Engine i think.....some advice please

[nikp]

Although, take the cap off before hand. We don\'t want you taking the cap off when the coolants hot and pressurized!

[Kevin]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that... Whoops.

Although it\'s normally not too bad if you undo it after a short period of time.

[Ricco_04]

Also, when I did mine it started to melt the bottle - not much but dont forget the water will be around 90degrees so you might want to keep a rag handy too!

[D1 WTF]

so what should it do just stay at a set level, because i have a feeling it will just slowly over flow.

just to double check this is water filler neck and not ast etc

[D1 WTF]

Also, when I did mine it started to melt the bottle - not much but dont forget the water will be around 90degrees so you might want to keep a rag handy too!

melt what bottle?

[Ricco_04]

This is what when I tested mine.

Pop the bonnet, take the filler cap off and start the engine.  Dont worry, the water will not overflow.  Next get a bottle and hold it over the filler cap making a good a seal as possable. You may want to get some old rag around it too just incase you spill some coolant. Wait till the car is fully up to temperature.

If your waterseal is on the way out then you will see the coolant slowly make it\'s way into the bottle as it\'s pressureising the system. Along with this you will also see tiny bubbles which is why it\'s called the champagne test.

This is what I did and if I have anything wrong then please please correct! :Thumbs-up

[D1 WTF]

then what do i do with the coolant in an upside down bottle?  lol

[gsb876]

then what do i do with the coolant in an upside down bottle?  lol

Let go quickly and run

[Bobfish]

This is basicially what everyone else has said but I would do this in this order....

I would say do the champagne test (which you can do yourself)

Correct

Have a look in the oil filler neck and under the cap for any signs of mayo.  You may also find you can see traces of \'water\' here which you can get on your fingers and see the colour and smell, which could also tell you it\'s coolant.

Not true. A failed coolant seal will almost never result in water in the oil. My oil also has mayo in it due to condensation, not a gone seal

Look at the level check (dipstick?) in the header tank to see if you can find any oil deposits on there (they will be reasonably small)

Again, a blown coolant seal will not cause oil and water mixture

You may not necessarially find that the level has dropped as the system will pressureise and may actually increase the level in the tank!  (I think I have got that correct?)

Air seeks the highest point, which is out of the filler neck. as a result, you wont ever see a higher level than you have, unless you got an airlock

Good luck and I hope you are wrong but at least you have caught it very early if it is indeed water seal failure.

Champagne test is done by having the car cold, take the cap off, put an upturned bottle in the filler neck with the bottom cut off, seal the bottom with tape/rags or whatever and run the engine up to temp. If you see a constant stream of little bubbles (like in a glass of champagne) you have a problem. Some bubbles are normal.

are you getting white smoke on startup? if not, it could just be a failed AST cap mate, don\'t spaz out just yet.

[Bobfish]

This is basicially what everyone else has said but I would do this in this order....

I would say do the champagne test (which you can do yourself)

Correct

Have a look in the oil filler neck and under the cap for any signs of mayo.  You may also find you can see traces of \'water\' here which you can get on your fingers and see the colour and smell, which could also tell you it\'s coolant.

Not true. A failed coolant seal will almost never result in water in the oil. My oil also has mayo in it due to condensation, not a gone seal

Look at the level check (dipstick?) in the header tank to see if you can find any oil deposits on there (they will be reasonably small)

Again, a blown coolant seal will not cause oil and water mixture

You may not necessarially find that the level has dropped as the system will pressureise and may actually increase the level in the tank!  (I think I have got that correct?)

Air seeks the highest point, which is out of the filler neck. as a result, you wont ever see a higher level than you have, unless you got an airlock

Good luck and I hope you are wrong but at least you have caught it very early if it is indeed water seal failure.

Pop the bonnet, take the filler cap off and start the engine. Dont worry, the water will not overflow. Next get a bottle and hold it over the filler cap making a good a seal as possable. You may want to get some old rag around it too just incase you spill some coolant. Wait till the car is fully up to temperature.

If your waterseal is on the way out then you will see the coolant slowly make it\'s way into the bottle as it\'s pressureising the system. Along with this you will also see tiny bubbles which is why it\'s called the champagne test.

Not necessarily. Water expands with heat, period. Your looking for bubbbles, not rising coolant - because thats normal.

This is what I did and if I have anything wrong then please please correct!

Champagne test is done by having the car cold, take the cap off, put an upturned bottle in the filler neck with the bottom cut off, seal the bottom with tape/rags or whatever and run the engine up to temp. If you see a constant stream of little bubbles (like in a glass of champagne) you have a problem. Some bubbles are normal.

are you getting white smoke on startup? if not, it could just be a failed AST cap mate, don\'t spaz out just yet.

[Ricco_04]

Oh well, I got one right

Better read better next time :King  (thank you for correcting me though, good info for me too

[D1 WTF]

there has been a little white smoke on start up for a while now, only for 20-30 secs thought.  i did ask about this previously and people said this was normal, or at least v.common.
i tried to smell it yesturday to see if i could smell coolant etc, but to be honest it just smells very strongly of petrol.
the AST cap on it is less than 2 months old.
will do a champagne test around lunch time.  although i am now a little confused.
i chop the bottom of the bottle, then do i cover this back up with tape or just leave it open.
cheers

[D1 WTF]

well did the champagne test, it did kind of bubble continuously, little bibbles etc  but i am not sure.  i spoke to rotechnics and they said that if it goes onto a single rotor on start up due to water seal failure this normally only happens when the car is warm.  they said it wasnt impossible to do it cold thought.   now a little confussed..................................

[Bobfish]

Thats rubbish.

The car will only do it when you shut the car off when its warm (i.e there is pressure in the coolant system.)

Do this test.

Warm the car up to operating temprature.

Park it up, switch the engine off.

Remove the coolant filler neck (be very careful) You only want to de-pressurise the system here, not lose any coolant.

put the cap back on.

Squeeze the pipe coming from the thermostat housing, it should be soft.

Start the car. Rev it hard a bit, or floor it up the road and turn the car off straight away.

Squeeze the pipe again, if its hard, or pressure is building too quick - it could be your seals.

You have some pretty classic symptoms. White smoke (Although not much) and 1 rotor on startup. Loss of coolant, bubbles in the coolant system.

Now all you need to do is check for early pressurisation of the coolant system, smell the coolant after the cars running (does it smell of exhaust?) and check under the car and see if the under the coolant overflow tank is always wet

[davegttph1]

Where is the coolant overflow tank?