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[kingplym]

i was driving along and saw steam coming out of my bonnet! I pulled over and coolant was running all other the floor!!!

the temperature was only at 90-92 c.

turned off the engine and after aa minute or two it stopped?!

no more leaking and no more steam!? i drove it round the corner and still nothing? temp stayed at a steady 92. drove it home a 3-4 mile journey and now home nothing? :-/

the steam/ leak looked to be coming from the back of the engine bay area?

the only other notes i can add is that there was a little too much coolant in the system an now there about a litre missing and i found a little hose had worked its way loose of the air intake after the air filter. i dont know if this means anything?

please help

[RichB]

Sounds like it could be the heater bypass valve (HBV)  Check at the back of the engine on the drivers side, right underneath the wiper cover and see if its leaking, try moving the heaters from full hot to full cold as it will probably only leak in one position.  A new valve is about £30 from Vauxhall on Trade Club.

[kingplym]

my matrix is already removed as it was leaking and the pipes bypassed before they pass thru the bulkhead but these werent leaking or wet etc. by the previous owner, ao never had hot air.

[mark.adams]

Is the HBV still there? Looks like a black spaceship?

[kingplym]

yes the hbv still there.  further to original post, i split my top hose last week and fitted a new one on thursday in the process went to vx and compleately flushed the system bout 4-5 times til it was clearish water then added a 50/50 mix. i bring this up cos i just opened the coolant bottle and there was white lumpy stuff just around the cap. like wet lumpy flour???

im not sure its not mayonnaise also there nothing round oil filler cap or at bottom of dip stick, but i did just stick a piece of kitchen rollin the coolant tank and its coming up dirty brown. considering i just flushed system in thurs does this mean i got oil in my water?

please anyone help!

[star_whites]

Sounds like your oil cooler has had it. When the oil cooler fails it puts oil in to the water but not normally the other way round.  

[kingplym]

were is the oil cooler? cos my car was fully loaded and i bumped quite badly down a curb with a significant scraping banging sound?

[star_whites]

The oil cooler is in the center of the V section in the middle of your engine, so there is no way you could damage that by dropping down a kerb. If you say that you have just flushed the systed and there is no water in the oil then I would definatly say your oil cooler has had it.

[kingplym]

ok is that expensive? difficult to replace?

[RobG]

About £100 for parts and http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1221081908

[RobseyMV6]

You wouldn't have damaged oil cooler by bumping down a kerb, oil cooler is sat down inside top of block and to find this between heads with two pipes running to it. sadly they all come to an end  
Around a 3.5 hour job and only £115 for parts from vauxhall.

[star_whites]

Biggest problem when doing the oil cooler is leaving it 24 hrs to allow sealant to set before running the engine otherwise is straight forward. Once you have taken the plenum and injector rail off its a doddle to get too.

[kingplym]

and will it be obvious once taken apart that this had gone/blown?

i suppose i will have to flush the system again. already done it twice this month due to a split top hose.  :-/

[kingplym]

what would happen if i keep running the car in the mean time?

[RobseyMV6]

Only way to check would do a pressure test on the old cooler, your'll need to do at least two flushes when fixed