown gunge in the tank - possibly due to coolant flush you've added (have you?).  If so you will need to repeatedly flush properly (NOT just running a hose through the system - there will be gunge in places that that method doesn't clear out) until the water is clear.  While you are doing this over several days check that the level isn't falling.  

Finally when you are sure the level is not dropping and the water remains clear,  then add your antifreeze (sorry I know this duplicates previous posts..).

I think you have convinced yourself there is a problem but I'm really not sure there is, so let's not go spending cash until we have determined that.

BTW - HBV's in my experience leak out of the small hole - I've never seen one visibly split.

[omegalord]

**UPDATE**

Well, saw the smoke today and slammed brakes on and popped bonnet to see where its coming form.... and its the passenger side rocker gasket! GUTTED!!

In my defence i didnt fit that side my mate did. I couldnt do that side as my hands are big and couldnt get them down the side. So.... can i reuse the gaskets as they are only a month old ?

And would it just be a case of taking the rockers off and taking the gasket out and wiping it and then reseating it and trying again?

Also,

Coolant Low keeps flashing up and then going off so hopefully its just a loose connection.

Finally, i didnt put any coolant flush in , just clear cool water. Im going to drop the coolant again and fill up , run for a bit , then flush until its totally clear.

Matt

[ians]

Coolant low appears on mine too even though there is plenty in the tank.  I think the sensor is US.  So no need to worry about that for now assuming there is coolant in the tank.

I think you'll only know about the gasket when you get the cover off.  If there is any visible damage at all I would get a new one (pair).   You'll need to carefully remove the sealant and redo carefully, and check that the 'half moon ' at the back is properly located.    Also check you've not lost any of the orings.

[omegalord]

Yeah,

Well im going to do it all on a weekend. Going to take the plenum off again , do the rocker gaskets so they are perfect , and also blank off my EGR, clean out the ICV and then give the whole engine a whole check over to see if there are any signs of a leak near the coolant bridge. Also going to get a new header tank and cap. Then flush the car with forte, loads and loads of times to get the water running clear and then put new red antifreeze in again.

Matt

[razzo]

Just  thought but seem to remember when M DTM was working on Jims car he had a rad cap with a tyre valve in it & pressurised the cooling system to 18 psi & left it to see if the pressue dropped, may be worth a try

[ffcgary1]

Dont fit the new header tank untill your ready to finally fill with 50/50 mix coolant and water that way the tank stays clean.