Using or Losing water?

[richbvw 0]

Hi guys im new to the forum as ive had my VR for only 8 months (and i havnt stopped smiling).

Over the last few weeks it has been either using or losing water, to the point where the dash light warns me im out of water every 2-3 days!

It doesnt seem to be over heating and the temp guage is normal. Ive got samco hoses thoughout and ive been checing them for leaks but i cant find one. Normally i would say i have a head gasket problem, but with no over heating or running problems im at bit stuck.

Anyone out there had similar problems or has an idea what it could be ?

thanks in advance

Rich

[cabrioman 6]

try gettin a pressure test done then ull know if u have a leak or if its goin into the bores ..

[slim5878 1]

check the passenger foot well as it could be your heater matrix leakin

[richbvw 0]

thanks both ive checked the passenger footwell and it doesnt look like its wet.

im going to try and get a test done over the next couple of days although i have just found a small leak under the expansion bottle, but it doesnt look big enough to cause the problem i have.

Thanks

[richbvw 0]

OK so ive tried 4 "garages" now to get a compression or headgasket test done - not 1 would do it for me, saying ill need to book it in sometime in a week or 2 :@

Ive now had to take the car off the road as it used almost all of its water/coolant in just over 2 hrs driving!!!!! ive checked the oil cap - still clean, checked the dipstick and although clean there seemed to be more oil than 4 days ago?

The car hasnt overheated at all but the temp needle is flickering a bit, which i have never seen before.

Im assuming that the headgasket has gone or is about to :-( but one "garage" told me that it could be the Water pump seals gone, which i took as good news until he went on to say that if it seized the "cambelt" would snap and result in an engine rebuild. Not sure how much faith to put in that.

What do people think? Also, anyone now of a good VW garage around birmingham.

[NWGRE38 0]

Other things to check - seal on the expansion tank cap. If this poor,water can blow past and escape. Also check the secondary circulation pump is working properly. You should hear this whirring after the engine is turned off. If it isn't and could be seized this will cause overheating. Obviously the "garage" doesn't know that a VR6 has a timing chain

[NWGRE38 0]

Other things to check - seal on the expansion tank cap. If this poor,water can blow past and escape. Also check the secondary circulation pump is working properly. You should hear this whirring after the engine is turned off. If it isn't and could be seized this will cause overheating. Obviously the "garage" doesn't know that a VR6 has a timing chain

[SankysVR6 1]

Im assuming that the headgasket has gone or is about to :-( but one "garage" told me that it could be the Water pump seals gone' date=' which i took as good news until he went on to say that if it seized the "cambelt" would snap and result in an engine rebuild. Not sure how much faith to put in that.

[/quote']

Well that's a load of Sh1t, as it uses chains for the timing.

Does it only loose water when your driving? Or does it also loose it when it's been parked over night. Are the cooling fans still kicking in and out.

Check the thermostat area as they are prone to leaking.

[deviousdavey 0]

During my once a week underbonnet check I noticed that my expansion tank level was a bit low, and as the engine had cooled down enough I proceeded to remove the cap, after a small hiss of pressure I realised that there is actually a small split in the seam of the expansion tank (the seam which joins the top half of the ball to the bottom half). It's only a small leak at the moment, but gonna get a new expansion tank (anyone know where from apart from main stealer?

I do remember having the same problem on my Mk1 GTi cabby!

Dave

[Karr-Man 0]

During my once a week underbonnet check I noticed that my expansion tank level was a bit low' date=' and as the engine had cooled down enough I proceeded to remove the cap, after a small hiss of pressure I realised that there is actually a small split in the seam of the expansion tank (the seam which joins the top half of the ball to the bottom half). It's only a small leak at the moment, but gonna get a new expansion tank (anyone know where from apart from main stealer?

I do remember having the same problem on my Mk1 GTi cabby!

Dave

[/quote']

literally just done this on mine. the cheapest i found was about £25 from euro car parts. make sure they give u the oval tank tho as they tried to give me the round one un til i pointed out that this wasnt the same as the one i had in the car....