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[valliant72]

Hi all, not sure if anyone can help, im not sure if the headgasket is gone on my V6, It using alot of water, theres no water in the oil and no oil in the water, there a little white cream on the oil filler cap, but the car does alot of short journeys. When the car has been on a journey, taking the expansion bottle cap of the water over flows for ages and leaks a little when done up. The car runs smooth and starts straight away with no bad running, theres a little steam from the exhaust, but most cars have wit this type of weather. the car has only 63000 miles on the clock and had service history upto 55000.

[albitz]

v6 head gasket failures are rare.cream in filler is normal on cars that do short journeys.the first thing to check with coolant loss is the heater bypass valve as these are made from plastic and are notorious for cracking.i believe there is info on this in maintenance section

[Mike Collins]

What is the indicated temperature? Does the auxiliary pump by the top hose at the radiator run after shutdown?
If that pump fails, localised boiling will force coolant from the expansion tank.

[albitz]

just had a look in maintenance guides there is an excellent guide on hbv on the first page .you need to locate it and see if it is leaking.probably best with engine running,and a torch may make it easier to see without removing loads of bits first.

[valliant72]

Thanks for ur replies, the temp the car usually runs at is 85-90. /ill have a look at the heater bypass valve tomorrow. the heater works fine btw. not sure on the auxilary pump , ive not heard anything running after shutdown. There are no bubbles from the expansion tank. i was wondering if it could be the expansion tank cap.
Cars all new to me, used to straight 6 senators, but thanks again for ur replies.

[albitz]

do you ever get steam from under the bonnet? if the hbv is well on its way they often chuck out a bit of steam

[cem_devecioglu]

mine is in 82000 miles and no problem with the head gasket..

but if you want to be sure and have time to verify you can have a compression test..

[Darth Loo-knee]

Hi all, not sure if anyone can help, im not sure if the headgasket is gone on my V6, It using alot of water, theres no water in the oil and no oil in the water, there a little white cream on the oil filler cap, but the car does alot of short journeys. When the car has been on a journey, taking the expansion bottle cap of the water over flows for ages and leaks a little when done up. The car runs smooth and starts straight away with no bad running, theres a little steam from the exhaust, but most cars have wit this type of weather. the car has only 63000 miles on the clock and had service history upto 55000.

Sorry to ask this but why would you take the cap off when you have been on long journeys? isnt the water bound to over flow if you remove the cap?

[cem_devecioglu]

Hi all, not sure if anyone can help, im not sure if the headgasket is gone on my V6, It using alot of water, theres no water in the oil and no oil in the water, there a little white cream on the oil filler cap, but the car does alot of short journeys. When the car has been on a journey, taking the expansion bottle cap of the water over flows for ages and leaks a little when done up. The car runs smooth and starts straight away with no bad running, theres a little steam from the exhaust, but most cars have wit this type of weather. the car has only 63000 miles on the clock and had service history upto 55000.

Sorry to ask this but why would you take the cap off when you have been on long journeys? isnt the water bound to over flow if you remove the cap?

good point

[Darth Loo-knee]

When you have been for a run in your car and it is properly warmed up, when you switch it off and lift the bonnet can you hear "Tissing" asthough water is dripping onto an exhaust lets say?
I would start with a new reservoir cap mate first.... by far easier to fit
If still leaks look at HBV for water marks down the side, or down the hoses that fasten to it.....

Also 85-90 sounds rather cool to me as a running temperature.... think in the main 92-95 is the norm.........

[valliant72]

i will look into getting a new cap, but like u say i suppose it will overflow if a take the cap off after a journey. Ive been checking the levels of everything on the car cause ive only had it 2 weeks. checking for any leaks and so on. my naivity when it comes to cooling on cars lol. U think i would of learnt by now changing headgasket on sennys, but thety seemd alot simpler. I did check the HBV and saw no leaks.
Thanks soo much for ur replies and sorry for my stupidity.  [smiley=embarassed.gif]

[Darth Loo-knee]

i will look into getting a new cap, but like u say i suppose it will overflow if a take the cap off after a journey. Ive been checking the levels of everything on the car cause ive only had it 2 weeks. checking for any leaks and so on. my naivity when it comes to cooling on cars lol. U think i would of learnt by now changing headgasket on sennys, but thety seemd alot simpler. I did check the HBV and saw no leaks.
Thanks soo much for ur replies and sorry for my stupidity.  [smiley=embarassed.gif]

There are no stupid questions mate, only mine

Think when i bought a new cap for mine from Vx it was around £15 if it is leaking out from the cap...

[Elite Pete]

Also check the neck of the coolant bottle for small cracks.

[shyboy]

You probably know this, but taking the expansion tank cap off when the engine is hot is very unsafe. The cooling system is pressurised, which raises the boiling point of the coolant, and if this pressure is released suddenly the whole of the coolant can immediately boil and gush out of the expansion tank in a violent and scalding eruption.

[JasonH]

My W reg facelift runs at 85-90C so I don't think that's your problem.