Help Please

[digger77]

My car has been the in the garage for the last couple of weeks.

I started the car and moved it out of the garage and thought I'd let it run and the engine got up to 90 degree. Switched engine off and noticed water seeping from the blue expansion tank cap, slowly opened the blue cap and the car seemed full of air, bubbling away and water pushing up and out of the expansion tank for what seemed like an age.

Heater in the car was working and blowing out warm air.

I'm no mechanic by any means, whats up with it? radiator or water pump?? can somebody point me in the right direction please

Thanks

Edited by digger77 on Saturday 26th February 19:23

Edited by digger77 on Saturday 26th February 19:31

[TvrToe]

Air in the coolant could be due to an existing air pocket in the system or maybe you have a small leak. Check the radiator for signs of leakage.

The usual way to ensure the system is bled correctly is to remove the brass cap from the swirl pot, fill to the brim with water/glycol and run the engine until warm and it appears most of the air has been released. Top off the swirl pot again and replace cap. Check expansion bottle is about half full.

[digger77]

TvrToe said:

Air in the coolant could be due to an existing air pocket in the system or maybe you have a small leak. Check the radiator for signs of leakage.

The usual way to ensure the system is bled correctly is to remove the brass cap from the swirl pot, fill to the brim with water/glycol and run the engine until warm and it appears most of the air has been released. Top off the swirl pot again and replace cap. Check expansion bottle is about half full.

Thanks - is it usual for the water to push out of the expansion bottle?

[Alexdaredevilz]

digger77 said:

Thanks - is it usual for the water to push out of the expansion bottle?

My car seems to like it 1/4 empty, any more than that it spits it out, and less and it goes empty,

Did you fill it up?

[digger77]

Alexdaredevilz said:

My car seems to like it 1/4 empty, any more than that it spits it out, and less and it goes empty,

Did you fill it up?

It was about half way before I started the car, it got up to temperature and appeared to push out from the blue cap under pressure. When the car cooled and I could remove the blue cap the expansion is emoty. Tried to remove the brass screw from the header tank but nearly snapped every driver I have, it wont budge!

[Harrytsg]

digger77 said:

It was about half way before I started the car, it got up to temperature and appeared to push out from the blue cap under pressure. When the car cooled and I could remove the blue cap the expansion is emoty. Tried to remove the brass screw from the header tank but nearly snapped every driver I have, it wont budge!

I use a 17mm spanner, laying the handle along the slot, works a treat.

My expansion tank settles at about 1/4 coolant to 3/4 air.

[Alexdaredevilz]

Harrytsg said:

I use a 17mm spanner, laying the handle along the slot, works a treat.

My expansion tank settles at about 1/4 coolant to 3/4 air.

I thought pick axe was the tvr tool? lol

[Harrytsg]

Alexdaredevilz said:

I thought pick axe was the tvr tool? lol

I'm saving up for one, the spanner will have to make do until I can get the official Tvr tool.

[AlexanderV8]

You also need to bleed the radiator if you have had trapped air, which it sounds like you have. Undo the radiator drain plug and from the undone swirl pot cap, pour in coolant until only coolant comes from the radiator drain (all air must be purged). Also squeeze the top pipe to the swirl pot in case there's any air there. These cars all find their own level in the expansion tank. Mine runs quite happily an inch from the bottom. If you overfill there, as sure as eggs are eggs, it will come out until it's happy (bit like us if we drink too much really ).

Also, Steve Heath does a great swirl pot cap with a hex head (for an Allen key) complete with colour coded magnetic cover. Good investment - no more bent screwdrivers!

[digger77]

AlexanderV8 said:

You also need to bleed the radiator if you have had trapped air, which it sounds like you have. Undo the radiator drain plug and from the undone swirl pot cap, pour in coolant until only coolant comes from the radiator drain (all air must be purged). Also squeeze the top pipe to the swirl pot in case there's any air there. These cars all find their own level in the expansion tank. Mine runs quite happily an inch from the bottom. If you overfill there, as sure as eggs are eggs, it will come out until it's happy (bit like us if we drink too much really ).

Also, Steve Heath does a great swirl pot cap with a hex head (for an Allen key) complete with colour coded magnetic cover. Good investment - no more bent screwdrivers!

Managed to remove the swirl pot cap (found an axe in the corner of the garage) is it normal for water to expand out of the swirl pot shorlty after firing up the engine?

[AlexanderV8]

I take it you mean the expansion cap do you? The swirl pot should be sealed when the brass cap is tight, so it should never come from there. In the early days of owning mine, I thought I had problems as water constantly was purged from the blue expansion tank cap. It was never immediately from start up though. The cap is from a Mark II golf I believe, so you could try another if you think it may be faulty - not very expensive.

I'd go for the full list of what people have said here so far first and then see what happens. Mine settled down almost immediately I'd ensured all the air was purged.

Air can get in if there is a leak somewhere. You can try putting dry paper cloths around the place to try & pinpoint where & if you have a leak.

I suppose worst case could be head gasket failure if purging doesn't work. Keep an eye on your oil level (& colour) but remember even if the oil is ok, there is still the possibility of the cooling system becoming pressurised. If that's the case though I would think you'd feel excessive pressure when you try & get the expansion cap off.

Good luck

[TvrToe]

I found the water in the swirl pot seems to surge and overflow, then the level falls back as a glug of air escapes. I tend to persevere with it like this until it seems to have settled and the engine is warm. Switch off and refill the swirl pot and repeat. The expansion tank is meant to self bleed once the main system has been bled. Mine has only steamed from the expansion tank when I've had an air lock, when steam occurs. My old radiator only had a small leak, but seemed it was enough to make a difference.

[digger77]

AlexanderV8 said:

I take it you mean the expansion cap do you? The swirl pot should be sealed when the brass cap is tight, so it should never come from there. In the early days of owning mine, I thought I had problems as water constantly was purged from the blue expansion tank cap. It was never immediately from start up though. The cap is from a Mark II golf I believe, so you could try another if you think it may be faulty - not very expensive.

I'd go for the full list of what people have said here so far first and then see what happens. Mine settled down almost immediately I'd ensured all the air was purged.

Air can get in if there is a leak somewhere. You can try putting dry paper cloths around the place to try & pinpoint where & if you have a leak.

I suppose worst case could be head gasket failure if purging doesn't work. Keep an eye on your oil level (& colour) but remember even if the oil is ok, there is still the possibility of the cooling system becoming pressurised. If that's the case though I would think you'd feel excessive pressure when you try & get the expansion cap off.

Good luck

Yes, water was coming from the blue expansion cap and there appeared to be excessive pressure when I tried to get the blue cap off, as I slowly opened it water was pouring out under pressure.

I let the car cool down, removed the blue cap the expansion bottle was empty, I filled it half way and then restarted the engine with the blue cap removed. Within a short period water appeared to "boil" up and out of the expansion bottle.

Checked oil level and colour, it looks, clear with no gunk. How do I know if it is head gasket failure?

Thanks

[walt762]

Not an expert but I believe any decent garage will be able to test the coolant in your system for exhaust gases, I think it is similar to a litmus test(ph test,acid/alkali) you may even be able to buy a kit from Halfords, certainly worth checking if you are worried.