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[PAULCDX]

Cheers James, 

Car is now off the road and I hope to catch up with you by next weekend.

Going to do a few checks now and will update shortly

[PAULCDX]

Update -

As per the advice given I have run the car a good half hour with the cap removed off the header tank and watched the temp gauge sit nicely at 85c, looked underneath and couldn't see any water dripping onto the floor.

Once I put the cap back on I watched the water level rise in the header tank until it got to a point where it forced it's way out the cap and the top and bottom hose connections? At this point the temp gauge was around 95c........

Any ideas as to what this all means?

Thanks in advance as always 

Paul

[doz]

If your getting enough pressure in the water system to lift the cap and hose clips then you may well have to consider a head gasket issue. As rare as it is on these engines I can't think anything else which will cause this. When you had it running with the cap off did you have a good sniff of the steam coming out the bottle. Combustion fumes stink pretty bad when they make their way through the water system. You may have to get a "sniffer" kit to get a positive result

[PAULCDX]

Just a thought, I decided to have a look at the oil filler neck and the mayo is a dark brown colour and does smell quite a bit...... Not sure if this is related or normal? Couldn't see any oil in header tank or water on the oil dipstick.

[doz]

Mayo in the filler doesn't really prove anything with these engines. Short journeys can cause it

[PAULCDX]

Oh Sorry,my mistake, just never seen it that colour before or smelling that bad that's all......... Wasn't sure if it was related to my overheating problem

[Entwood]

Given what James said in his previous post about the stat being an unknown one .... I'm inclined to agree with his conjecture that the stat may be stuck shut, and once the pressure starts to rise within the system (cap on) you are getting a localised "boiling" that is causing rapid expansion and temperature rise.

If you can leave it until James can look at it, all well and good.....

If you want to do more diagnostics .. try this .... and if you do it with the cap off it will be safer .....

Start engine from cold .. preferably overnight cold ... allow to idle and stand with one hand on the top hose where it comes from the thermostat. That pipe should remain cold until the temp gauge gets to mid 80's at which point you should feel a sudden "surge" of hot water as the thermostat opens.

If the water warms up slowly throughout, the stat is stuck shut

If the water does not "surge" but seems to heat up from the radiator end "backwards" so to speak, the stat is stuck shut and you are feeling the thermal siphon effect

HTH

[PAULCDX]

Cheers Entwood, I will give that a try, failing that I will hold off until I can get it looked at by somebody who knows what they are doing 

Thanks everybody for all the advice

Paul

[Andy B]

....
If the water warms up slowly throughout, the stat is stuck shut
 .....

A stat that's stuck OPEN will result in the rad hose warming up slowly ................ 

[Entwood]

....
If the water warms up slowly throughout, the stat is stuck shut
 .....

A stat that's stuck OPEN will result in the rad hose warming up slowly ................ 

You are correct .. thats a typo ..!!!!!!!  Should read OPEN on that paragraph .. next one is the stuck shut version !!

and now the edit option has passed ..

[doz]

I just can't see this being the thermostat. I hope it is after all even with the B'stard bolt it's still a sight easier than doing the head gaskets. I fear that the fact it didn't boil over without the cap on is because the gases are free to escape. The car isn't actually over heating. It's only getting to around 95C it's purely a over pressure issue. If it was due to lack of flow caused by the thermostat being shut then it would of spit the water out the bottle without the cap on as well. Also I feel the temp read out would still go off the gauge. At no point has this happened from what has been written. If it's not due to a physical leak (ie cracked header bottle or HBV) then I'm afraid it's got to be caused by over pressure. I hope I'm wrong but I fear the worst.

[PAULCDX]

Oh that doesn't sound good to me 

Highest I saw the temp gauge reach was 100c yesterday whilst idling, at that point water level was at it's highest in the tank and started to spill out through the cap and top and bottom hose connections, same thing has happened today also........

[doz]

Under 2 bar pressure water doesn't boil until 120C. So either it's not under pressure so boiled at 100C which leads us to a leak or it was under pressure but the pressure was to great it caused the relief valve and pipe clips to let by. Only way you can over pressure the system is by extreme temperatures (dis proven by the gauge) or by the head gasket letting compressed gases escape from the chamber into the water system. Another thing you can try. Run the car until just before it starts to spew the water. Switch it off. Now leave it for 10-20 minutes then restart it. Look at the exhaust when you start it (arm extensions needed or somebody to turn the key) If it blows out a lot of condensation for a minute or so then you now have water back in the cylinder. These happens as the pressure in the water is now greater than the pressure in the chamber while the ended was stopped. You have to be sensible doing this test. If you leave the engine to long to cool then your end up mistaking the the "cold mist" for a head gasket issue. If the leak is bad enough you may get some hydraulic lock which can be mistaken for a flat or low battery.

[Elite_L0ver]

im sorta with doz on this one it sounds like a pressure problem is it a V6 engine if it is it is really rare on them but it does sound like pressure.

[I_want_an_Omega]

Seems simlar to the symptoms on my 3.0 when I bought it.

Turned out to be the water pump - the impeller had become detached from its shaft and wasn't turning !