Coolant Issues

[FEED Rocket]

Ive been currently having problems with the add coolant light coming on upon startup, so we decided to get it on the ramp to do a coolant flush and oil change, but really couldnt see anything leaking. Took it to a jap meet and it decided to empty some coolant all over the car park when i got there. When i got back from the meet it decided to empty all the coolant from the system outside my house, i was rather annoyed.
           Last night we again had the car on the ramp, although this time we removed the airbox, intercooler and extraction tank to check for leaks and cracks in the expansion tank and surrounding pipework.....nothing found. I got back last night and on the way home gave it some beans, again this time when pulling up outside the house it decided to eject some more coolant. The coolant im sure is coming from the overflow hole on the expansion tank, but im not sure why as the tank is not pressurised and i havent filled it too much as sometimes it likes to eject all the coolant. Any ideas why this is happening?

[RemarkLima]

If you have filled the expansion bottle to the top and the system to the top then when you stop there\'s a load of heat soak (flash point) and the excess coolant will be pushed into the expansion bottle, which if already filled up with then heave out a load more coolant from the overflow.

But if your water pipes go hard when you first start up then it could be water seals that have gone :/

[brew]

i experienced something very similar- i played about with loads of stuff trying to resolve it-

eventually got a Sniffer test - for Hydrocarbons in the Coolant-

yip - the dreaded Water Seals had gone

[FEED Rocket]

Yeah, just done the champagne test and it failed. Its strange that the car isnt putting out any white smoke and the performance of the car hasnt changed one bit. Does this still mean the water seals have gone?

[lee mills]

Yeah, just done the champagne test and it failed. Its strange that the car isnt putting out any white smoke and the performance of the car hasnt changed one bit. Does this still mean the water seals have gone?

Sounds about right i had the same problem
Thanks
Lee

[RemarkLima]

So you were getting bubbles from cold?

It will bubble once hot as the water pump is spinning and the coolant is boiling at the surface.

[FEED Rocket]

No, this was hot. I havent tried it on cold as id just got home from work when i tested it.

[RemarkLima]

Just wait until it\'s stone cold, then start it up with the filler cap off. If bubbles appear then bad news.

Also with the cap on if the pipes go hard then bad news as well... This will spew some coolant out as well.

Tocuh wood it\'s an abscure leak somewhere!

[FEED Rocket]

I rang RX motors today and the guy reckons it isnt a water seal failure, but a filler cap failure. He basically says that if the caps arent working correctly they arent maintaining the correct pressure and thus spewing coolant from the expansion tank and emptying everywhere else. I have a FEED cap on the filler point which is rated at 1.1 and the standard cap (which originally was on the filler) on the AST. Which pipes am i checking to be hard? The big pipe from the filler point hasnt gone hard at all. Would this affect it? Anyone had this problem before? I\'ve tried to ring WGT and Jimmys but cant get a signal, argh!!

[rextreme]

I heard sometimes the higher pressure caps aren\'t a good idea in an FD.

RE-Amemiya still only run 0.9 caps.

I\'m not expert but I read somewhere that sometimes the extra pressure can cause probs in an fd.

[RemarkLima]

Which pipes am i checking to be hard? The big pipe from the filler point hasnt gone hard at all. Would this affect it? Anyone had this problem before?

Soz should have said, it\'ll be the thick pipes from the filler point (top rad hose) but even the little ones from the filler to the AST should be under the same pressure.