robby

Following on from the other day when i found a split hose on top of the header tank (now sorted), when i've been driving hardish i'm getting a lot of steam from the header tank area which pours from under the bonnet .

It smells like coolant but i can't find any more leaks and there's nothing on the garage floor to say anythings dripping.

The temp gauge stays normal so it's not overheating

anyone had a similar problem?

it's a 2001 bugeye if this makes a difference

dj219957

Had this exact problem on my classic. The header tank had split. £68 quid from subaru.
Easy fix.
Check your coolant level after.

Andy

robby

Hi Andy

The level isn't going down - wish it was so i'd know it was "just" a leak

tightened the bolts on the tank tonight and snapped a corner of the header tank off by overtightening (bloody crap alloy)
doesn't seem to be coming from there and it was smoking before i did it anyway :-(

dj219957

Dont worry to much. It should just be a simple leak and wont do any damage if you keep an eye on the level. Has the performance dropped off?
Your best bet is giving it a run and then inspecting all of the hoses in the daylight. You should find the leak.
When mine leaked (header and top hose) smoke/steam was pissing eveywhere and people were pointing and laffing! Like i dont know ive got bellows of smoke coming from the car!!! It was fine once fixed.
Also had a simular experience when i changed the turbo and all the wd40 was burning off the turbo.
The tanks on the classic are placcy but i guess metal ones can fail the same?
Andy

robby

Performance seems the same - the steam seems to start after a proper run (turbo boosting), seems ok when driving steady off turbo.
I can see the steam which looks to be coming off the air intake pipe (but i guess it's not), there isn't any more leaks from the header top hoses which is where it origionaly came from (i replaced the split hose)
i cleaned off all the spilt coolant from the split hose so it isn't this evaporating?