V6 Coolant loss

Dacman · 10th June 2009, 08:18

I apologise, i know this has been already talked about a million times but fresh ideas are always welcome.

Currently using 1/2 a mug full of coolant per week. No obvious signs of leaks from pipes, have looked at the themostat and it appears fine. The coolant cap was replaced about a year ago.

This leads me to think the my be an internal leak. There is a very small amount of what looks like mayo under the oil filler cap and i mean small amount, the oil itself looks fine nice n black there is no mayo on the dipstick, the coolant looks fine with no contamination.

The fan appears to work fine, eg start car from cold no fan , turn on ac fan starts slow speed, turn ac off fan stops, engine heats up fan turns on def sound like all 3 speeds working.

A friend told me to run the car till at op tempreture and squeeze a few coolant pipes as they should be fairly soft, which they are, he said if they were hard this could be pressurisation and poss hgf.

This am i checked the coolant and to be fair it looked fine, i did read a thread about starting the car with the cap off, i did this and the coolant quickly came over the top of the tank, i presume this to be fine, is it?

Sorry but i am righting this down as i think of it.

The doesnt seem to be a massive amount of steam coming out of the exhaust although there are whisps.

The car has not overheated.

lol thats all i can think of, any ideas please

dac

Jules · 10th June 2009, 09:30

MMm doesn't sound good with Mayo around the cap

Look at Kaiser's posts & cures on the subject.

Dacman · 10th June 2009, 12:14

Thanks for pointing that out Jules. Reading the posts it does sound 'maybe' more the liner problem as opposed to full hgf. Suppose i will not know unless the engine is stripped.

Maybe worth £10 of kseal to see? If it works it would give me time to save some cash to have the engine sorted correctly, if it doesnt ill be working 24/7 to pay for it.

hmmmmmmmmm

dac

amableson · 10th June 2009, 12:20

I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news but the comment you made with regard to leaving the cap off and starting the car from cold and the tank overflowed does not sound good i would try some sealer of some type 1st to see if it helps, if you like i will take the cap off my car tonight when i go home( i bike to work) and run it up to temp and see what happens, ill report back later.

Dacman · 10th June 2009, 12:25

That would be appriciated Andrew, would be interesting to see the difference, if any.

By sealant do you mean something like kseal?

dac

amableson · 10th June 2009, 12:34

My thoughts are that the combustion gases are getting into the water jacket and causing the water level to rise over the tank fairly quickly, had this happen on a transit van a while ago, it would run ok but the pressure of the coolant held the gases back just enough to be ok but with the cap off it came over the radiator and it was hgf having said that some bars leaks sealed it fine.And it is rare for a kv6 to have hgf. Touch wood!!!!!

driverjgp · 10th June 2009, 14:57

Same thing happened to my KV6 it was using a small amount of coolant a week, under further investigation it turned out it was leaking down the exhaust bore so I part ex it right quick, I done a DVLA check on it after 6 months of part exing it in and it had been scrapped so it must of been terminal.

Jules · 10th June 2009, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by amableson

I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news but the comment you made with regard to leaving the cap off and starting the car from cold and the tank overflowed does not sound good i would try some sealer of some type 1st to see if it helps, if you like i will take the cap off my car tonight when i go home( i bike to work) and run it up to temp and see what happens, ill report back later.

Mmm not sure it you can always go by that as a few KV6's I've taken the cap off has over flowed from a normal level, if left to get up to temp, but OK if cap then refitted.

I've boiled it down to (no Pun intended !!) the fact the expansion tank isn't quite large enough for a KV6 or indeed a 1.8.

Can someone else do the same "Cap off test " please?

black olive · 10th June 2009, 19:55

I wager the "expansion tank" has been overfilled and is blowing excess fluid out- the max mark is right at the bottom of the tank

Dacman · 10th June 2009, 21:49

Possible Black Olive,

Its normally about 1cm over the bottom where it says max and has been for some time, its only recently the level has dropped.

Checked the oil filler cap tonight and there are water droplets. I cleaned the small amount of mayo off this afternoon. Could this be condensation. There is no water/mayo on the dipstick, and the coolant appears to be clean.

dac

10th June 2009, 08:18	#1
Dacman Loves to post MG ZT 160+ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nottingham Posts: 435 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	V6 Coolant loss I apologise, i know this has been already talked about a million times but fresh ideas are always welcome. Currently using 1/2 a mug full of coolant per week. No obvious signs of leaks from pipes, have looked at the themostat and it appears fine. The coolant cap was replaced about a year ago. This leads me to think the my be an internal leak. There is a very small amount of what looks like mayo under the oil filler cap and i mean small amount, the oil itself looks fine nice n black there is no mayo on the dipstick, the coolant looks fine with no contamination. The fan appears to work fine, eg start car from cold no fan , turn on ac fan starts slow speed, turn ac off fan stops, engine heats up fan turns on def sound like all 3 speeds working. A friend told me to run the car till at op tempreture and squeeze a few coolant pipes as they should be fairly soft, which they are, he said if they were hard this could be pressurisation and poss hgf. This am i checked the coolant and to be fair it looked fine, i did read a thread about starting the car with the cap off, i did this and the coolant quickly came over the top of the tank, i presume this to be fine, is it? Sorry but i am righting this down as i think of it. The doesnt seem to be a massive amount of steam coming out of the exhaust although there are whisps. The car has not overheated. lol thats all i can think of, any ideas please dac __________________ http://badges.trackyourgasmileage.co...fe0d06ce06.jpg

10th June 2009, 09:30	#2
Jules This is my second home ZT 260 SE Twilight and 10 other 75 ZT's :O Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Conwy NORTH WALES Posts: 11,094 Thanks: 512 Thanked 1,116 Times in 763 Posts	MMm doesn't sound good with Mayo around the cap Look at Kaiser's posts & cures on the subject. __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Newbies do now!! 1. Plenum drains..all 3 or 4 year dependent 2. Cooling fan..All speeds functioning 3. Bonnet cable divider block

10th June 2009, 12:14	#3
Dacman Loves to post MG ZT 160+ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nottingham Posts: 435 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Thanks for pointing that out Jules. Reading the posts it does sound 'maybe' more the liner problem as opposed to full hgf. Suppose i will not know unless the engine is stripped. Maybe worth £10 of kseal to see? If it works it would give me time to save some cash to have the engine sorted correctly, if it doesnt ill be working 24/7 to pay for it. hmmmmmmmmm dac __________________ http://badges.trackyourgasmileage.co...fe0d06ce06.jpg

10th June 2009, 12:20	#4
amableson Gets stuck in Ex Rover 75 owner Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boston, Lincolnshire. Posts: 553 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	I am sorry to be the bringer of bad news but the comment you made with regard to leaving the cap off and starting the car from cold and the tank overflowed does not sound good i would try some sealer of some type 1st to see if it helps, if you like i will take the cap off my car tonight when i go home( i bike to work) and run it up to temp and see what happens, ill report back later. __________________ Regards Andrew.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

10th June 2009, 12:25	#5
Dacman Loves to post MG ZT 160+ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nottingham Posts: 435 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	That would be appriciated Andrew, would be interesting to see the difference, if any. By sealant do you mean something like kseal? dac __________________ http://badges.trackyourgasmileage.co...fe0d06ce06.jpg

10th June 2009, 12:34	#6
amableson Gets stuck in Ex Rover 75 owner Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boston, Lincolnshire. Posts: 553 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	My thoughts are that the combustion gases are getting into the water jacket and causing the water level to rise over the tank fairly quickly, had this happen on a transit van a while ago, it would run ok but the pressure of the coolant held the gases back just enough to be ok but with the cap off it came over the radiator and it was hgf having said that some bars leaks sealed it fine.And it is rare for a kv6 to have hgf. Touch wood!!!!! __________________ Regards Andrew.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

10th June 2009, 14:57	#7
driverjgp Gets stuck in Rover 75 Club 2.5 V6 Auto Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ipswich Posts: 573 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Same thing happened to my KV6 it was using a small amount of coolant a week, under further investigation it turned out it was leaking down the exhaust bore so I part ex it right quick, I done a DVLA check on it after 6 months of part exing it in and it had been scrapped so it must of been terminal. __________________ Kind Regards Jason Player Woodbridge, Suffolk Money can't buy happiness. But it sure makes misery easier to live with. [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Rover 75 Club Auto K-Series 2.5 Litre Quad Cam 24 Valve in Steel Blue December 2000 Cowley build.

10th June 2009, 19:55	#9
black olive I really should get out more....... 260 SE vin 214 ( last mark 1 260 ) Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lancashire Posts: 2,009 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 4 Posts	I wager the "expansion tank" has been overfilled and is blowing excess fluid out- the max mark is right at the bottom of the tank __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

10th June 2009, 21:49	#10
Dacman Loves to post MG ZT 160+ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nottingham Posts: 435 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Possible Black Olive, Its normally about 1cm over the bottom where it says max and has been for some time, its only recently the level has dropped. Checked the oil filler cap tonight and there are water droplets. I cleaned the small amount of mayo off this afternoon. Could this be condensation. There is no water/mayo on the dipstick, and the coolant appears to be clean. dac __________________ http://badges.trackyourgasmileage.co...fe0d06ce06.jpg