yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

think the head gasket has let go on my bug sti ive just had the rocker cover gasket done at the usual drivers side so ive been driving like miss daisy for the last 3 days to allow it to get a good seal. nipped past to check my flat and had a drive through town on my way home and just happened to glance down at my temp gauge to see it heading to the 3/4 mark! ****! so i pull over immediately and switch off and pop the hood and theres steam around the inlet manifold area. i get out a torch and theres brown coloured water under the inlet on top of the engine block. heaters are blowing cold air so all signs are pointing to head gasket. i sit for an hour to let it cool and manage to nurse the car to my flat as its only round the corner. next day i have a look and take the radiator cap off and theres still coolant in there but its also this brown colour, i dip a finger in and the coolant doesnt seem to have any oil in it or residue on my fingers. i pull dipstick and no sign of gunge or water in with the oil, i also pull the oil cap and there is no gunge here either. car starts first turn and ticks over fine, no hunting or rough idling/running, defis are showing normal oil pressure and the engine settles into idle as normal. exhaust is showing a bit of white smoke but not any worse than starting on a cold day. i took off the radiator cap and expansion bottle caps and revved the engine looking for bubbles in the coolant but there is none in either the radiator or expansion bottle. so this is where im at at the moment. could i be lucky and its a water pump or maybe a burst hose or something not so fatal as the head gasket? i find it weird that there was water under the inlet manifold? where would that have come from? any ideas would be appreciated as im a bit gutted atm.

peter zippy reid

iTrader: (25)

Water crossover leaking maybe

ZaKv1

iTrader: (8)

get a sniff test to rule out H.G its cheap and quick

water pump is always good to check if the water pump needs replacing you mite aswell get timing belt done if not done recently. I don't no if there's any way of knowing if the pumps gone other then taking it out .

air lock can also cause these probs to..

sniff test is were I would start tho ..

dj219957

sounds more like a leak.

Khandaris

i would say its likely an air lock, i had something similar happen to me!

you probably have a split pipe thats sucking air in and letting water out thats caused the air lock in the first place

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

thanks for replys guys. sniff test is probably the first port of call then. had a mate over and whilst he,s no mechanic he said the way it was ticking over he would never have guessed there is even a problem with it. fingers crosed its a leak of some sort.

InTurbo

iTrader: (3)

I had the head gasket go on my previous Sti. The only symptoms were a watery noise coming from the heater matrix when revving the car due to an air lock, and bubbles in the expansion tank after hard driving.
Hydro carbon test comfirmed it tho.

boosted

Are the cooling fans working?

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

yes the cooling fans were coming on m8, does that indicate something to you?

mickeymouse

Exactly the same as mine.. These engines don't show the usual signs of head gasket failure.. My temp gauge would go of the scale.. Loud rushing water sound.. And water spewing out the header tank...you don't get the usual oil/water mix or mayo in the oil..

hodgy0_2

another symptom can be an over pressurised water system - which leads to very "hard" i.e. difficult to squeeze, water hoses (especially the top rad hose)

boosted

Indicates it's not the cooling fans lol.
How much coolant was in it once it cooled down, or should I say how much did it loose?

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

not much i bought a pre mix expecting to put a lot in and it only took maybe half a cup.

boosted

If it is a leak then you might of saved it. Also long as there was coolant in the engine it may be ok

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

wee update on this situation. went out tonight and started the car, fired up fine and settled into idle as normal. cap was off the radiator and the expansion bottle. gave it a few revs and checked both for bubbles, no sign in either. exhaust is blowing a bit of white smoke and i noticed some water vapour at exhaust pipe tip. top radiator hose feels soft and squishy like theres no water in it. when revving i did notice there is a sipping noise near the intercooler like an air leak or intake of air, only when revving the engine tho? shone a torch down behind the intercooler and there is still water on top of the engine block just under the inlet manifold? there is also a big stain of the brown / rusty coloured water running down where the gearbox meets the rear of the block ie if you look down exactly where the gearbox code sticker is situated. the car ticked over fine for around 10 mins until it got up to normal temp around 95 deg. then it carried on climbing and the heaters were still blowing cold air so i switched off when it got to 97 deg. i checked the top rad hose and it felt warm although still felt like there was no coolant in it? does this give any more clues to anyone? there was a slight oily residue on the samco under the intercooler and also on the samco hose to the turbo.

Khandaris

It really does sound like an air lock, and the water you are seeing is likely coming out of a cooling pipe seal because of pressure / temperature.

There is a guide on here that shows how to bleed a system correctly. I will try to find it for you

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Drain and refill properly...preferably BEFORE it does the HG for you....

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

thought i,d update this, turns out it was the water pipe that comes from the heater matrix and tee,s off to the throttle body. the pipe had corroded at the t join. cut out the t junction and did the throttle body delete and all seems fine now. ive bought the crossover pipe complete setup and will replace the whole pipe assembly when i get the timing belt done in a few months as everything will be off to gain access to the water pump etc. thanks to everyone who pitched in with advice!