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[colin267]

Hi all,  3 weeks ago noticed small coolant loss. Nothing obvious so topped it up and been monitoring since.  Rate of loss suddenly increased over last few days!  Still nothing obvious - no leaks (that I can see) and nothing on ground underneath.  Car running fine - temp gauge fine (80degC ish) - heating/cooling fine.  Had a look through forum - notice that the HBV is a possibilty - is this a good place to start?  Presumably HBV is under scuttle like other models - mine is 2.2 petrol estate.
Many thanks.

Colin

[TheBoy]

hbv is good place to start

[jimmas]

if not hbv could be start of head gasket just changed mine with exactly the same symptons, mine was blowing across no 3 cylinder I had no oil in water no overheating only coolant loss, just a thought worth getting checked.

[colin267]

Guys,

Many thanks for info.

[mark readman]

It sounds like you may have the dreaded Head gasket failure, The one that many on here are in denial of, it is a very common fault on the 2.2
first fails around 100k and then around every 30k there after unless you get a complete head skim as part of the repair.
As it increases the emissions light will come on as steam is detected in exhaust gasses.
You need someone with a water tester to diagnose because the first sign is exhaust gasses in the water, basically it draws water in to the cylinder most commonly in to pot 4 hence it is known as pot 4 failure.
I do hope you find a leak !
but it doesn't sound good.
Mine was done at 104k so I opted for a head skim and for the head to be fully part washed to clean the breathers.
It's not the end of the world, but it is a bugger !
And vauxhall deny any manufacturing fault, instead they just harp on about the wrong antifreeze, in the meantime, another bites the dust !

[ians]

It sounds like you may have the dreaded Head gasket failure, The one that many on here are in denial of, it is a very common fault on the 2.2
first fails around 100k and then around every 30k there after unless you get a complete head skim as part of the repair.
As it increases the emissions light will come on as steam is detected in exhaust gasses.
You need someone with a water tester to diagnose because the first sign is exhaust gasses in the water, basically it draws water in to the cylinder most commonly in to pot 4 hence it is known as pot 4 failure.
I do hope you find a leak !
but it doesn't sound good.
Mine was done at 104k so I opted for a head skim and for the head to be fully part washed to clean the breathers.
It's not the end of the world, but it is a bugger !
And vauxhall deny any manufacturing fault, instead they just harp on about the wrong antifreeze, in the meantime, another bites the dust !

to be fair, the denial you refer to concerns V6's with failing oil coolers/HBV's etc.   HG failure on 4 pots does seem more common.

[colin267]

Due to go into local independent garage (he's good & honest!) tomorrow.
Last few days, on startup it's been running rough with considerable clouds of what I assume is water vapour out of the exhaust.  Once warmed up all seems pretty much OK although occasional hesitation. I guess it's looking more & more like a Head Gasket.

[colin267]

No great surprise - No.4 cylinder leak!