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[kevpuk]

Seems my Omega has a leak in the cooling system, I believe somewhere to the back of the engine(bay)

I noticed the Coolant warning came on the other day, so topped up the expansion tank.....then, 24 hrs later, on it came again ! Worrying a little, the temps seemd a little higher than normal, but kept dropping back to approx. half way on the gauge......

Got home, and then went out again about an hour later - 4 miles was all it took for the temp to shoot up to 100.....red warning and so on.....so I pulled into a conveniently placed car park. Looking under the car (leaving the engine on...), I could see several 'fast drips' of water dropping from the bottom of the 'bell-cover-thingie' (spot the technical term  ) and a fair amount of water lost.....could not see where this was coming from under the bonnet, though

So, my question is, what is likely leaking ? Seems to only be when hotter, as I filled the expansion tank with 2l of water from a supermarket and drove home about an our later, the enging never got as hot, and - when parked on my drive - I looked under the car (engine still running) and no sign of leakage ??

My theory is - and I have no diagram or expertise to back this up - that there may be water hoses at the back of the engine, part of the heater loop ?, and one of these may be splitting......worse under pressure (when engine hotter)......wil die completely soon...?

Worth noting that no wetness in the car (matrix ?) so guessing the above...?

Anyone know the layout of the water hoses/have any ideas/suggestions ? Praying that whatever it is turns out to ba a hose and an accessible one at that  

[Andy B]

First thing to check is the heater bypass valve ... a known & common fail point. It lives behind the driver's side bank of 3 cylinders, right at the back under the wiper scuttle. It's not difficult to change, about an hour after practice, but it'll take about a week for the cuts & grazes to heal!  
£30 or so from your local freindly dealer.    

Captain gaffer used one the other day as something to scale his outboard motor against, it looks like a twisted Star Ship Enterprise      

[alexandjen]

First thing to check is the heater bypass valve ... a known & common fail point. It lives behind the drivr's side bank of 3 cylinders, right at the back under the wiper scuttle. It's not difficult, about an hour after practice, but it'll take about a week for the cuts & grazes to heal!  
£30 or so from your local freindly dealer.    

^^^Agreed^^^  it looks like this.............................

[kevpuk]

Sounds promising...right sort of location and common fault, you say ? Any kind of symptoms I can look for to further diagnose (please don't tell me to look for water falling out under car  ) ?

[Andy B]

Sounds promising...right sort of location and common fault, you say ? Any kind of symptoms I can look for to further diagnose (please don't tell me to look for water falling out under car  ) ?

Mine failed (again) recently, and I could alter the rate of leak by turning the air con on or off.

[Gaffers]

First thing to check is the heater bypass valve ... a known & common fail point. It lives behind the driver's side bank of 3 cylinders, right at the back under the wiper scuttle. It's not difficult to change, about an hour after practice, but it'll take about a week for the cuts & grazes to heal!  
£30 or so from your local freindly dealer.    

Captain gaffer used one the other day as something to scale his outboard motor against, it looks like a twisted Star Ship Enterprise      

[size=14]Garrrrrrrrrrr........![/size]

[iainb]

I would add to check the condition of the hose's before fitting the HCV like what I didnt do
 A hose blew a day later.

[Andy B]

......
[size=14]Garrrrrrrrrrr........![/size]

               

[kevpuk]

Sounds promising...right sort of location and common fault, you say ? Any kind of symptoms I can look for to further diagnose (please don't tell me to look for water falling out under car  ) ?

Mine failed (again) recently, and I could alter the rate of leak by turning the air con on or off.

Interesting, as I had the aircon on during the trip that caused the problem......usually have roof/windows open in preference, but my toddler has a cold and didn't want drafts....so ramped up the aircon and - hey presto - overheat !

Hhhhmm, sounds like a a promising diagnosis, chaps   Actually, the car is due in with local dealer tomorrow for one of their "Free Visual Health" checks, an hour - while-you-wait thing which seemed sensible, as the car is only 2 weeks old to me......nice to know where it all stands....so perhaps the little monkeys will be able to concur

[Andy B]

.......so perhaps the little monkeys will be able to concur

You must be joking ..... they only seem to be able to fault find if they can use Tech II, if that doesn't tell 'em, then they're Donanld Ducked. :-?    

[kevpuk]

You must be joking ..... they only seem to be able to fault find if they can use Tech II, if that doesn't tell 'em, then they're Donanld Ducked. :-?    

....not !

[kevpuk]

.......so perhaps the little monkeys will be able to concur

You must be joking ..... they only seem to be able to fault find if they can use Tech II, if that doesn't tell 'em, then they're Donanld Ducked. :-?    

 

Seems they went as far as telling me I had low coolant, and a leak ! Apparently, to look at what might cause such things would be £45.83 ! Same for my dicky central locking (remote locks all doors, drivers then pops up - remote opens all doors, drivers stays down - key works perfectly always  ) - their report says "central locking not working on drivers door" !!!! Which is not even fully correct

[DaveyDavey]

My money would be on the HBV needing to be replaced.

I had coolant loss recently and couldn't pinpoint the fault, no visible leaks anywhere and no puddles of fluid. Eventually caught it steaming slightly out the back of the engine by the HBV. I replaced it myself using the exceptionally helpful guide in the "how-to" section. I think the HBV was £33 from VX.

[Andy B]

....
Seems they went as far as telling me I had low coolant, and a leak ! Apparently, to look at what might cause such things would be £45.83 !

Why are we not surprised. Slightly different I know ut, as I posted the other day, 'my' dealer wants £85 to just plug TechII in and read the codes.  

Same for my dicky central locking (remote locks all doors, drivers then pops up - remote opens all doors, drivers stays down - key works perfectly always  ) - their report says "central locking not working on drivers door" !!!! Which is not even fully correct

You could try removing the door card and giving all the lock mechanism a good lubricating - not WD40   - I used a chain lub, it's a bit stickier. You'll probably need a 'new' locxk motor though.

[kevpuk]

Well, I have it going into a local garage on Wednesady (actually, I remembered them from years ago when they used to look after my Renault Turbos......) - no silly 'looking at' charges, if they can see a leak then that will be enough to quote etc. Decent hourly rate too (@£42 - good for round here !) and will look at the doors the same time - they are happy to lube up etc. if that is all that is needed, too.

Fingers crossed that by the end of Wednesday all will be super - just had the tracking and wheel balancing done, so nearly there