HELP- Coolant nightmare
 

Hi

Im havin a huge problem figuring whats wrong with my 99 classic turbo.

Story so far last week got a coolant leak. Turned out to be burst pipe, sorted no bother. no problems after that until the other day. Was drivin to work started smellin coolant looked at temp gauge it was off the scale blower was cold.
Pulled over turned the engine off popped the bonnet checked for any visible leaks, none.

Limped home 1mile away stoppin twice to avoid cookin it. got home and felt the top radiator hose it was solid thot maybe air lock or thermostat.
Bled the system no air. Chucked the thermostat in boilin water didn open got a new 1 checked it worked which it did fitted it bled the system once filled up still the same problems no hot air, over heatin, crazy pressure. drained the system however the 5-6ltrs I put in turned to 2ltrs tops. Theres no water in the oil and is not pumpin steam out the exhaust.


Took the radiator out today will flush it tomorrow incase its choked Although tht still wouldn explain the water loss. Hopin its not hgf could it just be buggered water pump?

Your thots will be greatly appreciated.

did you re-top the coolent up via the turbo coolent pipe?? sounds like an airlock to me?

which pipe was burst?

Either a air lock or the impeller on the water pump has snapped ??

my thoughts are a cracked head or headgasket failure, you don't always get coolant/oil contamination, it sounds like cooling system is getting pressurised from a cylinder. a test for combustion gasses would confirm or eliminate this. Hope for you that i'm wrong though.

Thanks for all the input fellas.

Plannin to change the water pump and timming belt tomorrow timing belt due soon anyway.

The burst pipe was the top radiator hose. also forgot to mention when I removed the thermostat there was alot of debris in the coolant that i caught however couldn guarentee that this was simply rust from the heat shield. This is why my suspicion that there could possibly be a blockedge in the radiator. Ill need to try get hold of a tester. Would it be worth pullin the spark plugs and checkin for white/yellow build up suggestion tht coolant is being burnt?

Id get a sniff test done first and if thats ok take it from there

sounds like what ive got! https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...lant-leak.html

sounds suspiciously like HG to me I'm afraid to say. I've had two engines with failing HGs in the last year, the first never overheated but lost water, the second overheated a lot and lost lots of water. Neither showed oil in the water or water in the oil. The overheating one had gaskets blown much worse.

It's possible to do the gaskets with the engine in the car, just did one side on my twin turbo although it was a bit of a pig to do.

Mine is doing a very similar thing my water is going somwhere but no leaks oil is ok and when i top it up heaters are working for a while but then go cold ..:brickwall .I hope its not my HG gone the engine had only coverd 1000 miles when i bought it :mad:

As the OP is replacing his water pump he will have to fill and bleed the coolant system correctly before a sniffer or pressure test can be carried out.

If he follows the re- filling/bleeding procedures posted on this site and the problems persist, he then knows he has further problems.

Refill with 50/50 water and anti-freeze. You don't want to fix one problem and cause another by filling her with 'just' water.

Finally got the car sorted turns out it was the water pump.
Did a sniff test 2 be safe came back clear.

Just like to say cheers once more for the help.:top:

good stuff. just keep a close eye on the coolant level for a bit.

Top job mate.:thumb:

Don't let the hgf scaremongers get to ya.:lol1:

ha, well better to fear the worst and then it's only the water pump than the other way around :thumb:

Result dont forget the anti freeze LOL

In your forst post mate you said the temp gauge "was off the scale" I would just keep an eye on it as it dose'nt take much to warp the heads on these cars..

Hope its ok for you, but just keep an eye on it...

Will do I look every 5 mins, check the airs still blowin hot and pop the bonnet every time I stop think im devoloping OCD.

5 mins is too long if it goes off the scale again. Glance at it as often as you remember, it only takes a moment.