40 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Your head gasket is 100% healthy I like to admit my suspicions were wrong and unfounded.

You were not wrong to suggest possible head gasket failure with your knowledge, experience and ownership of the model, you were quite right to make the suggestion, well done.

 

Even though it seems unlikely to be otherwise I will say you can't say for sure the gasket is fully healthy but it seems that way now and at least has been confirmed as such within the provisos of the test.

 

I'm usually relucent to suggest HGF because I know what a PITA it is to an ordinary owner (all that hassle for a bit of paper) but then previously I've held back or been too relucent and others have correctly suggested HGF.  You done the right thing, better to check than not, and this is easy, hands clean , inexpensive work so worth a go.

 

Praise to you, you've earnt it.

  

59 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

so maybe there is tiny loss of 100ml per year

So let it lose that every year for a few years then top up.

 

Perhaps it's evaporating because of where you are, the system and seals not being perfect or their wear/tear, age, or even how often you have the cap or other coolant system bits off. 😁  -

 

https://www.kamsauto.com/blog/can-coolant-evaporate-when-it-s-hot-outside

 

And as you like American videos (they can't be wrong, see who they voted as President, twice!). -

 

 

Edited 25 January, 20251 yr by nta16
typos

For a car daily driven in Greece summer, well done. 

 

In the last summer, I hit the limits of the 1.6 radiator and I don't have A/C.

 

The gearbox oil was new at the beginning of the last summer. I've changed it recently and it poured out pitch black.

Imagine the heat.

 

 

For coolant leaks please check the iron pipe connections located under the right side of the engine.

Also, when water pump fails, usually first sign of failure is coolant leakage. You must  check that too.

 

Usually, worst leaks happen when the weather is cold.

My advice is, after arriving home in Saturday night, check for coolant leaks in the cold morning of Sunday. This way, you will have a chance to catch the heat expansion difference leaks on various connections.

6 minutes ago, nta16 said:

So let it lose that every year for a few years then top up.

 

Perhaps it's evaporating because of where you are, the system and seals not being perfect or their wear/tear, age, or even how often you have the cap or other coolant system bits off. 😁  -

coolant permeates (water mostly) through hoses but rubber is not so susceptible 

@D.FYLAKTOS Your head gasket is fine and if has reached that point without even having a minor leak you shall not worry. That justifies my thought that head gasket failure on our vehicles is always due to corrosion and given you have been running very high-quality antifreeze all these years there is none. Your head gasket will last the life of your vehicle. Consider yourself a lucky man, now for the leak, it usually is a mix of factors, don't stress about it. It could be permeation, it could be the cap itself. If you can go for birth or even better original...

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

and i wonder if there is a tiny leak from the radiator itself but i don't want to put any chemical ''sealant'' on it.

a very common culprit is the radiator fan switch check for dried-out coolant, the radiator itself not really....

30 minutes ago, R_Blue said:

The gearbox oil was new at the beginning of the last summer. I've changed it recently and it poured out pitch black.

Imagine the heat.

A reason, particular for those in more extreme hot and cold conditions, to use better quality gear oils than standard  to cope better with the extremes and offer more protection for longer.  VW don't care about how longer a gearbox lasts after the longest period of warranty they offer and it's not 25 years.  I even use a better quality oil my wife's 2015 Fabia Mk3 (manual) gearbox, even though many, especially mechanics and engineers (sorry T) say it's a waste of time changing the gearbox oil (it's only splash") let alone to anything better but I have had good results from changing gearbox (and back axle) oils and changing to better oils over decades with various cars (of course the professionals say "placebo". 😁  Yet VW have a history of changing oil specification for their gearboxes, 😆

 

You having changed it once and then again the reason it's so dirty might be because of the changes clearing out the muck, you need to do two (thorough) oil changes to really change the oil because of residue oil and muck left in from any change which to some extent dilutes the effects and cleanliness of the new fresh oil going in.  The fact that it is an old vehicle probably makes using a (much) better oil more practical and economical sense if you are keep the car any length of time, especially when using under more extreme weather conditions and arduous use.

 

Gearbox oil in modern manual boxes is lifetime fluid. What we engineers don't tell you is when we say lifetime we mean "engineered lifetime" depending on brand that could be 10 years or 250.000 km. On Mito with a known engineered lifetime of 250.000kms I changed the gearbox oil at 180.000 for the first time. It was brand spanking new. Felicia has a gearbox change interval of 40.000 km yet it should be changed every 20.000 its just down to poorer quality materials.

10 hours ago, nta16 said:

So let it lose that every year for a few years then top up

 

I will put a mark on the radiator cap to see if it has a tendency to turn left and get loose.

 

10 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

a very common culprit is the radiator fan switch check for dried-out coolant, the radiator itself not really....

 

I will ckeck it.

 

33 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Felicia has a gearbox change interval of 40.000 km

 

I thought 60.000 km.

 

 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

I will put a mark on the radiator cap to see if it has a tendency to turn left and get loose.

Fair enough but I would have thought it more likely that the seal has or gets a little give, rubber seals you can perhaps replace if you want, the metal pressure spring type seals used to be just replace the cap but they normally lasted a very long time even if the cap was removed occasionally or more often to check coolant level perhaps at 6 monthly services, which  (and are)  nothing like the modern Dealership/garages "services" (engine oil & filter change and look for more chargeable work)  you get now.

 

I also don't think you have anything to worry about with this level of coolant loss but you will be very cautious and vigilant which can be a good thing if you are not overstressing yourself about something that is of no real concern, too much stress isn't  good for mind or body.

 

2 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

I will put a mark on the radiator cap to see if it has a tendency to turn left and get loose.

It doesn't it has a notch nonetheless its the pressure relief valve leaking

2 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

I thought 60.000 km.

yes memory issues

As for the record, thank God i didn't had to go to solutions like this:

 

Holts Wondarweld is a professional cooling system repair product that’s designed to fix small cracks and holes in the cylinder head, engine block and head gasket.

Repairs cracks in engine blocks, cylinder head gaskets and water pump gaskets

Heavy-duty crack repair

Suitable for steel, aluminium, and iron engines.

 

 

sodium silicate and compounds is not a good ideal

It's the drain and flush after repair that most garages, mechanics and owners won't bother with - and even those that do probably won't do a thorough job of it. 😁 😉 😁 (sorry couldn't resist, well I course I could have but obviously didn't, am I bad 😟)

This photo has a 6 minutes time difference with the previous, i am pleased that after so much revving the temperature does not rise above this point.

 

 

The coolant flush and the new G12 made nothing but good to my Trusty.

 

 

2 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

This photo has a 6 minutes time difference with the previous, i am pleased that after so much revving the temperature does not rise above this point.

With revving the temperature drops on the felicia due to higher coolant flow

So if you rev your Felicia few times and let it work as is steady (no air flow toward to the radiator) for at least 10 minutes the temperature will drop down?

Last night I saw an episode of Wheeler Dealers (series 17, episode 16) I don't watch many episodes but this on caught my attention, it was on a 195k-mile (314,000 km) Jaguar S-Type R and rather than start stripping a V8 engine in a pretty full 2002 engine bay they took an oil sample to be analysed at a place with a name familiar to us, it turned up unexpected results one possible interpretation related to recent concerns here.  Also in this episode Elvis appeared to use the wrong type of feeler guage to check the gap on new plugs before installing them, a subject with many posts on a previous thread here.

 

It showed three possible ways to test for potential head gasket failure - and Elvis called the fluid browosit blue it might interest you to see it you can skip passed the supercharger and other stuff.

 

41 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Wheeler Dealers (series 17, episode 16)

 

 

To watch Wheeler Dealers, you need the Sky Go app.

 

Watch the TV you love anywhere, at no extra cost.

 

And with Sky Mobile, you can watch Sky TV on the go without using your data.

Sky Go is included at no extra cost to your Sky TV subscription.

Be serious, do you really think I would have Sky or other mobile or a Sky app of any sort, I watched for free (except the very annoying adverts) on Freeview.  Or I could watch on youview but the digital box has been switched off and disconnected gathering dust for at least a couple of years.  We happily pay the UK TV licence to keep the BBC going, which others all over the world can also benefit from for free, on some of their programs and transmissions at least.

 

Wheeler Dealers is a Discovery program and seen in many countries over the world as far as I know, other than un UK how they get it I don't know.  This episode is from 2022 so not a recent one and IIRC Elvis is no longer with Mike but I have never been a close follower of the show, I just remember Mike from decades back when he was on what they call terrestrial television now, when there were only 5 channels in the UK (unless you had a satellite dish and receiver).

 

okay first row is brera at 1500km oil sample second is felicia at 7000km oil change under a failing hg and my father's abuse and lpg, you tell me what you can see from this table and then ill tell you what is really happening oils selenia STAR 5W40 castrol GTX 15W40

26 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Be serious, do you really think I would have Sky or other mobile or a Sky app of any sort, I watched for free (except the very annoying adverts) on Freeview.  Or I could watch on youview but the digital box has been switched off and disconnected gathering dust for at least a couple of years. 

 

Non of them working in a tablet here in Greece, the ask to dowload the application.

 

 

 

Things are different in GR, we can watch for free many things that others have to pay but we don't have tha adility to watch other countries Live cable tv.

In the past whatever (movie, tv series episode etc) an American saw by paying for it in 24 hours we could watch it for free.

On the other hand we don't care to pay to see a boxing match or the baseball finals.

 

@Thefeliciahacker in every topic you mention the Brera and make comparison with the Felicia.

Brera is a discontinued model which no one knows in US for example, isn't a Ford GT or ferrari F40 or Lamborghini Miura or Mercedes 300 SL or Buggati Veyron or Mc Laren F1 etc, it's not an exotic car that everyone must have as a point oif refference.

Isn't something Special that we have to remember and those you have it already suffering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AvMwY336sE

 

And i long as i live i will never return to 15W- for my Felicia.

''No matter what'' as Apollo Creed said to Rocky. 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Non of them working in a tablet here in Greece, the ask to dowload the application.

As I put I have no idea what you can and can't get in Greece.  I don't have Freeview Play I have Freeview, I don't watch TV programs on a a tablet, pill, or phone I use a TV set.  I have an arial on the roof (well it's actually on a metal pole secured to the joint chimney stack) that has a (coax) cable off it that is terminated at a wall socket and cable from that to TV.  Very old fashion now but very robust and reliable with no concerns about batteries and internet supply.

 

It was paying twice to watch boxing matches that took me away from Murdoch's monopoly in the mid-90s, I had an independent system that could also pick up and pay for Murdoch's stuff.  I also watched on Eurosport and another channel  I wish I could remember the name of as it's boxing broadcasts were much more honest but a lot less professional and slick which improved them from the pay-per-view Sky stuff (originally I think it was all to be pay-per-view or card top-ups rather than monthly/annual fees).  Murdoch was losing so much money he had to launch the rocket to get it on-air, breaking the law IIRC.

 

Don't fall into hero-worship with your exotic and (normally not so well built) American cars.  Those that like cars generally and "pertrolheads" have respect for Alfas and they being for drivers rather than just A to B driving owners.  I suffered enough with Fiat (and British, well English, made cars) ownership ever to go to an Alfa but have to give respect to Alfa owners for recognising their driver appeal (for a tin-top 4/5 seater in T's case).  And I'm not sure the post was aimed at you but it is comparing different oils that are also different weights so lots of variables to the comparisons then add in the difference in mileage and in different cars, I would expect differences but they may not be the point of the post which may relate to a misunderstanding of an earlier post, difficult to know without questions and answers.

 

No "glitters" on the expandion cap but i wonder if (i say IF) some of them in the past have been inserted inside could make the pressure cap to don't work 100% properlyand let some coolant fumes to escape?

The cap can be reassessemled and cleaned or if i try it i will damage the membrane?

4 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

in every topic you mention the Brera and make comparison with the Felicia.

Not really. It's just a good point of comparison for me so I can compare it to Felicia or what have you. I have driven many many many cars and I always like to compare them to the Brera, it is my baseline for understating and rating, just like @nta16 MG Midget, in this instance I happen to have had an oil analysis performed on both cars with the Felicia being the latter thus both rows appear, and if you were a tad bit more open-minded you would make some very valuable conclusions from cross comparing both data sets, being MPI with lpg 7000km 15W40 and GDI 1500km very well taken care off...

 

4 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Ford GT

fun fact around 4500GTs were produced 

 

4 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Isn't something Special that we have to remember

Oh yes it is an exquisite vehicle that everyone remembers just for the wrong reason
it's 30% more rare than an E31 series BMW which is another amazing discontinued automobile which I would like to own one day. In fact very few vehicles really tickle me enough. Even if I had infinite money, I wouldn't be looking in many vehichles.
Design wise I would say
E31, Brera, 8C competizione, ferrari 599 gtb,dodge viper gen 3 (convertible) and skoda 136 rapid are the only truly beautiful machines 
 

Edited 28 January, 20251 yr by Thefeliciahacker