Water boiling out of the filler cap
Discussion
I'm told the water self levels, but is it normal for it to bubble out of the expansion tank cap?
If I start her up and leave her to idle when the water temp hits around 85 water bubbles out of the filler cap for about 30 seconds and then stops. Is this it self levelling, or is there gremlin in the system?
Car drives perfectly and temperatures are spot on. But not sure how I would ever know if the car has enough water?
If I start her up and leave her to idle when the water temp hits around 85 water bubbles out of the filler cap for about 30 seconds and then stops. Is this it self levelling, or is there gremlin in the system?
Car drives perfectly and temperatures are spot on. But not sure how I would ever know if the car has enough water?
Allandwf said:
Where do you fill it to ? Should be just to the bottom of that elbow.
I may have gone an inch over the elbow - Not sure how anyone when the water level is right. After a few days I'd assume that the elbow would look clear of water.Just run her up again and she didn't spew out anything this time.
Not sure how much came out on the previous two occasions but I would estimate about a half - one pint.
Comments re: level (when COLD) being at the weld on the filler elbow are correct.
Also comment re: cap, is also valid....mine went in Le Mans in 2010...and I'd just replaced it (OK it was a pattern part - but alledgedly made in Germany) from a well known parts supplier that specialise in German, Swedish and French (clue here!!) spares. The replacement was sh*te. Cheap at 3'ish, but sh*te. Luckily, there was a VAG dealership about 5 Km up the road, and they had one in, 14 Euros later I was on my way.
Struggling to understand comment about rad' leaking....unless you're loosing level frequently. Also, you'd then have a damp patch under the car. The coolant should boil if it is at op'g temp and then the pressure is reduced to atmospheric...which happens when the coolant is blown out the relief valve in the cap.
Nick
Also comment re: cap, is also valid....mine went in Le Mans in 2010...and I'd just replaced it (OK it was a pattern part - but alledgedly made in Germany) from a well known parts supplier that specialise in German, Swedish and French (clue here!!) spares. The replacement was sh*te. Cheap at 3'ish, but sh*te. Luckily, there was a VAG dealership about 5 Km up the road, and they had one in, 14 Euros later I was on my way.
Struggling to understand comment about rad' leaking....unless you're loosing level frequently. Also, you'd then have a damp patch under the car. The coolant should boil if it is at op'g temp and then the pressure is reduced to atmospheric...which happens when the coolant is blown out the relief valve in the cap.
Nick
Basil Brush said:
Regarding the filler cap, has anyone had an issue with replacing? I bought one from an online TVR specialist and the threads are different to my filler neck.
Marcus,Seem to rember a post on here - maybe last year, someone with a Tuscan had troubles at Le Mans. When he got home had the car checked by Dom at 'Power' and it too had a different thread, so was not sealing properly.
Had conversations with someone else and they commented that Racing Green had a 'duff' batch of pressure caps in which caused customers problems.
Seems to pay to get the cap from a VAG dealership...The ones that DON'T come in a VW box just aren't up to much.
Nick
nawarne said:
Struggling to understand comment about rad' leaking....unless you're loosing level frequently.
Not sure if it was loosing the level because after it spewed out from the cap it was always below the elbow, so I never know how much is in there - Or is there another way to know?I'm not entirely certain if the rad was leaking - At the last service the pressure was ok, but it seems as if a tiny (really tiny) amount of steam was escaping between the plastic side panel and the rad. However when I tightened up the hoses I didn't see any more - so it could have just been water drops running down and evaporating.
I have the rad out now anyway as I'm replacing the grill mesh.
This seems to be an issue with all new Tuscan owners. I was one 2 years ago and went through the same list of options. New aftermarket cap ( useless ) new VAG cap, pressure test & worry about headgasket. In the end never had overheating problems just never sure if the water level in rhe filler neck is ok or not. Mine seems to barely cover the bottom of the elbow when cold. Trips to Brittany, Le Mans, S&D Blackpool etc with no problems seem to take away the worry. That said I alvays have a litre of water / antifreeze mix in the boot.
Dave
Dave
I have to agree, they all have different levels. VAG cap (which is different), full bleed and keep an eye on the temps. The hoses do leak (crap clips), and do need to be tightened, especially the oil cooler pipes IMHO.
My advice just drive it, except it does some strange things, but very few are terminal these days. They are noisy, creak and groan, rattle and leak a little but there isn't that goes as well for the money.
Jason, Dom or any of the other good Indy's can advise. Check the coolant concentration as well but 9/10's it is the cap You could do a compression test if you want to be absolutely sure, or a pressure test.
It took me 3 weeks to get mine right after I had a split pipe, filling it up, dumping fluid, venting, filling, 2 caps (3 inc original which was still good), and leaky silicone pipes (they need tightening after a while, and a minor nervous breakdown when I though the head gasket had gone. I think it was laughing at me being so silly.
My advice just drive it, except it does some strange things, but very few are terminal these days. They are noisy, creak and groan, rattle and leak a little but there isn't that goes as well for the money.
Jason, Dom or any of the other good Indy's can advise. Check the coolant concentration as well but 9/10's it is the cap You could do a compression test if you want to be absolutely sure, or a pressure test.
It took me 3 weeks to get mine right after I had a split pipe, filling it up, dumping fluid, venting, filling, 2 caps (3 inc original which was still good), and leaky silicone pipes (they need tightening after a while, and a minor nervous breakdown when I though the head gasket had gone. I think it was laughing at me being so silly.
nawarne said:
Marcus,
Seem to rember a post on here - maybe last year, someone with a Tuscan had troubles at Le Mans. When he got home had the car checked by Dom at 'Power' and it too had a different thread, so was not sealing properly.
Had conversations with someone else and they commented that Racing Green had a 'duff' batch of pressure caps in which caused customers problems.
Seems to pay to get the cap from a VAG dealership...The ones that DON'T come in a VW box just aren't up to much.
Nick
Thanks for the info Nick. I think it was RG that supplied the non-fitting cap.Seem to rember a post on here - maybe last year, someone with a Tuscan had troubles at Le Mans. When he got home had the car checked by Dom at 'Power' and it too had a different thread, so was not sealing properly.
Had conversations with someone else and they commented that Racing Green had a 'duff' batch of pressure caps in which caused customers problems.
Seems to pay to get the cap from a VAG dealership...The ones that DON'T come in a VW box just aren't up to much.
Nick
Pacman1972 said:
canski said:
Mine seems to barely cover the bottom of the elbow when cold
On mine the filler neck is always empty - So I'm assuming that needs to be put right? That said it's never overheated or had any problems.If you need to put in much more that 0.25 to 0.5 litres, then I'd suspect a leak somewhere.
Nick
Thanks for all the info folks.
Discovered my condenser unit is spilt:
http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Is this linked in anyway to cooling - could that have been responsible?
Anyone know of a good place to source a cheap unit?
Discovered my condenser unit is spilt:
http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Is this linked in anyway to cooling - could that have been responsible?
Anyone know of a good place to source a cheap unit?
The condensor wont have any impact on your cooling problems. Its simply to condense air con gas..
I went through all of these issues with my car last year. You want to be able to take the car out for a decent trip and be able to sit in traffic with out fear of it over heating and wrecking itself. I did the following to sort it once and for all:
a)Replaced every hose and clip with a kit from act. Original hoses were quite rubbishy fit and weeped. You may have already done this
b)New/recored rad. You have mentioned you may have had steam coming from the rad housing. It cost me 180, which was well worth the peice of mind. Mine had avery tiny hole in it. probably could got away with it, but the syste wouldnt hold a vacuum.
c)Rebuilt the oil cooler. replaced the oring and all of the fixings and polised the body. the polishing didnt affect the cooling, just made it look nice.
d)Replaced mild steel pipe from which runs from the thermstat housing around the head. This pipe had corroded internally at the thermostat end and was adding a nice rust tinge to the water.
e) Flushed the cooling system.
f)Vacuum purged the system which lead to me discovering point b. Once the vacuum was maintained i knew the cooling system would be spot on.
Temperature stays bang on now. Its the one thing I wanted to know was right as it had the capability of wrecking the engine... Its a lot less hasle to repaplce the pipes than it is a new head gasket or piston rings.
I went through all of these issues with my car last year. You want to be able to take the car out for a decent trip and be able to sit in traffic with out fear of it over heating and wrecking itself. I did the following to sort it once and for all:
a)Replaced every hose and clip with a kit from act. Original hoses were quite rubbishy fit and weeped. You may have already done this
b)New/recored rad. You have mentioned you may have had steam coming from the rad housing. It cost me 180, which was well worth the peice of mind. Mine had avery tiny hole in it. probably could got away with it, but the syste wouldnt hold a vacuum.
c)Rebuilt the oil cooler. replaced the oring and all of the fixings and polised the body. the polishing didnt affect the cooling, just made it look nice.
d)Replaced mild steel pipe from which runs from the thermstat housing around the head. This pipe had corroded internally at the thermostat end and was adding a nice rust tinge to the water.
e) Flushed the cooling system.
f)Vacuum purged the system which lead to me discovering point b. Once the vacuum was maintained i knew the cooling system would be spot on.
Temperature stays bang on now. Its the one thing I wanted to know was right as it had the capability of wrecking the engine... Its a lot less hasle to repaplce the pipes than it is a new head gasket or piston rings.
Edited by m4tti on Monday 19th March 07:36
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