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[robmac]

hi guys, noticed i was losing coolant a couple of weeks ago.thought it was heater bypass valve so replaced that today. started up after filling coolant back up and immediately noticed coolant leaking along and down the nearside exhaust manifold heatshield and down chassis leg.car is facelift 2.5 v6 on a v plate. car if facing a little downhill on my drive. water loss seems quite severe when engine is cold but almost stops when it reaches temperature???....as always, grateful for help.

cheers, Rob.

[feeutfo]

Remove plenum, inlet manifold, inlet wedge then pressurize the system to locate the leak.

[robmac]

thanks for quick reply..will do that, cheers. Rob.

[Andy H]

With any luck you will find it is the banjo bolt washers on the coolant bridge.

In my case it was the rear corner of the head gasket . The other part(s) that can fail are the core plugs in the back of the cylinder head.

[robmac]

thanks for that picture..gives me a good idea as to what pipes go where
cheers guys!!  rob.

[Andy H]

I had reattached the header tank in order to do a pressure test and bypassed the HBV with a spare bit of hose.

The other part that is missing is the DIS in that photo. here is one with it still attached.

[robmac]

hoping its a split pipe or banjo washer but knowing my luck it'll be the head gasket ..though no mayo or oil in coolant but that means nothing.

[robmac]

little update:..hadn't had chance to investigate source of leak over the weekend, too busy changing clutch and doing brakes on daughters citroen c1. had to drive a 150 mile round trip today and didnt fancy filling up the coolant every 30 miles so stopped at asda and bought two bottles of radweld and bunged it in the expansion tank and crossed my fingers!!.....well its only bloody gone and worked!!..nada water loss ..ok it may not last but atleast its not steaming like a choo choo at every set of lights now.

[feeutfo]

O-oh. No more than one bottle, might block your cooling system/smaller water ways. 

[robmac]

ran with the heater on full for over an hour, seems ok but i know what you mean. 

[Lazydocker]

Budget a replacement Radiator in the not too distant future

You might get away with it, but when I got mine it had been treated with a Radweld type treatment and I had to replace the rad to get the temperature stable

[Varche]

Got fairly new (2004) 2.5 radiator here in Spain if you need it.

One more thing to check. Have a look at the engine end of the small hose from the HBV, my 3.0 had a pinhole leak there.

[robmac]

cheers varche...i'll bear that im mind should i need one.well after doing another 348 miles today i can report all is well with the omega..no leaks, no cooling issues and heater working well. will probably drain down the system at the weekend and refill with 50/50 mix of vauxhalls finest antifreeze just to be on the safe side.