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[tonyyeb]

I'm a little puzzled, but I'm certain that this what I'm about to report will be common to some of you, so I'm seeking consensus on my apparent coolant problem...
Here's the physical symptoms:- "loses" approx 3 pints of coolant every 100 miles or so. Emulsification in oil filler neck. "dipped" oil shows no signs of water/oil mix. Engine temperature never rises above 'normal', according to the gauge, anyway. Does smell a bit 'hot' on parking it up after a longish run - more than 20 miles or so. No loss of performance whatsoever.
What have I got, chaps?
Car is 2000 f/l 3.0 V6 Elite, completely standard.

[martin42]

youve got a problem 


remove the oil filler spout from cam cover and replace with oil cap,that will stop the emulsion,hbv leaking???

[TheBoy]

A coolant leak.

HBV is common, oil cooler/stat weeps. Worse case, passenger side HG - though that tends to be more 1998 3.0l

You just have to trace leak...

[Webby the Bear]

Hi Tony,

Mayo in oil fill neck... probably just condensation. No may on your dip stick  is good

Probably looking at replacement HBV.....

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90574.0

 

[tonyyeb]

Were it TB's worst case scenario of passenger side HG, surely performance would noticeably suffer? If an HG goes, it goes, right? It doesn't go by degrees?
HBV - total bitch of a job??

[TheBoy]

Were it TB's worst case scenario of passenger side HG, surely performance would noticeably suffer? If an HG goes, it goes, right? It doesn't go by degrees?
HBV - total bitch of a job??

HGF on 1998 3.0l GM V6 tends to be a simple water leak at back of passenger head. Firerings and oilways stay in tact. Thus no symptoms, other than a (noticible) coolant leak.

HBV is 'tricky' the first time you do one, but not *that* bad TBH...

[tonyyeb]

So, even were it to be passenger side HG, I could in theory just go on replenning the coolant until such time as the coolant loss became too great and rendered the car impractical to use?
Where is the water going with HBV failure?
Nothing drops from under the car - I've watched for fully 20 minutes - all seems water-tight.
I just need to know how to rule one diagnosis out in favour of another....

[Entwood]

An unmentioned possibility ...  check the header tank neck, and the header tank cap.

The neck can get small cracks in it, the cap can develop small leaks. In either scenario the system fails to fully pressurise, the boiling point of water is raised by increased pressure.

If the pressure is not there then 2 things happen... the water vapourises far more readily, that vapour then escapes through the same cracks/leaks that causes the loss of pressure.

100 miles of motoring is around 2 hours ... in two hours of sitting at 90 degrees a LOT of water will vapourise.

For a quick check it is worth the time ... IMHO 

[albitz]

Also the oil cooler cover plate can leak and need resealing.Need to check the whole system (preferably by pressurising it when cold) and inspect each part (more visible/accessible  components first)until you find it.

[tonyyeb]

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys - I'll check em all out.

If its HBV (which from all that's been said so far and from my experience of similar threads on here, seems most likely), where would the tell-tale be? Where is the water?
Show me the water!!

[Webby the Bear]

So, even were it to be passenger side HG, I could in theory just go on replenning the coolant until such time as the coolant loss became too great and rendered the car impractical to use?
Where is the water going with HBV failure?
Nothing drops from under the car - I've watched for fully 20 minutes - all seems water-tight.
I just need to know how to rule one diagnosis out in favour of another....

I'm just guessing here but I would imagine your breathers would get clogged with mayo shite well before the coolant loss became an inconvenience 

HBV leak is going to piss water at the back of the engine. When Daz did mine we could actually see it peering in the drivers side towards the back with the blowers on ''Hi''

 

[Andy B]

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys - I'll check em all out.

If its HBV (which from all that's been said so far and from my experience of similar threads on here, seems most likely), where would the tell-tale be? Where is the water?
Show me the water!!

HBV can leak at various heat settings, there's a diaphragm inside that perishes, so one HBV might leak when HOT is selected but A N Other might leak when COLD is selected. Considering where the HBV is, the coolant leak is from the back of the engine - driver's side. 

[tonyyeb]

Andy, wouldn't I see that from watching underneath the car for 20 minutes after a long run?
No water loss is apparent - anywhere.
Unless the GM V6 unit is truly unique in some characteristics, my experience of HG failure on other vehicles is totally unmistakeable - no way could you drive the car another mile, let alone hundreds of miles.
Emulsification in the filler neck does bother me, but my Veccy B 2.2 did just the same - that definitely did NOT have HG failure, but DID have weeping at the core plug - could it be this?

[Andy B]

Andy, wouldn't I see that from watching underneath the car for 20 minutes after a long run?
No water loss is apparent - anywhere.
Unless the GM V6 unit is truly unique in some characteristics, my experience of HG failure on other vehicles is totally unmistakeable - no way could you drive the car another mile, let alone hundreds of miles.
Emulsification in the filler neck does bother me, but my Veccy B 2.2 did just the same - that definitely did NOT have HG failure, but DID have weeping at the core plug - could it be this?

Depends on what setting the climate control/heater is set at. When mine last went, it failed on a Sat afternoon but only when the a/c was doing its bit to keep the inside of the car cold. When the climate was off, HBV didn't leak so I used the car sparingly till the Mon morning when I could get a new OE one.
If you look at the back of my filler cap, you'll see emulsified oil. I have no other problems with the car .............. Omega V6s are like that  The plastic filler neck doesn't help, you could do as suggested & remove the neck & put the cap directly on the cam cover. 

[TheBoy]

Andy, wouldn't I see that from watching underneath the car for 20 minutes after a long run?
No water loss is apparent - anywhere.
Unless the GM V6 unit is truly unique in some characteristics, my experience of HG failure on other vehicles is totally unmistakeable - no way could you drive the car another mile, let alone hundreds of miles.
Emulsification in the filler neck does bother me, but my Veccy B 2.2 did just the same - that definitely did NOT have HG failure, but DID have weeping at the core plug - could it be this?

HBV leak - depends on heater settings, as others have said. Some leak hot, some leak cold.

HG - its not a firering problem, so no misfires etc, its simply that it weeps coolant out of the back of the 2/4/6 head, only ever seen it on 1998 3.0l though.  Core plug is another possibility, again, only ever seen myself on 1998 3.0l, and only (again!) ever seen on back of passenger head.

Mayo in filler neck isn't uncommon this time of year, esp if you do short journeys. Nothing to do with coolant getting in engine, its just moisture getting in the oil, and engine not heating up enough (about 15-20 miles) to evapourate it fully off. The elongated filler tube appears to be the last to heat up.  Though its likely the breathers will be in the same state, so keep on top of that.  Some oils are worse than others - Castrol GTX and Magnatec are by far the worse I've ever seen for this.