Water, where are you hiding?

[RichieJA]

I seem to be losing water goes from Max to min in about 3 days checked oil water etc does not look like hg issue, heating ac and car temp all fine,

No puddles under car either, water pump is 2000 miles ago

Any thoughts ?

 

[cs_dave]

Leak onto somethin thats burning it before it hits the ground

 

[RichieJA]

Leak onto somethin thats burning it before it hits the ground

I was busy today so didn't get much of a chance to look but there seems to be a damp spot just under the right side of the rad, busy tomorrow aswell so not got much chance to check till weekend

 

[da rok]

it may only leak when the system is hot and under pressure... run it till its hot then let it idle and look for the drip

 

[RichieJA]

it may only leak when the system is hot and under pressure... run it till its hot then let it idle and look for the drip

I took it a long run and checked it was damp at right hand side of radiator a couple of fins looked wet so I stuck in a small bottle of rad well I'll check tomorrow if Im still losing water I'll fit a new one when I do the aux belt and headlight bulbs this week

 

[da rok]

Eish u need to do a good and proper flush of the system if you used any sort of radweld or stop leak, before you replace the rad, make sure that the hoses are in good condition, and arnt leaking

 

[RichieJA]

I checked this morning and its still losing water went from Max to min in 2 days 100 miles ish, will take it a run later then have a look about the hoses failing that I will take it to a garage for a pressure test

 

[con1981]

Look for the coolant residue. This will give it away. Mine leaks a tad from the thermostat housing hose join. I need to to drain it and clean any crap off to fix. Yours I reckon will be something similar

 

[RichieJA]

I went a 50 miles run today hasn't lost any coolant I checked thermostat housing the water bottle and radiator can't find the leak I'm worried its the water pump

 

[con1981]

Does it lose more when driven hard?

I'd there a build up of pressure in the expansion bottle?

 

[RichieJA]

I've not noticed if driving style made any difference the bottle never has much pressure never more than a tiny hiss and the temp never goes above halfway and heating and ac works perfect no overheating either only issue is lossnof coolant

 

[con1981]

I've not noticed if driving style made any difference the bottle never has much pressure never more than a tiny hiss and the temp never goes above halfway and heating and ac works perfect no overheating either only issue is lossnof coolant

All positive. I had a tdi bora that when driven hard would empty the expansion bottle. Head gasket unfortunately. F4r don't tend to sort from this but was my concern. You must have a leak somewhere. I don't think it's the water pump that's knackered (although could be leaking from there) as its not got a back pressure issue. Your best bet would to be to run it up to temp then stick on a set of ramps leave it running and have a good shufty.

 

[RichieJA]

I'm taking it first thing tomorrow for a pressure test I checked oil cap no gunk and no oil in water so ruled that out.
There don't seem to be any leaking from looking at the water pump area I'm stumped lol

 

[con1981]

It's going to be something like as simple as a pin prick hole in one of the pipes.

Best of luck

 

[RichieJA]

It's going to be something like as simple as a pin prick hole in one of the pipes.

Best of luck

Thanks a hope so I'm going to tackle aux belt hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday as its making a noise and I'm worried and would like this problem fixed incaseni haventontake the car to bits again

 

[Mar172]

When mine started to loose water there was a tiny hole in the rad at the bottom corner where a flint went through it