serious wisdom needed please

[edpryce]

nooo! i was getting hopeful replies.

ha, thats embarrassing

Not at all. If you don't ask, how will you know?

ha thanks, Where abouts is the oil breather? I have a haynes, but cant find anything on it?

 

Check the water for oil droplets, and also the oil for mayonnaise.

In current temperatures it is not unheard of for cooling channels to crack in the block which could explain the water loss.

is that despite anti freeze? I checked in decemeber and they said I was good to do down to minus 20 or something stupid? and would that mean new block time?

[Agreeable Slick]

It can be, the antifreeze should protect it, but it could still crack the block depending on how it has settled. However, this is the extreme of problems and would be more noticeable due to the engine pumping out oodles of white smoke if it was burning water that quickly. The more likely issue is a crack in a pipe somewhere, checking the bottom of the radiator is a good place to start as if the pipes have got wet and consequently frozen from the outside, they can deteriorate quickly and open up a split in which water will escape.

Another simple (and common) to check problem is if the seal has blown on the expansion tank cap. Check by filling the water back up, getting the car up to temp and see if the water boils up and over the expansion tank.

Oil leak might just be the rocker cover bowing slightly due to low temps and if it was leaking already then the gasket will just tear a bit more, it is only a piece of cork after all, simple to replace.

[edpryce]

cheers for the votes of confidence.

I'll get on it tomorrow. If i am filling up the system to check for leaks, i guess i should put in anti freeze aswell to prevent it from freezing if it doesnt leek? or fill it with normal water, until i know it holds water?

didnt see any white smoke today, but could have missed it last tuesday due to awful visability of the snow.

how long should I expect to wait until a leek become noticeable?

thanks

ed

[Alpine mike]

your oil levels are correct yeah? there's an outside chance that your thermostat could be on the blink, it happened to me once..took me ages to work it out.

[edpryce]

thermo seems alright, put a post up a while ago about it sitting below halfway on the motorway, but normally its pretty good. 1/2 round town, 3/4 til the fan kicks in.

Think Nick said i needed a new o ring? could that be a resulting in this? Never got round to changing it

Ed

[Agreeable Slick]

With most anti-freeze products it is a 5:1 ratio of water to antifreeze anyhow, so it will not be as if you are using loads.

If it is a head gasket then again, it should be noticeable by boggy performance (depending on how bad it is), using water/oil/both and when idling and under load either white or blue smoke will be present and not disappear from start up.

Depending on how often you drive the car this will take time to clear, assuming it is a daily though, it shouldn't take longer than ten mins or so to completely clear.

However, for it to dump all it's water that quickly i would put money on a cracked pipe somewhere along the coolant system, this cold snap can do very quick damage to older cars that are not prepped for it (as most older cars weren't) but it's just a case of replacing simple bits.

[edpryce]

With most anti-freeze products it is a 5:1 ratio of water to antifreeze anyhow, so it will not be as if you are using loads.

However, for it to dump all it's water that quickly i would put money on a cracked pipe somewhere along the coolant system, this cold snap can do very quick damage to older cars that are not prepped for it (as most older cars weren't) but it's just a case of replacing simple bits.

It is in theory a daily, but living in a city i drive it about once a week it only gets a good blast every few weeks. performance has felt good, although on the time i drove it in the snow (about 20 miles) I could harldy give it any due to the conditions. I did however drive about 10 miles, then leave it, for an hour or so, and then drive it. This could allow water to settle and freeze on the pipes as was mentioned.

so if the water had leaked, that would cause the oil to come out of the poor rocker cover? Its my first winter with the golf, so that a cracked pipe seems likely . 

I couldnt see white smoke today, just the stuff burning off the manifold. Got scared about the HG as it happened to a mate (although over a much greater period of time)

If i cant see any leeks, what should i do next?

[TheRaven]

This is what happened with mine. Started drinking a hell of a lot of water + overheating so changed the stat to an 84 instead of a 92 so the fan kicked in earlies, but the oil was leaking a bit from the rocker + drinking water still.
So found that the gasket seal was leaking so replaced it, had the head skimmed + had new water pump + cam belt + theres no smoke + she runs between 1/4 + 1/2 + the fan kicks in at half.

[edpryce]

ok, so checked in daylight. Water consumption wasnt anywhere near as bad as it looked in the dark. It was sitting an inch below the minimum. No mayo in the cap, water could be considered discoloured, but its difficult to tell with the expansion tank being so dirty on the outside.

The oil is round the edge of the rocker cover and pooling on the manifold. As a result is low on the dipstick level.
No mayo in the oil cap either, an no white/blue smoke on start up.

I have filled up the water to the correct level to see if it leeks and gets any lower just sitting there.

Would a poor seal round the rocker cover leading to a low amount of oil, result in using water?

DarnP - still havent found anything on the oil breather? where should i be looking?

This is what happened with mine. Started drinking a hell of a lot of water + overheating so changed the stat to an 84 instead of a 92 so the fan kicked in earlies, but the oil was leaking a bit from the rocker + drinking water still.
So found that the gasket seal was leaking so replaced it, had the head skimmed + had new water pump + cam belt + theres no smoke + she runs between 1/4 + 1/2 + the fan kicks in at half.

sounds like an awful lot of work, hasnt been overheating as i rarely drive it. Hopefully this should prevent the need to get my head skimmed?

Thanks again everyone. Will get some pictures of the oil and rocker cover up later hopefully to hopefully make this clearer

Ed

[Oilburner]

The oil issue almost certainly sounds like the rocker gasket from what you have described and is easy to replace. I have similar issues with mine, nothing to be too concerned about, just get it replaced ASAP (and dont crank up the rocker cover bolts too tight!)

If the coolant is sitting just below the min mark then its consumption is not massive. If you are certain there are no pipe leaks which can be tricky to locate (have you tried putting a bit of cardboard or something clean underneath and let it sit for a while with the engine warm or idling to try and trace?)

In answer to your question; no, a leaking rocker cover will not result in using up coolant.

Dont assume the worst fella, it may well be something simple. As others have already pointed out, these weather conditions are not good for old cars. Mine was parked in a friends garden and when i went to pick it up to put in my nicely cleared out garage it was frozen solid. Spent an hour defrosting the pipes and got it started, but forgot the heater matrix pipes = blown matrix!

Incidentally, you dont have any water in your footwell do you? Perticularly the passenger side?