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[Felix_Creme]

the folly that was the £275, 200,000 mile ex mini cab that i bought is now coming to light

when i bought it i was told by the previous owner that part of the reason he was gettin shot of it was that it was losing water.

anyway, after leaving it running for nearly 2 hours, i couldnt notice any water loss.  and after driving it around from cold, the temp gauge wouldnt get to 80 degrees till around 10 mins later.

so i thought its not the head gasket

....well i've realised that it has an appetite for water even if i run it around the block

i've checked the header tank and there is no sign of the dreaded gunge though when evr you open it, even from cold, there always seems to be a pressure build up.

in addition, i've opened the oil filler cap and there is a slight oily whitey residue that wishful thinkn has me put it down to condensation under the valve covers

............oh why oh why did i but it

still the tyres on it are good........


help!!!!

[JamesV6CDX]

What is your location...

[Felix_Creme]

i live in luton

[Entwood]

Check the HBV at the back of the engine with the heating in several different temperature bands. HBV is a common leakage point but due to the way it works it will leak at some temperatures and not at others.

[Felix_Creme]

HBV???

is that something to do with the heater matrix, cos funnily enough the centre left vent blows hot whereas all the others blow cold...very cold

where abouts is that...i aint gotta rip out the dash for tht have i

by the way, i used to live in swindon (worked for honda ege) and i even lapse into a wiltshire accent

...your car looks sweet by the way

[Entwood]

HBV is under the scuttle at the back of the engine bay .... have a read here ..


http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1193594464

Thanks for the comment on the car .. 

[Felix_Creme]

cheers fella

certainly looks like a knuckle grazing job...

i dont recall ever seein any coolant on the drive cos thats one of the things i've been mindful off (i.e is it a leak, water literally disappears, and had been gettin worse over the last few days).

having said that its got the protective undershield and that might look a little....wet shall we say

could get a compression test done it to rule out head gasket, but dont really wanna spend cash on it as it was meant to serve as a run around till finances allowed me to purchase the holy grails of all engines...chevy ls1 and create my own budget vxr8

[Entwood]

If it is "using" water at the rate you describe.. and it was a head gasket ... it would either be running exceedingly rough ( water don't burn) as the water entered the pistons, or the sump would be full of oil - there ain't anywhere else it can go !!

My money is on an "external" leak rather than a HG .. so HBV, or a leaking header tank cap ?? I have heard of folks adding yellow food colouring to the coolant to help find leaks  .. worth a thought ??

[Abiton]

Pressure in the header tank overnight sounds a bit familiar, and worrying.  How hard do the radiator hoses get when it's fully warmed up?

If the answer to this is 'worryingly hard', take out the spark plugs (when the engine is cold) and shine a bright little torch down the holes, into the cylinders.  Hope not to see any coolant on any of the piston crowns...

Best of luck. 

[Martin_1962]

HG is not supposed to be too bad on the I4s so worst case don't worry

[Felix_Creme]

either way i hink i may get rid of it......soon