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[iain0410]

I have a 1996 3.0 Elite and have had a water loss problem for a while.Annoying but not terminal and I could never pin point where the water was going ( worry about head gasket but no obvious signs). Despite a couple of doses with Radweld I was still losing water. Last month the gearbox starting acting up. It was not shifting up from 1st to 2nd and going into fault/limp mode.

Dodgy gearbox and possible HGF it was beginning to look like time for a reluctant parting of the ways. Water loss seemed to get worse and temperatures were higher than normal. Looking under the bonnet I could see steam from the back of the engine. HBV!!. Well at least that could explain the water loss. I figured if the water loss was down to the HBV then it was worth changing the gearbox oil to try and cure the box problems.

I had to work away and was gone for 4 weeks just got back today and removed the scuttle. Ran the engine to spot the leak.....nothing....can see water staining around the area but no leak. Decided to take the car out despite the box problems to see if the leak would start. Gearbox was perfect. Have driven for miles.....no box problem....no water leak. Am I going mad? The voices in my head tell me I am perfectly sane. Maybe I have Good Fairies at the bottom of my garden.

The only thing I did was I noticed one of the rubber hoses on top of the engine was split and drawing air. I cut it back and popped it on...no leak.

Anyone out there got any thoughts or ideas as to what happened?

[Lazydocker]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... There's no such thing as fairies!!

Seriously though... Still change the HBV as for £30ish it's worth it. Then Drain coolant, flush and refill with 50/50 genuine VX antifreeze. Radweld is bad stuff and should only be used as an absolute emergency!

My HBV went 150 miles from home but I decided to drive it and keep topping up so I didn't put any of that horrid stuff in!

[feeutfo]

only 1 bottle of radweld iirc. Risk of blocking the rad and matrix otherwise. Change hbv, it will most likely start leaking again. £35 from vx.
 Most auto box issues are sorted with atf oil and filter change. Cant do any harm anyway. If not selector switch on side of box.

[Entwood]

HBV's can leak dependant on the amount of water they are bypassing, which depends on the temperature you want in the cabin, which depends on the outside air temperature .. if you get my drift ...

So change the HBV befoe you hit the combination of water temp, air temp and cabin demand that makes it leak big time !!

I also concur with the radweld is bad idea .. flush your system ASAP

HTH

[cem_devecioglu]

There are some colorful additives to find water leaks..

Agreed above..Wash your system ASAP..

Here are some locations that Omegas tend to loose water

Heater bypass valve
Oil cooler area (from the gasket)
Thermostat..
Engine coolant outlet (behind the engine -rare)

[MutantCav]

Is it possible the selector switch got wet...4 weeks of none use and it dried out??

[gwa]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... There's no such thing as fairies!!

Seriously though... Still change the HBV as for £30ish it's worth it. Then Drain coolant, flush and refill with 50/50 genuine VX antifreeze. Radweld is bad stuff and should only be used as an absolute emergency!

My HBV went 150 miles from home but I decided to drive it and keep topping up so I didn't put any of that horrid stuff in!

Try telling my 6 year old daughter that   :-/