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[Tomjones1995]

 I meant "no it's not a head gasket, not just no"  . Anyways, are you sure it couldn't be anything else? Skoda specialist I took it to reckons its not the head gasket and wants to replace the header tank but that makes no sense to me.

[KenONeill]

@Tomjones1995 - OK, "no it's not HGF", well except that it very probably is unless you can find actual evidence of a leaking radiator or hose, and so far you haven't.

[Tomjones1995]

No, no signs of leaks yet. I was thinking of buying that dye stuff that ring make for finding leaks in the cooling system www.ringautomotive.com/en/product/rld2 do you reckon it's worth a shot before going to the expense of a HG?

 

Cheers

[KenONeill]

@Tomjones1995 Not all HGFs exhaust to atmosphere. Is the oil level rising, or is there are lot of water vapour in the exhaust?

[Tomjones1995]

@KenONeillBy water vapours from the exhaust do you mean when idling or just parked?

Edited 21 September, 2018 by Tomjones1995

[KenONeill]

@Tomjones1995 - Well, pretty much any time once the engine's run 2 or 3 minutes.

[Tomjones1995]

I've just got home having driven 16 miles and I can't see any water vapour coming out the exhaust, I don't think the oil levels are rising either to be honest

[sepulchrave]

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

I've just got home having driven 16 miles and I can't see any water vapour coming out the exhaust, I don't think the oil levels are rising either to be honest

 

That's because HGF on PD engines manifests with combustion gases pressurising the coolant, there are no other symptoms, it's SO common it really ought to be a sticky.

 

I'm afraid you'll have to face facts here, the PD engine is notorious for head lift, the cure is to replace the head gasket and the stretch bolts with PD150 bolts.

[Tomjones1995]

@sepulchrave So are you saying that if my coolant drops as it has and if I open the header tank in the morning to fill it up and it hisses lightly releasing gas/air that I definitely have a HDF and there's nothing else it could be?

 

Cheers

[sepulchrave]

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

@sepulchrave So are you saying that if my coolant drops as it has and if I open the header tank in the morning to fill it up and it hisses lightly releasing gas/air that I definitely have a HDF and there's nothing else it could be?

 

Cheers

 

Yes, categorically and unequivocally HGF.

[vindaloo]

12 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

@sepulchrave So are you saying that if my coolant drops as it has and if I open the header tank in the morning to fill it up and it hisses lightly releasing gas/air that I definitely have a HDF and there's nothing else it could be?

 

Cheers

Check the coolant tank every morning when the car is cold. You should not be getting pressure release from the tank.

[Tomjones1995]

I will definitely check it every morning to make sure it wasn't some sort of one off, but in regards to what @sepulchrave said about having no doubt what so ever that it was in fact a HGF then, do you think I should get it pressure tested in a garage ASAP? because I was planning on doing that this coming week. Is that the right thing going forward?

 

Thanks again

[sepulchrave]

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

I will definitely check it every morning to make sure it wasn't some sort of one off, but in regards to what @sepulchrave said about having no doubt what so ever that it was in fact a HGF then, do you think I should get it pressure tested in a garage ASAP? because I was planning on doing that this coming week. Is that the right thing going forward?

 

Thanks again

 

I wouldn't waste time and money with further diagnosis, just get the job done, OEM head gasket and PD150 bolts, if you're due a cam belt and water pump then now's the time to get them done as well.

 

There is absolutely no other reason why your cooling system contains compressed gas while stone cold.

 

Unless there are supernatural forces in play, gremlins perhaps...

[Tomjones1995]

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

 

I wouldn't waste time and money with further diagnosis, just get the job done, OEM head gasket and PD150 bolts, if you're due a cam belt and water pump then now's the time to get them done as well.

 

There is absolutely no other reason why your cooling system contains compressed gas while stone cold.

 

Unless there are supernatural forces in play, gremlins perhaps...

 

Oh right okay then, I'l contact a garage and get on it asap. Thanks again for all the help Sepulchrave and to everybody else on this thread, very much appreciated

[Tomjones1995]

Okay, for the past few days I've been watching the coolant, not topping it up to see if it settles which it did, just above minimum line. Then when I drive around it drops below minimum, I stop, remove the cap and it soars up to max or just to above min again, so I just assumed it was happy sat there and there was no HGF. Until this morning when I come out of the house to it being below min. So I released the cap to let the pressure out thinking that it would go back up but it stayed below and has given me the low coolant light. Now I've explained a bit better, is this still sounding like HGF, I'm not in denial, just wishing to be thorough. That coolant has gone somewhere hasn't it?

Apologies for the lengthy message

Many thanks,

Tom Jones

[KenONeill]

@Tomjones1995 - Well, your latest is sounding more like you have a partial air lock somewhere. The most likely suspects are any high points in the heater hoses.

[Tomjones1995]

6 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@Tomjones1995 - Well, your latest is sounding more like you have a partial air lock somewhere. The most likely suspects are any high points in the heater hoses.

 

Cheers Ken, how might I go about releasing it? Allow the engine to cool, then run it with the header tank cap off maybe?

 

Thanks

[Breezy_Pete]

Still HG.

[Tomjones1995]

43 minutes ago, Wino said:

Still HG.

I just got off the phone with the garage id booked it in to, they reckon change the header tank because it's not OEM (I didn't know when I bought it) and if it's still leaking coolant, then it's HGF. Should be an easy enough job to do myself I reckon

[rum4mo]

If you are going to replace the header bottle, then you would also need to remove any trapped air that is already in that coolant system before started to see if replacing that header tank has made any difference.

I always thought that the plan was to sort out failed head gaskets quickly before the block and/or head faces got damaged beyond repair by scim?

[Tomjones1995]

1 minute ago, rum4mo said:

If you are going to replace the header bottle, then you would also need to remove any trapped air that is already in that coolant system before started to see if replacing that header tank has made any difference.

I always thought that the plan was to sort out failed head gaskets quickly before the block and/or head faces got damaged beyond repair by scim?

Yeah that's what the garage said and I'd agree yeah. It's a difficult one because if I go ahead and spend £500-£700 for a new head gasket and in the end it was just the header tank, I've wasted my money but, if it's the other way around then I could end up nackering the engine couldn't I? Im not sure what to do for the best to be honest lads. Run the engine from cold with the header tank cap off to release the air, then change the tank, then see if the problem persists?

 

Thanks

[rum4mo]

If you need to change the header tank, replace it first then try to bleed at any high points before starting to run the engine, I know nothing about that engine type, but I do know that some VW Group small engines, including the later 1.4 16V BWX versions require you to remove the engine coolant temperature sensor then continue to refill until the coolant runs out of there free of bubbles.

That was something that I found out after finding it impossible to remove trapped air after replacing that same engine coolant temperature sensor!

[Tomjones1995]

6 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

If you need to change the header tank, replace it first then try to bleed at any high points before starting to run the engine, I know nothing about that engine type, but I do know that some VW Group small engines, including the later 1.4 16V BWX versions require you to remove the engine coolant temperature sensor then continue to refill until the coolant runs out of there free of bubbles.

That was something that I found out after finding it impossible to remove trapped air after replacing that same engine coolant temperature sensor!

I dunno, sounds too complicated and risky for me to do it I think. Best just book it in to a garage to do it.

 

Thanks

[sepulchrave]

4 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

...I'm not in denial...

 

Textbook denial, I'll tell you where the coolant is going, it's being blown out of the expansion tank while you drive.

[Tomjones1995]

18 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Textbook denial, I'll tell you where the coolant is going, it's being blown out of the expansion tank while you drive.

I can't tell if your being serious or not?