loosing lost of water

[dubsport]

hi,

ever since i have had the car it has always used alot of water, recently when i fill up the expansion bottle it is going in less than a week.Yesterday i had a look to check how much water was in there, barely none, but it had a creamy white surface, with white bubbles?

with all the rain lately it is hard to see if there is a leak, my gf dad said on vectras if you see this it usually means the headgasket id going and this scared me a little when i saw it yesterday lol  She had a total oil change less than a year ago, new webber carb etc.

If the head is going would it be worth getting her fixed or just run her into the ground and swap the parts over to a mk2 GTI?

thanks 

[Blazing Storm]

Mine was losing a fair amount of water a while back and I spotted a slight leak out of a pipe joining the radiator, which is the pipe opposite the oil filter. Simply adjusted the clip connecting the two and all was well again.

You just need to check the pipes for leaks. Perhaps go for a drive when it's dry one day and hopefully most water will have evaporated from around engine bay. You should then see any leaks.

[nealey]

Doint assume the worst striaght away, as said thougherly check it for leaks 1st, oil coolers are also prone to failing causing a oil and water mix so its possible it could be that.

before condeming the h/g get a compression check and block test done and this should hopefully flag up if the gasket is faulty, its not that hard to pull the head off and you could always chuck a head from a PB engine on there when its off for a bit more power

[peaky83]

Is there an easy way to tell which is the problem, im presuming the oil level would rise if it was an oil cooler?

[russ-vdub]

major loss of power is a sure way to tell if the head gasket is going

[Village Idiots]

If you get a scummy deposit on top of the water and it feels oily...you've got oil in the water. That may seem obvious. This could be from the oil cooler, because the oil is at a higher pressure than water it tends to go one way only. Oil coolers do break down and a very easy to replace. If you've got 'mayonnaise' under the oil filler, you've got water in the oil...likely head gasket. If head gasket has gone you'll be down on power and tend to overheat. Garages have a way of testing involving a chemical which changes colour to detect combustion products in the water to confirm head gasket gone.

[Ktuludays]

She had a total oil change less than a year ago

i change my oil every 3000 miles not every year.

if the car is getting old then regular oil changes will help the engine.

with your coolant loss, check all the hoses and connections before you assume the headgasket has gone.

[bobbymk11]

had same probs over last few days...nice new cap fixed probs...even had mayo on oil cap...cleaned it put it back none came back...and holding water fine now
but still going to change my oil cooler...as dont trust it anymore ...head gasket fine had compression test done...all good

[matchumk2]

Try the water flanges on the front and the side of the engine.. Mine are leaking..!! Give them a wiggle while its hot.. Crappy o-rings pressed into them.. Im gonna put some silacone on them to try and stop it leaking cos they are new on 2 months ago.. lol

[rubjonny]

bypass the oil cooler then flush the coolant system with a hose. to get rid of the oil fill the system with plain water & a cupfull of bio washing powder, run it for 5 mins or so then stop the engine and flush it thru again.  Repeat tioll its nice n clean, then give it a good flush to get riud of any bio powder in the system.  refill it with 50/50 coolant/water then run it for a few weeks, if the oil comes back into the coolant system you got hg troubles, if it dont then it be the oil cooler.  If it was bad you'll see oil gradually trickling out of the now disconnected oil cooler pipes