Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: star_whites on 17 August 2008, 18:24:29
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Not sure what is causing this, but my 2.0 auto appears to releasing fluid under pressure from the expansion tank.
I've checked all over the engine and cant see any leaks anywere else other than from the tank.
I noticed it when I got back from a 35 mile run. The engine ran fine alll the way home and the temp never went above 90-95 when fan comes on. It was around the 90 mark when on the motorway. When I pulled up I checked under the bonnet and found that it had lost fluid from the cam, and both hoses to the tank.
Is this the head gone or do you thnik something else could be causing this as the car drives fine except for a selector issue and idle issue??
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Not sure what is causing this, but my 2.0 auto appears to releasing fluid under pressure from the expansion tank.
I've checked all over the engine and cant see any leaks anywere else other than from the tank.
I noticed it when I got back from a 35 mile run. The engine ran fine alll the way home and the temp never went above 90-95 when fan comes on. It was around the 90 mark when on the motorway. When I pulled up I checked under the bonnet and found that it had lost fluid from the cam, and both hoses to the tank.
Is this the head gone or do you thnik something else could be causing this as the car drives fine except for a selector issue and idle issue??
I had one that every now and then there was a spray came out the expansion tank .... turned out to be head gasket :-/
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I had a mondeo that sprayed it all out from the expansion tank when the head gasket had gone, but that was a lot of fluid and all the time. This is a very small amout, lets say maybe half a cm difference in tank level so quite minimal amounts?? and only every now and again! :-?
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Someone must have an opinion??? Do u think its headgasket, hbv or something else???
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Run it with cap off, and see if you are getting bubbles appear, or can smell fumes...
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Have done that just to see if fan was cutting in correctly, no bubbles were coming out and didnt appear to smell of fumes, just appeared to be steam due to the temp
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How quickly does it pressurise from cold?
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I've not timed it. All I did was leave it running without the cap on to see if fan came on. I know when the head went on it in january the interior fan went cold and steam started coming from exhaust but the fan is blowing hot and no steam. It also does not appear to be using any water other than the bit thats leaking from expansion tank.
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From cold, see if it pressurises within a minute. If so, not good news...
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How long should it take??
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could be a weak cap, i know someone who kept blowing coolant tank caps :-X
Take it on a run, then when you get back release the cap and have a good sniff around it, and in the tank, can you smell fuel?
Any water on the dip stick?
Do you get excessive steam from the exhaust?
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Sometimes, another sign of a blown HG is that when the engine is up to temperature, the water level slowly comes up about 1-2". Goes down. Comes up. Goes down.
No idea why - but if it's happening, you have a blown HG.
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No there is no steam coming from the exhaust, just a small amount of excess fuel on startup due to faulty oxygen sensor on exhaust
There is no water on the dipstick. I cant take it for a run and then take the presure cap straight off as when its hot it wants to overflow if I remove the cap. I have to wait until its cool but as far as Im aware that is normal??
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No the water level stays put, it doesnt raise or lower. It stays at the same level when hot as it does when cold.
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could be a weak cap, i know someone who kept blowing coolant tank caps :-X
Take it on a run, then when you get back release the cap and have a good sniff around it, and in the tank, can you smell fuel?
Any water on the dip stick?
Do you get excessive steam from the exhaust?
::)
And did that person have a failed head? ;)
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How do I tell when it has presurised, because if I keep removing it to check then its obviously going to take longer to do??
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How do I tell when it has presurised, because if I keep removing it to check then its obviously going to take longer to do??
Run it from cold for 60s, and if its pressurised then, probably not good. Can also check if top hose getting too hard.
If answer is no, may be a faulty cap and/or expansion bottle.
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I have noticed that the expansion tank has lots of small cracks that have appeared around the neck below the cap. I also noticed that when it was stood after the 35 mile journey that I could here presure being released from the bottle when the engine was not running is this normal??
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I have noticed that the expansion tank has lots of small cracks that have appeared around the neck below the cap. I also noticed that when it was stood after the 35 mile journey that I could here presure being released from the bottle when the engine was not running is this normal??
The hissing isn't. Is the top hose getting hard after a run?
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could be a weak cap, i know someone who kept blowing coolant tank caps :-X
Take it on a run, then when you get back release the cap and have a good sniff around it, and in the tank, can you smell fuel?
Any water on the dip stick?
Do you get excessive steam from the exhaust?
::)
And did that person have a failed head? ;)
::) ::)
There could be other reasons, blocked /silted rad would not help...
Has it had any RadWeld in it?
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could be a weak cap, i know someone who kept blowing coolant tank caps :-X
Take it on a run, then when you get back release the cap and have a good sniff around it, and in the tank, can you smell fuel?
Any water on the dip stick?
Do you get excessive steam from the exhaust?
::)
And did that person have a failed head? ;)
::) ::)
There could be other reasons, blocked /silted rad would not help...
Has it had any RadWeld in it?
Overheating aside, overpresurisation is caused by HG/Head allowing combustion gasses into coolant, or due to coolant leaks.
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The radiator was brand new in january, however on the leak side, I have forgot that where I park my car at work is on a very steep slope and I did notice the other day that there appeared to be a residue of water under the car when I came out, at first I didnt think anything of it but it was there again the next day. I reverse into my spot which leaves the front passenger side of the car facing downhill at a steep angle. Is is possible its dragging air and causing a blockage??
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Just been outside to see if cars cooled down, but its still hot. On removing the pressure cap it hissed slightly, however on smelling the tank there is no smell of fuel just antifreeze mixture.
Thinking about it though, the top hose from rad to thermostat housing did appear quite hard when I checked it when I parked up as I did give it a squeeze but not too hard as it was bloody red hot :o
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OK, I will start the car in the morning when cold and time it for a minute, after that I will check the pressure cap and see what happens. I will then drive it too work and once there the car should be fully up to temp, so I will check the top hose for hardnous and report back!! :y
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I've not timed it. All I did was leave it running without the cap on to see if fan came on. I know when the head went on it in january the interior fan went cold and steam started coming from exhaust but the fan is blowing hot and no steam. It also does not appear to be using any water other than the bit thats leaking from expansion tank.
Could the cracks in the bottle be from previous head failure in january?
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Ok a quick update.
I got up this morning and thought I would try the car straight away (this was over 2 hrs ago by the way and it was raining lol)
I checked the fluid level which is correct, then made sure the cap was tight. Started the car and ran for 1 minute. Stopped and released cap, there was no pressure. Tightned cap and then set off to work. After 2 1/2 minutes I pulled over and removed the cap, there was a very weak hiss. Prior to removing cap I checked top hose and this was soft.
I then refitted cap and drove the ten minute drive to work with varying speeds from 30 - 70. Stopped and checked hose, this was still soft but bloody hot. No coolant had been forced out. I started to remove cap and you could hear the pressure being released as the fluids shop up to cap (this point I retightned).
So does this rule out the headgasket failure or is it a possibilty that it is only doing it on long journeys and is only just starting to go??
The expansion tank was relaced in january as I accidentaly melted the original tank with my 110v floodlight ::)
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im no expert but would tend to say, not hg. But what else can cause bottle failure in 8 months? A blockage or buggerd cap?
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I don't suspect HG.
Was cap replaced? If not, might be worth getting one (about a fiver)
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To be tottally honest, the bottle & cap were not brand new, as my brother works at a local breakers and it was the quickest way of getting hold of one. It was off a 2000 model, but it was like new.
Im wondering if there is a leak somewere and its allowing air into the system and causing an airlock from time to time??
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Do you think its best to try a new bottle and cap then or do you think it could be down to a leak letting in air??
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Well Ive spent a good few hours on the car today and hopefully got to the bottom of this. On fitting a new Lambada sensor with the car up in the air I noticed fluid dripping from the rad so decided to take a closer look.
On looking using a torch I noticed that there appeared to be fluid coming from the temp sender switch. So I removed the top hose, found the right sized socket to remove it, unpluged the wiring connector and turned it by hand :-[ looks like I didnt tighten it up when I fitted the new rad!!
Cleaned up and refitted then topped up the res and noticed that there was a crack around the base of the neck of the bottle. VX was shut so rang my bro who works at a breaker and he got me a virtually brand new one for £10 yes £10. Will be fitting first thing in the morning and hopefully will sort my coolant loss issues!!!!