Water usage on my Chim

[peter h 12]

I have a 4litre chimera and it uses about a pint of water every 50 to 75 miles and I cant find where it is going I dont have leaks and all the water and oil are clean , it would'nt be a problem except that my car seems to be very sensative to the amount of water in the swirl pot if it drops more than 2 or three inches from the top then the car starts to run very hot .Has anyone else come across this problem.

[Chassis 33]

Worst case scenario could be that the water is leaking directly into the cylinder, either via a headgasket, or worse a cracked liner.

Regards
Iain

[LordGrover]

Two to three inches from the top sounds quite high. Maybe there's something else amiss?

[coetzeeh]

My car has similar symptoms - radiator was found to be weeping, and once replaced water level remained constant and never needs topping up.

[PurpleV8]

Peter,

The swirl pot which is the higher one (of the 2 tanks) that the water flows through between the thermostat and the radiator top hose should always be full to the very top at all times.
It is the expansion tank on the OS inner wing that is allowed to be part full.

Fill the swirl pot to the top and fit screw, fill the expansion tank about 2/3rd full, give the hoses a good squeeze to chase out any air, recheck expansion tank is 2/3rd full fit top and go for a drive. When cold recheck expansion tank, only add water if it is close to empty and monitor the expansion tank level. With no leaks it will settle at it self at about half way ish.

The other fault could be a weak expansion tank cap – they do give up after a few years so the system does not pressurise, check the rubber hoses are under pressure when hot.

Purple V8

[WOO5IE]

My 4.0 Chim drops the water level to at least half way down the header tank. If I fill it higher it always goes down to the same level.

Before supecting the worst have you tried a new Pressure cap.

If faulty it would loose water and also possibly overheat due to lower pressure.
I wouldnt have thought that 1 pint of water would effect overheating or not

Try the basics first

Good Luck

Trev

[peter h 12]

My engine ia the pre serpantine engine and only has the one tank and sorry its not a swirl pot but a header tank .

Pete

[brogenville]

I think you want some of this:

http://www.car-air-conditioning-supplies.co.uk/car...

and one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/41LED-UV-Ultra-Violet-Lamp-T...

I've never tried this stuff personally, but i have heard that it works very well.

[GreenV8S]

Have it pressure tested. You probably have a leak, but a slow leak that only occurs under pressure when the engine is hot the water is likely to evaporate rather than drip. If the evaporation is occurring somewhere out of sight you wouldn't notice it.

Incidentally, make sure you keep the antifreeze up to strength when you're topping it up.