Losing water

[red_baron 0]

I'm having a bit of an issue at the moment with my 93 VR6 losing water from the expansion tank at a bit of an alarming rate... about 0.5 litres every 40 miles or so.

 

The expansion tank is brand new (fitted about 3 weeks ago) - it was fitted because it seemed to be split around the central line and was losing water!. There's no evidence of any water leaking from anywhere inside the engine bay (pipes / flanges / radiator etc.) and there's no water on the floor when its been parked up overnight.

 

I thought it might be the heater matrix however there's no evidence of any damp in either footwell and it even loses water with the heater controls set to cold. The oil's really clean and there's no mayonnaise at all.

 

The cap on the tank is a blue one but from GSF car parts - about 6 months old.

 

Any thoughts anyone?

[P2daz 0]

I'm watching this with great interest - exactly the same is happening to me.

 

One thing i have noticed is a lot of vapour on startup out of the exhaust and sometimes a bit of a misfire for a few seconds.

I wondered if i had water leaking through the gasket into one of the bores when the car is standing?

 

Like you i have no oil in the water and no mayonaisse on the filler cap - no visible sign of water leaking anywhere.

 

I only hope i'm not barking up the wrong tree because the vapour may be normal (am i right in thinking there could be more vapour out of a stainless exhust because it wont heat up as quickly as a standard exhaust)and the misfire is 'just one of those things'

 

I too fitted a tank from German swedish etc etc with a new blue cap but this made no difference.

 

Anyone??

[red_baron 0]

Mine seems to be running ok... in fact its running the best it ever has. I may try a new cap from the stealers tomorrow in case the GSF one is a bit rubbish

[BeavisJem 0]

Have you check round all the water flanges in the engine, the o-ring is known to perish over time.

 

You should be able to see a slight pink crust around any of the flanges. Start the car and lift the bonnet, with you losing that much water you will be able to see whee its coming from.

 

I have a g-60 and i was loosing water and opened the bonnet. the front flange was dripping with water. Changed the flange (

 

I know not the same as the VR but might help.

[Jim Bowen 1]

take a look around the thermostat housing, sounds very similar to what happened to mine, was losing a little, then one day it just gushed out and was undrivable

[P2daz 0]

I can't see any water /residue anywhere don't know about Red Baron?

[_leon_ 0]

thermostat housing is a good call. watch for drips when running. just follow the pipes around and check the joins - soemthing will be giving way enough to see

[tut_gareth 0]

possibly head gasket ??

 

whats your oil look like?

 

any steam out of the exhaust?

[P2daz 0]

possibly head gasket ??

 

whats your oil look like?

 

any steam out of the exhaust?

 

see my first post above matey :wink:

[red_baron 0]

possibly head gasket ??

 

whats your oil look like?

 

any steam out of the exhaust?

 

Oil's fine... really clean actually. The only steam from the exhaust is on start up until the engine gets up to temperature.

 

I noticed today (0.5 litres in 20 miles!) that the cap doesn't seem to fit properly... there's a bit of staining around the top of the sphere too but could it lose this much just as steam through the cap? Its only on the final quarter-turn that it seems to seat level. Gettin a new one tomorrow from VW so I'll see what a difference that makes.

 

I'll hopefully get time to take a look under the car this weekend with the engine running too. Fingers crossed!

[Jon_vr6 1]

good luck at least its not the radiator! Ive got a small coolant leak coming from somewhere but aint worrying about it couple of drops thats it and its not while its running so gonna be hard to find the cause. Figured id wait till the chains get done!

[_leon_ 0]

you might see orange coloured build ups if its leaking - think its the antifreeze that causes the colour

[tut_gareth 0]

have you tried any radweld or similar?

[dr_mat 0]

*Don't* put radweld in !!

 

What's the water temperatures running up to? If the 'stat is stuck closed and the car is routinely overheating the pressure build up will result in constant loss of water just because the pressure release valve on the expansion tank will do it's job correctly .. !

 

If the car is constantly going over-pressure then you should look into why..

 

Also note that if it hasn't gone already and been replaced, the top hose from the heater matrix to the cylinder head may well have split, just under the cable tidies where it's pretty much impossible to see .. Also note that if this hose *has* gone, it was probably caused by a weak engine mount ..

[red_baron 0]

This is where it gets complicated...

 

Water temp (according to the gauge) only ever reaches half way - the fan knocks it down pretty quickly - this only really happens in traffic; the normal running temperature is about 85. VAG-COM showed the temperature reaching about 86 degrees before the fan came on and it stayed pretty constant with the car stood still.

 

The radiator is about 6 months old and I changed all the clips on as many pipes as I could (there was water leaking from the bottom hose joint - what sod that was to change!). I'll try and look at the pipes running to the heater matrix this weekend - but from what I've seen do far everything seems ok.

 

I've been in touch with VW in Bolton to order a new expansion cap. The guy there said that the cap for the Corrado has a higher pressure rating than the normal caps... does this sound true? The cap I got from GSF could have been releasing prematurely, therefore allowing steam to escape even under normal running conditions - and I have had some staining around the top of the sphere...

 

What do you think?

[Jim Bowen 1]

i had staining around the bottle and was told this is normal, the bottle has an overflow type feature apparantly

[Son of a Beesting 0]

If you mean stains from water escaping out of the bottle, then I dont think that is normal.

 

I could be wrong but I though the system was meant not to lose water out of the expansion bottle

[red_baron 0]

Definitely... the system is supposed to be pressurised which means it has to be completely sealed (obviously with a release valve if the pressure gets too high).

[Jim Bowen 1]

am sure there is a hole in bottle with a flap over it, on the right hand side

[Son of a Beesting 0]

am sure there is a hole in bottle with a flap over it, on the right hand side

 

Mine doesnt have that I believe

[Jim Bowen 1]

i'll get a pic next time i'm there, the guy in the garage showed me it

[dr_mat 0]

The system is supposed to be pressurised. Under normal circumstances you should NEVER lose fluid.

[Guest]

otherwise it would be dry after a trip up the motorway

 

temps go above boiling point in normal conditions

[red_baron 0]

otherwise it would be dry after a trip up the motorway

 

temps go above boiling point in normal conditions

 

...and its because the water is under pressure that it doesn't boil as the boiling point of pressurised water is higher than 100 degrees. I'm glad my high school physics lessons counted for something!

[Critical_Mass 10]

am sure there is a hole in bottle with a flap over it, on the right hand side

 

Ill vouch for that, mines a 93 vr. Is possible that the overflow hole, under the black cover on the expansion tank, was only on earlier models?

 

red_baron, can you see any signs of coolant spray anywhere in the engine bay? Ive just had a new rad fitted today after the old one was leaking. There was traces of coolant in the engine bay, which i might add is best wiped off asap as it rots the paint work.