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[car-nut]

Yesterday I felt really stupid. But finally resolved my brake light fault which after the faulty bulb holder was replaced I assumed the bulb was ok, but as it turned out, the brake filament was in fact broken. So now new bulb in and all working,

However I got in my Omega at about 9pm and after the brake light check message went out, Coolant Level came up on the screen. So I immediately switched the engine off and opened the bonnet.

I checked the coolant level and found it was below half. But there is no obvious leaks, no patches on the path etc... The only thing I haven't checked is the oil cap to see if there is any chance of it being the head gasket.

This happened once before about 3 months ago but I topped the coolant up and never had the issue until now.

I am going to fully investigate tomorrow. But am very worried now.

[PhilRich]

It may simply be you've had an air lock that has worked it's way up to the expansion bottle. Check the dipstick for water droplets, as well as the filler cap for signs of 'mayonaisse'. HG failure on the 4 pot is usually found on cylinder 4 (nearest the windscreen) and a good way to check is to run the car upto normal temperature last thing in the evening & then leave it to stand overnight. Next morning whilst still cold, remove No.4 plug & either shine a bright light into the cylinder bore or else dip a long thin stick with absorbent material firmly fastened to it until it hits the piston head, then remove & check for wetness. If it is wet, smell it to check whether it is petrol, although any fuel in the bore should have evaporated overnight. If No.4 is dry, repeat for the other cylinders. Also remove the expansion bottle cap & do a 'sniff test', can you smell exhaust/petrol fumes? assuming the bottle & coolant is/was clean, is there any discolouring going on that you haven't noticed before? Hopefully, it is just air been displaced. Good Luck 

[car-nut]

The water colour and smell hasn't changed since I have had her, I have been under the car, in the engine bay etc... checked under the oil filler cap and the dipstick and no obvious signs of why the coolant level dropped. So I topped it up with a 50 50 mix of anti freeze that I had in the cupboard as I know it doesn't matter what I put in right now as I am planning a complete coolant change in a couple of weeks, but made sure the level was full according to the marker, I then took it for a 4 mile round trip and parked up when I got back and immediately popped the bonnet open and checked the coolant level and it was still where it was when I left. So am very very confused. I have checked the spark plugs and the holes when it was cold as well and nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. I even checked my footwell in the car both sides and bone dry!

So fingers crossed about the air lock theory. All I can do is keep any eye on it.

[philsteward]

Hi,

I think I have a similar thing on my 2.2

I have had it since July, and in August did a complete flush of the coolant and filled it up to the correct level with the correct mix of antifreeze.  Over the next couple of weeks kept an eye on it and topped it up as necessary as it was removing air bubbles (a very tiny amount!)

However, since August (about 3months) and about 3.5k miles, I have noticed the fluid is steadily going down, only by a very tiny tiny amount (I check all levels each time before I drive it), but enough to bring the level about 1cm below the correct cold level line (seam on the bottle).  I topped it up yesterday and checked it again after another 400miles this weekend, but no level change.

The oil cap is clear, the coolant has not discoloured at all, so not going there.

I have noticed that when the vehicle is left idling once warm, it tends to produce a bit more white fumes out of the exhaust than I would expect from a warm engine, might be because it is running on LPG, not had a chance to try it warm on petrol yet.

Also, in August when I did the coolant and service, noticed that the coil pack & plug on cylinder no4 had a rusty brown coloured deposit all over it.  Totally bone dry so I assumed it was old, and cleaned it all off.  Not checked it since but will soon hopefully.

I know this might not have helped but seems like we are having the same thing?  I wonder whether it is as a result of the car overheating after a run.  I have noticed that if you park up after a run, temp at normal range, then go back out to the car about 10mins later, the temp needle will be over the 100C.  The 2.2s do not have the electric recirculate pump like the v6s, and I wonder if it is worth fitting something?

[sport]

My 2.2 leaked coolant water when air con was on, and that was the hbv valve leaking, at back of engine, replaced it no problem now.
 

[car-nut]

I used my aircon today, I will check my coolant in a minute.

[Michael2.6]

I think you have a head gasket problem

[Jukeboxnut]

I had exactly the same problem with my wife's Vectra and it turned out to be the HBV, easy fix (on the Vectra at least)

[JIFFY]

have just been reading the post on water loss,
 mines a 2001 2.2 it does exactly the same,have owned it now for approx 2 months,wheni got her home noticed the header tank was half empty, no obvious signs of water loss anywhere to be seen, cold or hot ,topped up no problems since,
just hope it stays that way

[Lazydocker]

Sounds like classic HBV symptoms to me

[Michael2.6]

If you can see no coolant leaks on outside of the engine

it must be going past the head gasket

you said there are white exhaust fumes head gasket again

bubbles in coolant bottle head gasket again

do you top up your coolant weekly

[philsteward]

Sounds like classic HBV symptoms to me

Does the 2.2 have the HBV in the same place as described for the v6?

[philsteward]

If you can see no coolant leaks on outside of the engine

it must be going past the head gasket

you said there are white exhaust fumes head gasket again

bubbles in coolant bottle head gasket again

do you top up your coolant weekly

Can't speak for Jiffy or car-nut but seeing as our symptoms are all very similar, I do not think it is head gasket.  The water loss is very very minimal.  There is no coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant, and only I mention the white smoke which I think is as a result of running on LPG.

Cheers

[Lazydocker]

If you can see no coolant leaks on outside of the engine

it must be going past the head gasket

you said there are white exhaust fumes head gasket again

bubbles in coolant bottle head gasket again

do you top up your coolant weekly

Sorry, but no. There are many, many places you can get a very slight coolant leak on the Omega and not be able to see it. The HBV starts failing by only leaking under certain conditions and is 95% of the time the problem.

The white smoke on the car with LPG is quite normal, one of the largest by-products of burning LPG is water vapour the other possibility on the lpg vehicle, although unlikely with no other faults showing, is a perforation in the vaporiser diaphragm.

A quick compression test will confirm HG integrity, nothing else would lead me to start ripping the heads off The symptoms do not point to HG failure IMO... Check everything else first

[Michael2.6]

where does it say in the post that this car runs on LPG

I dont see it