Loosing coolant

[Davezj]

Can't sus the problem.

i am loosing lots of coolant, slite leak on the road but i think it's from the water pump. it basic looks like it comming from the crank (presume the water pump is under the cam belt cover). but that is not where all the coolant is going. too much lose for that leak.
more of concern is when i start the car i get lots of what looks like steam from the exhaust for 30 second then it stops. i am loosing about a header tank full every 2 days. no loss of power and car runs perfect apart from topping up coolant every other day.

My thought is head gasket. what test can i do to test this. i can compression test it but a bit of an arse getting to the rear cylinders.
No milk in oil, oil is perfect.maybe it is a cylinder to coolant channel head gasket failure. I think this could be expensive. i was going to do a cam belt/water pump/aux belt/pullies/tentioners change. but if it is head gasket i am looking at a big bill and maybe it just not worth it.

what do you think.

on the side, i drove 250 mile to my parents over the weekend and no coolant leak. my normal drive to work is 5 miles each way and can take 45mins, so stop stat traffic all the way.

i am just not sure what is going on.

[mpau009]

Doesnt sound promising i'm afraid, my brothers mazda blew a heap of white steam/smoke when its head gastket blew for a minute or two after start up, when it cooled down, it was pulling coolant into the engine, then when you started it, it came out as thick white

smog. But i'm no expert, and there has been a heap of coolant related issues if you search for them,

heres robotnik123's head gasket failure thread, there is mention of a test in there, http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18036

Good luck getting it sorted.

[Spirit]

I'm currently hunting down a coolant leak too. At first it was thought mine was HG failure too, but that not the case. You can get a test done on the coolant system to test if any exhaust gases are getting in there - a sure sign. Mine was all clear. Good luck

PS - I now have some dye added to my coolant that shows up under UV light, so if there's a leak it will hopefully help us pinpoint it.

[Davezj]

what do you recon to some green food colour in the coolant. Do you think i will become the green smoking dragon.
But seriously do you tink it wold cause a problem if put food colour in the coolant to see if came out the exhaust. i know it would get kind of burnt in the cylinders but a fairly comprehensive test.

What do you think????

[Spirit]

Mine was special dye supplied by AP Motors.......designed to work fine in the coolant.

[Robotnik123]

My Legnum had a warped head and there wasn't any symptoms other than having to top up the coolant from time to time. That special dye test confirmed there was a problem though. I suggest you replace your engine - it is rather costly to recondition a 6A13TT as I subsequently found out!


Can't sus the problem.

i am loosing lots of coolant, slite leak on the road but i think it's from the water pump. it basic looks like it comming from the crank (presume the water pump is under the cam belt cover). but that is not where all the coolant is going. too much lose for that leak.
more of concern is when i start the car i get lots of what looks like steam from the exhaust for 30 second then it stops. i am loosing about a header tank full every 2 days. no loss of power and car runs perfect apart from topping up coolant every other day.

My thought is head gasket. what test can i do to test this. i can compression test it but a bit of an arse getting to the rear cylinders.
No milk in oil, oil is perfect.maybe it is a cylinder to coolant channel head gasket failure. I think this could be expensive. i was going to do a cam belt/water pump/aux belt/pullies/tentioners change. but if it is head gasket i am looking at a big bill and maybe it just not worth it.

what do you think.

on the side, i drove 250 mile to my parents over the weekend and no coolant leak. my normal drive to work is 5 miles each way and can take 45mins, so stop stat traffic all the way.

i am just not sure what is going on.

[Davezj]

What was done and what were the costs, if you don't mind me asking

[White Lightning]

My Legnum had a warped head and there wasn't any symptoms other than having to top up the coolant from time to time. That special dye test confirmed there was a problem though. I suggest you replace your engine - it is rather costly to recondition a 6A13TT as I subsequently found out!

That is a gamble though as there is no guarantee that the replacement engine won't have a leaking headgasket too ...

[Eurospec]

Be very careful if you suspect a water pump leak.

The water pump is indeed under the cambelt covers. If the pump is leaking its not long away from failure. If it siezes or the bearing goes, as its driven by the cambelt, it will take the cambelt out in short order and if that happens......

If you suspect a water pump leak, do a static pressure test and look at the bottom of the cambelt covers. If you see water dropping then take the belt covers off and test again to isolate that it is the pump. If it is, replace it.

Cheers,

Ben.

[White Lightning]

If it siezes or the bearing goes, as its driven by the cambelt, it will take the cambelt out in short order and if that happens......

Personally, I am not convinced about this. The water pump runs off the smooth side of the cambelt. Therefore, it would have thought the belt would just slip if the waterpump seized. And, out of interest, has anyone ever actually had a waterpump seize on a VR-4 ?

[Eurospec]

Never seen it in a VR4, but seen it in GTO and FTO, both of which have the same type of system as the VR4 and the same type of water pump.

It does run on the smooth side on all the vehicles, but the heat generated by the belt under tension slipping round say 50% of the water pump pulley is significant. The belt shreds in very short order, and the ensuing mess is nasty.

I actually took a piccy of the last FTO that had done it, so i'll try and post it for you tonight.

Cheers,

Ben.

[Nick Mann]

If you can see water dripping, then I would suggest that you have found your problem. My car had lost a header tank of water every month until a couple of months ago when I changed my radiator. I changed it because I finally found a leak. The leak was only spotted as a puddle of water under the car after it had been left idling for a long time whilst stationary.

[White Lightning]

Never seen it in a VR4, but seen it in GTO and FTO, both of which have the same type of system as the VR4 and the same type of water pump.

It does run on the smooth side on all the vehicles, but the heat generated by the belt under tension slipping round say 50% of the water pump pulley is significant. The belt shreds in very short order, and the ensuing mess is nasty.

I actually took a piccy of the last FTO that had done it, so i'll try and post it for you tonight.

Cheers,

Ben.

Makes sense. So it's not something that happens immediately. Yes, I would be interesting in seeing a photo ...

[Eurospec]

No problem, i left my camera in the workshop last night- thought i had downloaded the piccies at home but nah. I'll get it for you later though.

Cheers,

Ben.