Keyboard diagnosis required please?

[Atik]

Wondering if anyone can give me a keyboard diagnosis.

Basically, I keep running out of water/coolant. I top up the overflow tank and after a few days of driving, the tank is empty, but the rad is still full. I cant see any signs of it leaking out anywhere. No drips under the car.

I have recently changed the radiator pipes to the ones I bought in Louis' group buy but I still get the disappearing coolant from the overflow tank.

Another thing is I have a small engine oil leak. Nick commented on it last summer and since then I top up about 200-300ml per month. Need to investigate further and find out exactly where it is leaking from.

And finally, I have noticed that my temperature gauge on the dash cluster rarely gets to halfway up. It always used to get to 50% and stay steady there. Since the cold spell started 3 months ago, I've noticed, that the temperature reading will sit steady at about 25-30% on long motorway runs. When the car is stationary (in traffic) this will rise to 50% and then drop again as soon as I get moving.

Are any of these related? And could any of this indicate a head gasket problem? A mate of mine suggested that the coolant loss could be a result of the head gasket giving way. Is there anything else I should be looking out for, that could have caused or been caused by these seemingly unrelated issues?

[scott.mohekey]

My initial thoughts are head gasket. It's relatively easy to rule out.

[peter thomson]

Replacing my radiator cap stopped the same issue with the overflow tank fluid disappearing

[Atik]

Sounds nice and easy to replace the radiator cap in the first instance.

How do I rule out the headgasket then Smohekey?

[scott.mohekey]

There's several things you can do. Have the engine running with the rad cap off, checking for bubbles of air or oil. Check the gas coming out of the exhaust for oil (hold a piece of paper over it). But an even better way is to get a compression test done on each cylinder.

[scott.mohekey]

If it were just the rad water leaking, I would do as peter says. But because you're losing oil as well, personally I would want to rule out the head gaskets first.

[Nutter_John]

If your thermostat is constantly open then the engine will run colder in cold weather , does it take a long time to get up to that 25-30% level

[Atik]

There's several things you can do. Have the engine running with the rad cap off, checking for bubbles of air or oil. Check the gas coming out of the exhaust for oil (hold a piece of paper over it). But an even better way is to get a compression test done on each cylinder.
Sounds nice and easy. I'll try that over the next few days. Am I looking for bubbles of air/oil coming up through the rad cap point? The exhaust will require two sheets of paper as I'm twinned up at either side :D


If your thermostat is constantly open then the engine will run colder in cold weather , does it take a long time to get up to that 25-30% level
Thats not necessarily a bad thing though is it, running cold? It takes the same sort of time it used to take to get to 50%. I have noticed that the heater inside the cabin takes longer to get the cabin air to the set temperature on the climate control. The hot air doesnt seem to be as hot anymore. Related issues perhaps?

[AlanDITD]

replace the rad cap first, if thats leaking and your getting any air in the system you will get problems with the heaters...

could also be Head gasket, but i wouldnt have thought so, start with the easy stuff!

[White Lightning]

Thats not necessarily a bad thing though is it, running cold? It takes the same sort of time it used to take to get to 50%. I have noticed that the heater inside the cabin takes longer to get the cabin air to the set temperature on the climate control. The hot air doesnt seem to be as hot anymore. Related issues perhaps?

It's not ideal, as you will be overfueling. Has your MPG gone down recently? If so, that's probably why. I would say the fact that your cabin temps are lower is definately a related issue.

How many miles do you do in a month, Atik?

[Atik]

Mileage fluctuates from as low as 600 to as much as 1200 per month. Average over my ownership is a straight 1000 miles per month.

I havent done my mileage stats for a few months. I'll do this tonight and make a comparison, but I havent noticed any drop in mpg. I've only just completed a 300 mile tank and the fuel gauge light hadnt come on by then.

My fickle mind is telling me; if the thermostat is open, shouldnt I just close it? Or is it not as simple as that?

[Atik]

It's not ideal, as you will be overfueling.
Actually, now that you mention it, I do smell unburnt fuel when I stop at traffic lights! But my car has always been a little rich so I never really thought too much about it.

[swinks]

Head gasket checking:
1. Run engine, wait till warm on idle
2. Open full heater inside cabin
3. Take radiator cap off

Symptoms of headgasket failure:
- you have air bubbles in coolant,
- coolant has brown oil stains
- heater inside cabin is not delivering hot air (little warm or completely cold).

Atik, do the compression test, because your symptoms indicate headgasket failure.

[Atik]

Ok, thanks Swinks. I will look into getting a compression test done soon.

Planning for the worst case scenario... does anyone know how much a compression test will cost? And if it does turn out to be a head gasket failure, does anyone know how much I should be looking to get this supplied/fitted/fixed? Just ballpark figures would do me for now as I am in the process of spending HUGE sums of money on a wedding and on a property!

[Scanny]

i was told to expect a 4 figure sum to have the head gasket done on my supra which i paid £500 for. needless to say i got shot of it and entered galant ownership instead

[WizardKing]

Atik,

10 seconds of effort is all you need.
Go outside and check your dipstick and the underside of the oil-filler cap.

Should be oil on both, if the headgasket is gone, you'll have an amalgum of oil and water on them.
[Looks like a grey to brown, frothy substance.]

[Atik]

In which case, its not headgasket. I have oil on both, nothing frothy or the like.

[WizardKing]

Bonus !

I've had a fair bit of coolant loss, from the bottle, too.
The rad cap seems ok, I noticed after a short motorway trip that coolant had come from the bottle's overflow pipe.
It seems to be an intermittent loss, though, so I'm not too worried about it.

[elnevio]

Atik,

10 seconds of effort is all you need.
Go outside and check your dipstick and the underside of the oil-filler cap.

Should be oil on both, if the headgasket is gone, you'll have an amalgum of oil and water on them.
[Looks like a grey to brown, frothy substance.]
Not necessarily - the headgasket doesn't always go between a waterway and an oilway. It could be leaking coolant slowly into the cylinder bore. Given the symptoms, this *could* be head gasket, but I still think it's unlikely, as I would have expected the level in the radiator to have dropped. Although there must be an explanation for the disappearing coolant, and perhaps the rad cap looks like a good bet!

[Davezj]

not quite a much money as house but not far off.

to be serious for a minute it will be anywhere from
1. just time to stip it down and put back together to a full cambelt service depending when you had it done last (£500ish)
2.gaskets (£150ish),
3.plus skimming (£50ish)
4.plus head bolts (£50ish),
5.plus the extra time to get heads off exhaust manifolds etc,etc, (finger in the air time).

or you could do it your self and save most of the money, apart from 2,3 and 4.

well this is a very rough guess. when i had my stupid moment with head gasket replacement it cost me about £1200. if i had to do it again now it would cost me about £450 in parts which includes, plug, water pump, cambelt pulleys, aux belt, tensioner, gaskets/seals, air filter, oil, coolant, skimming, head bolts, etc, but that is one major service.

but it probably is not head gasket ,it was not head gasket in my case.

[elnevio]

BTW - I have a compression tester as my disposal. Can you live with the issue for now? Although I imagine that someone will have one closer to you, e.g. Nick!

[Davezj]

i have one also that can be borrowed.

compression tester can be picked up for lessthan £20 and they are a good tool to have in you arse....enal

[WizardKing]

I've got a sphygmomanometer but it only reads up to about 3psi

[WizardKing]

In case of doubters ;

33091

[elnevio]

Brilliant! :D



I've got a spygmomanometer but it only reads up to about 3psi
By the way, you missed an H...

And I think it reads up to about 5.8 psi... unless it's broken and only goes up to around 155 mmHg!

/runs away

[Kieran]

By the way, you missed an H...

And I think it reads up to about 5.8 psi... unless it's broken and only goes up to around 155 mmHg!

/runs away

Pe-dan-ti-ate! :dalek: Pe-dan-ti-ate! :dalek: PE-DAN-TI-ATE!!! :dalek:

[WizardKing]

Where ...?

[ok , I've only just put it in, better late than never !]

You're right, it is nearer to 6 psi . . . just checking to see if anyone was paying attention :whistle:

[Turbo_Steve]

You can also get a "sniff test" on the coolant.

As everyone else has said already, it COULD be your headgasket, but it seems rather unlikely. 200ml of oil a month is more likely to be the turbo seals starting to wear, especially as you're running higher boost.

The coolant tank issue seems to be relatively common, and I'd certainly look to change the rad-cap and thermostate before I even remotely considered a headgasket.

[Nick Mann]

Don't top the tank after it is empty. Closely monitor the radiator level. for a few days after. If the water level stays at the top, then the radiator cap must have an issue.

I have a spare radiator cap lying around. And a compression tester.

[swinks]

Atik,

10 seconds of effort is all you need.
Go outside and check your dipstick and the underside of the oil-filler cap.

Should be oil on both, if the headgasket is gone, you'll have an amalgum of oil and water on them.
[Looks like a grey to brown, frothy substance.]

Not true, with minor blow, coolant won't get into oil system, only oil will be blown into coolant system.
Also mayo stuff under oil cap may just indicate short rides and engine not warm up enough to remove all vapours from camshaft chamber and not a headgasket.
Hence, mayo stuff forms only when engine is cold. If you warm up enough engine that issue will disappeare, so check for one after drive and cooling engine. As said, that measure is IMHO very doubtful.

[Beastlee]

Replacing my radiator cap stopped the same issue with the overflow tank fluid disappearing

Same here, mine was actually stuck shut though and making pinhole leaks appear in random pipes. You couldn't ever spot them as they woul donly jet water out whilst the pressure was very high. Had me fooled for months! Swapped out with a good one and Ive not had a problem (with that anyway) since.