keep filling my car with water and drives fine for about 10 miles then over heats and water pisses out. does this sound like the head has gone?

doesnt look like there is oil in the water though
and the thermostat opens as tested in the kettle :P

any ideas

 

just quickly are u getting rid of all air locks as if not that will cause this,but if u are then sounds like its poss head gasket.

 

i believe so i loosen off the top radiator hose and fill expantion tank till water comes out the top of the radiator. im guessing that way all the air should be out

 

If you have access to a coolant pressure tester,put it on at 1 bar and leave it overnight.Check the coolant level in the morning for a drop. Start the engine.If it spits and sputters for a few seconds,then yes you have coolant entering the combustion chambers.

 

Also,smell the exhaust from the tailpipe.It will smell sweet if you have a good concentrate of coolant in the system. Run the engine till it gets nice and warm.Not overheated.Remove the spark plugs and see if any of them are cleaner than the others.They will be getting steam cleaned from the water ingress.

 

i dont have one of those to test it. but ive filled it and run it about 3 times and it drives perfectly does not sputter at all just after about 10 miles it just over heats

 

ok will check plugs tomorrow, that does sound like a good tester. thanks for the advice

 

Check for circulation in the cooling system.Waterpumps are pretty good on these cars.But,you never know.Wouldn't have thought it would be cooling fans if it only takes 10 minutes to overheat. Is the heater hot? Make sure top and bottom rad hoses are close to the same temp.If the top is hot and the bottom is cold,you have a blockage somewhere.Did you put the stat back in? Maybe try it without.

 

i have been running it with the heater on full as ive changed the water alot now and it does blow out hot air until the temp gauge goes up then blows cold. i have not driven it with the thermostat out yet i was going to leave it out but i didnt think it would seal without it in

 

Your best bet is go to any garage and ask for a sniff test it only takes seconds and it will tell you if theres a gasket problem,hopefully its only a water pump or stat,when a head gasket is bad the car will usually start up with a missfire and then clear

 

where is the water pissing out from?

 

has your car got the old type plastic header tank as these fail quite often and leak badly, It's not always obvious though you need to find out were your water is going, any puddles on the floor ???

 

just to be sure, how can i make sure i have no air pockets in the system?

 

Try running the car from cold with the metal header cap off. Watch for bubbles, and the coolant level going down. If/when it does, top it up.

 

i fill it up and run the car after a while the water just comes out, is that air pushing the water out or is it trying to build pressure

 

You could have a air lock that will force water out the header tank if thats where the waters going chances are if your having problems getting air out its the headgasket creating more and more,you could take your sump plug out and let a bit of fluid out chances are if its a gasket you will see water

 

it will force water out the overflow when driving and on boost, you`ll get a slight if not more white/grey mist from the exhaust when ticking over, also when warming up you`ll get constant bubbles coming up in the overflow with the header cap on tight.

definate smell of exhaust gasses in the header tank on mine, as above those are the symptoms i got, just changed the headgaskets myself at a cost of £100

 

Yeah, the smell of combustion gases in the header tank is the giveaway IF the HG has blown. (I had this happen on my previous 93 WRX).