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Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: james_16v on 01 December 2008, 17:56
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Hi
Yesterday I changed my oil cooler and coolant and I dont think I fully bled the system afterwards. Drove to work today (20 miles) and pulled up to put some petrol in and noticed a dripping from under the car. I popped the bonnet and the water was being forced through the pipes on the oil cooler past the hose clip. The clips are on tight, seem to be seated correctly with no obvious splits or holes but water is still escaping from them. Would an airlock cause this or maybe the hose clips worn and not able to maintain enough tension? Also water & oil temps are normal.
Im still learning as I go so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
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Yes an airlock could cause this, or just not enough water in the system.
The water system is a pressurised system, the pressure being caused by the air at the top of the system in the expansion tank getting hot with water temp. If there is too much volume of air at this pressure wanting to expand, this will cause overpressurisation in the system.
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Thanks for the suggestion.
Ive just been out to try and bleed the system but when the water temp got to around halfway the coolant started gushing out the expansion tank and lost most of the water. I think im out of my depth now! ill book it into a garage for them to take a look at.
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Thanks for the suggestion.
Ive just been out to try and bleed the system but when the water temp got to around halfway the coolant started gushing out the expansion tank and lost most of the water. I think im out of my depth now! ill book it into a garage for them to take a look at.
Nah! You'll be fine. Some tips for bleeding, but have a search as well as this is a common issue...
- Massage the big fat radiator pipes A LOT and at the same time.
- While filling, try overfilling the exapansion tank past the max mark as the extra gravity can help push the water into the system. Don't leave it too full after filling though!
- Keep a check of how much coolant you put in, I think it takes about 4-5 litres to fill it, so you can tell if you've got an airlock i.e. if you only put two litres in but it says "Full" (although this only works from an empty system).
- Rev the engine occasionally, you should see a "squirt" of fluid into the expansion tank from the water pump.
- Leave the cap off for a while to allow it to "burp".
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stuff jay said really. and do it when the engine is cold, cos when warm water will expand and you will get less in. leave expansion tank cap off and run the engine for 10 mins or so and give it a few revs here and there to get the water pump pumping.
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...and do it when the engine is cold, cos when warm water will expand and you will get less in...
Hmmm. I don't think that matters as the system has got to get hot enough for the thermostat to open anyway (otherwise you won't fill the rad properly IIRC).
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...and do it when the engine is cold, cos when warm water will expand and you will get less in...
Hmmm. I don't think that matters as the system has got to get hot enough for the thermostat to open anyway (otherwise you won't fill the rad properly IIRC).
also very true. forgot about that :grin: way i did it is fill it from cold, then wait till its full, then turn it on and keep topping up until no more.
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I did more or less exactly as you've written conker (squeezing rad pipes, occasional rev etc) but after about 10 minutes it suddenly boiled over. Ill top it back up to max before I leave for work in the morning and see how I go.
Could my symptoms point to any other possible causes (dare I say it the head gasket!)
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stuff jay said really.
sorry lol. meant conker. :grin:
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It could be lots of things, e.g. thermostat, water pump, blocked rad etc. etc. But [just to make you feel better] I bet you've just got an ordinary fault e.g. the oil cooler pipes are worn and split allowing the system to depressurise, or something like that.
Diagnosis required using rubjonnys guide!!!
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There are two sensors in the top hose from the head. They are very easy to remove, just a slidy clip and a pull. Remove one and fill the system until water flows from the hose then refit the sensor. These are high in the system so the air should be able to find its way up there. :smiley:
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Have you tried getting a new blue cap for the header tank? The old ones are faulty and dont work properly which could be causing the water to bubble up out of the header tank. Also sorry to put a downer on the post, but I had similar symptoms to this and it turned out to be the head gasket. The plus point being I'm no expert and I changed it in about 4 hours and all fine for past 2000 miles now :grin:!
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...I changed it in about 4 hours and all fine for past 2000 miles now :grin:!
The gasket job all depends on how easy your exhaust manifold comes off, or alternatively whether you can squeeze the head out with the downpipe still attached. I reckon it took me 8 hours.
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Thats fair comment. I managed to remove the downpipe because I got all but one bolt off and then spent about half an hour spashing the crap out of it before it sheared off. Lot's of WD40 the day before helps! I only have an 8V, god knows what a 16v would be like :-/ !?
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Thanks for everyones suggestions
After driving the car the last two days its still losing water so I booked the car into the garage and he has told me the head gasket is on its way out! :sad:
He said theres no telling how long it will last and as its my daily its booked in for a replacement ASAP. Could have done without it this side of Christmas and to make it worse he has found my oil leak which is coming from the crankshaft oil seal which is a gearbox off job apparently. Never mind it will all be sorted early next week albeit with me a few hundred quid lighter.
Ill keep you posted :smiley:
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Be careful with this as a lot of the garages I've used love to say "its the headgasket".
For example, how the f##k does he know its "on the way out"? Its either failing a compression test/exhaust gas test/or mayo test, or its not. A head gasket is either leaking, or its not. If its not, it doesn't need replacing.
Perhaps he's right, but definitely get the test results first!!!
For example, we've just had a right load of bother with my missus's car where dickhead garage no.1 said it's headgasket had gone, whereas good garage no.2's [second opinion] found a coolant leak in the rad itself, so any water drips we're instantly evaporating making it hard to trace. What a bunch of tossers.
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never had a any problems with mk2's and airlocks. ksy pour the water in nice and steady, try not to let the level go above the small bledd pipe to the expansion tank as it fills better when its below. start car give it a couple of revs add more water put the cap on and take it for a 5 minute drive, then top up if needed.
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never had a any problems with mk2's and airlocks. ksy pour the water in nice and steady, try not to let the level go above the small bledd pipe to the expansion tank as it fills better when its below. start car give it a couple of revs add more water put the cap on and take it for a 5 minute drive, then top up if needed.
this was well practiced in germany. water was pouring out of the car faster than me and danny could put it in.
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aye that gave us the run around for a while.
the attack of the short ghey littel diamiter changing awkdly placed barsteward pipe.
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I'm with Conker on this. I would not be in such a hurry to condem the head gasket without further evidence of the fault. The over boiling occured after you emptied the sysyem and refilled it. My mind would be to start there again.
If the head gasget is the cause of the fault, then you would be getting water where it shouldn't be. ie, the oil, the cylinders etc. If you were getting water in the oil, then more likely than not, you would also get oil in the water which would be visible in your header tank. Water in the cylinders would show up with a compression test and a very clean spark plug, with more than just condesation in the exhaust pipe.
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Thought id give you an update on my situation to all those who helped me out with suggestions. To cut a long story short the car went in to have the head gasket done after he assures me it needs to be done and finally got the car back just before new year after going back and fore many times for various other problems that occurred. Drove it to work today and the coolant problems begin again which I will post in a new thread!
Thanks for all those who helped.
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Sorry to hear that. At least you've got a nice new headgasket i.e. it wasn't a complete waste of money.
When you make your new post just write everything that happens when the car warms up in as much detail as possible and I'm sure people will be able to sort you out. E.g. do the rad pipes stay cold, what happens with the oil/water temp, what has been tested/replaced etc.
Having re-read this thread, it seems like the only problem in reality was that water was escaping the oil cooler pipes. In this case, have you replaced the pipes and clips?? The boiling over of the coolant can be completely normal with the cap off as the system is supposed to pressurise eventually. Anyway, post a new thread and try and be as clear as poss!
Good luck!
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ahh damn it. You had the head gasket changed.
I would put my bets on a cloged heater matrix - ideal replacement is a new one from gsf (mk3 golf one) and bin the bypass valves if you have them.
radiator cloged or none genuine. I found none genuine rads to be a right pain
I had the same problem. Was a mixture of the above.
You need to bleed the system properly. Takes ages! A common problem on these bangers
Ive used a heater matrix pipe off a mk3 vr6 that has a bleed tap built in. makes life easier. might be worth looking into
also make sure you have anti freeze.
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One of the reasons it went back to the garage was because it was still leaking from the end of the oil cooler pipe where I originally told him it was coming from!
He totally ignored it and steamed in with the head gasket change. Like you say at least ive got a new head gasket but im pretty sure that was where my problem was.
Mr blue - Dont start worrying me about a matrix change yet! the blowers get nice and warm when up to temp and it drove fine for 3 days up until my burst hose incident so im hoping i can dodge that job for a while at least.