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[MaxV6]

Right.....  

having given it some time to "settle" after the many patient and gratefully received ministrations  by the saintly Admin crew....   And of course James's heroic battle with the stat housing, ....  

it's still losing coolant.....   about a litre every 2 days.

BUT.

there is NO sign of any leaks...  even at temperature, after a slow journey in rush hour...  with the engine still running... look underneath and it's bone dry... not a drip in sight.

No oil in the coolant either.....  or not so as you'd notice, but i'm having to refill the header tank about every other day...  (alternating now between antifreeze and water... but it's expensive.... )

NO clouds of steam out of the exhaust either....

it's a bloody mystery to me......   and I've learnt my lesson about handing it over to garages & trusting them to find it quickly.....


the only thing that is somewhat concerning, and possibility related, things are.

1) that we get assorted "hot " water/coolant/oily, smells using the heater (especially on full blast....  ) but no dampness in the footwells... and that in heavy  traffic using the heater is required to keep it down to "normal" mid 90's operating temperature....  after a while.... (it now takes a lot longer to reach that point though, having had it's several versions of  niagra falls fixed )  

2) that stuck fan/pump/whatever squealing pig noise happens once the engine is switched off, if the car's hot....    you know when a cooling fan would normally come on after you switch off, ... but instead we get this horrendous noise......  which i can stop by turning the ignition on 9but not starting the engine) so that the internal heater cools the systems somewhat...

On a "run" it behaves impeccably....   temperature steady , any rises seem to be dealt with by primary cooling fan as and when required.......   it's when it's been running for a while, then has to sit stationary in traffic that it begins to get toasty....

  
any ideas?


Max

[razzo]

Hi Max AFAIK the fan runs in 2 stages had a similar with my meega when sat in heavy traffic & was losing coolant via pressure cap on header tank cos fan would only run at one speed. I believe when engine temp creeps higher & fan kicks in sometimes airflow over the rad aint enough so fan speed is increased. Might be worth lookin at electrics. HTH

[sounds2k]

 

[Kevin Wood]

I wonder if the squealing is that aux. water pump on the side of the rad?

I could imagine it would run on when the engine's stopped to keep water circulating through the rad. There'd be no point in it running when the engine and thus main water pump's running so maybe it doesn't?

Doesn't explain the coolant usage though. What a pain in the backside.  

That's enough water loss for there to be a sign somewhere, one would have thought, be it drips, steam, damp carpets or anything else.

Do you still get a cold top radiator hose and expansion tank when it plays up? I guess you will since that's probably just a symptom of a low coolant level.

Has it had an emissions probe in the expansion tank and a compression test?

I know head gasket was thought to be very unlikely but in the absence of too many other avenues to explore...

You're right about getting a garage to look at it. They missed all the other problems that have been corrected so what's the likelihood that they'll find something now?

Not leaking into the autobox through the gearbox heat exhanger? Can't imagine the gearbox would have swallowed litres of water without complaining, though, and the gearbox oil will be at higher pressure than the water anyway so that's a silly idea.

Where can it be going?

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

I don't suppose the heater matrix is designed to leak through a hole in the bottom of the car and not into the cabin?

Then again, you'd be steaming up a bit inside!

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

I think there's a big resistor on the passenger side inner wing that goes in series with the fan on the slow speed and not on the fast speed.

If it were overheating due to a fan / aux. pump issue the consequent coolant loss would be obvious, though.

Kevin

[sounds2k]

might be worth trying adding some bars leaks ... not sure if it would fix a leak that big though?

[rpont]

I agree with Kevin about the aux cooling pump, but the one below the expansion bottle if it has one, mine runs all the time the ignition is on. Try removing the top hose carefully and seeing if there is coolant there in case you have an air lock. If you see water put the hose back on and try it again. If the water pump in the engine is working properly you shouldn't get an air lock. You can take the screws out of the front of the pump and see if it's gunged up.

[Elite Pete]

 

Think I would be tempted

[Marks DTM Calib]

There are places on the engine where water loss is not seen......including the main cooling pipe to block seal at the rear...

I think we can rule out the oil cooler, stat and coolant bridge now.......did James use sealent on the stat to block seal?

[MaxV6]

There are places on the engine where water loss is not seen......including the main cooling pipe to block seal at the rear...

I think we can rule out the oil cooler, stat and coolant bridge now.......did James use sealent on the stat to block seal?

Hi Mark, Yes, James sealed the Stsat housing... and fitted new O rings to transfer pipe.

Surely the Coolant escaping from a pipe like the main coolant pipe, would at least show up underneath as wetness, even if not fast enough to be an observable drip...??
When looking underneath, it is BONE dry.... absolutely no sign of any "wet"  at all, and all that coolant has to go Somewhere surely?

AFAIK, my Aux cooling pump is fixed to the top left corner of the radiator...  (top left as it relates to sitting in the driver seat facing forwards.... )

it is that general area which seems to be developing the noise...

and I can feel Vibration on some pipes...

if something were blocking it's impeller maybe that would explain it?

[Taxi_Driver]

One of my leaks was a bit bizzare!

It only leaked with the engine off! and parked uphill! Dont ask me why, ive no idea.

I took it too my local garage one day coz i couldnt find it.....parked it on a slope uphill right outside their workshop....and left the engine running.....explained to the boss its got a water leak.....he had a quick poke under the bonnet....told me to leave it running.....after 20mins nothing! no drips on the ground and he still couldnt find the leak. Turned it off and went in the garage for a coffee....came back out after about 10mins....and there was a little stream running down the slope.....coming from hbv area.
Up on the ramps it went......he prodded a water pipe in the hbv area and water dripped at a fast rate....he tightened a jubilee clip that was on the pipe....leak fixed!

Have you tried checking for drips/puddles with the engine off?