am i missing something??? where did it go???

[Prof]

ok - here\'s the advice I gave to mitch for his leak - which he found.
 
Check main pipes - to and from the front of the engne to the radiator, and check rad isn\'t weaping.  Also check the small hose from radiator neck to expansion tank is not leaking and that the hose is on the correct place on the expansion tank - if it\'s wrong you could be pushing coolant out through the expansion tank.
 
Next is the heater matrix circuit - the water feed comes from the back of the engine - rear iron - Mitch\'s leak was here.  It passes through a bendy bit of hose to the bulkhead and then into the car.  You\'ve checked heater matrix for leaks - dampness and coolant smells - then the return hose comes out of the bulkhead, through a hose to a length of ally pipe along the side of the engine bay - check for leaks along it\'s length - and then a small hose back to the radiator.
 
Then there\'s the small water circuit - comes out of the top of the engine under the throttle body - this nipple is prone to corosion - then through a small length of pipe into the throttle body, then from there it feeds the side of the BAC valve (on top of the engine above the turbo area) and then back to the water pump housing.
 
Last is the turbo coolant circuit - it comes out of the rear rotor housing (but there are holes on both housings), into the Lower inlet manifold and emerges to the rear on the outer edge - where a small black hard pipe feeds coolant to the outside edge of the turbo - then it passes through another bit of hard pipe on the inside (nearest engine) - through a small length of hose and back into the water pump housing (behind oil metering pump).
 
If you are smelling coolant around the turbo, it could be leaking from either side of the lower inlet manifold - either where the LIM meets the engine block - that gasket can break - and be leaking onto the hot exhaust manifold beneath.  It could be leaking from where the water feed leaves the LIM to go to the turbo, or from either banjo bolt on either side of the turbo or from the small hose section behind the OMP.
 
Hope that gives you a few more ideas...

[monterx7]

thanx prof.  i was just going over the system in the fsm.  thats what i was thinking too.  that area is the only place i cant get a mirror and flashlight.  i guess ill have to get creative and figure out a way to look around those parts.....its gotta be going somewhere.  i need to double check the small hoses on the expansion tank.  im thinking of ordering new hoses, well at least the major ones while im at it.  i just hope i find the issue before the issue becomes a big problem and finds me

[Adam fc]

let us know how you get on because mine is leaking from somewhere and a smell of coolant is evident from the turbo area.

[monterx7]

an update but not an update but a hatchback

thanx for offering a rad cap pete, but figured ill just pick up a new one.  might as well get new parts installed as i go along.

had the car idling again looking around for leaks and just had a thought.....are there different temp thermostat?  i know i mentioned it before but is 77 C sound about normal?  again, this is off the commander.

tomorrow i plan on taking the car out for a quick pin.  ill see then if having a new rad cap does anything to anything.

[Adam fc]

when the car cools down are the rad hoses sucked in as if there was a vaccum in the cooling circuit?

[monterx7]

no not at all.

[the hat]

right if i were you go and find some dye i used i on my r5 turbo when i could not find the leak and trust me you will see it no problem once its in makes your coolant look like predator blood lol
 
no idea where to get any tho as there was some at a garage i used to work at and its the only time ive seen it

[monterx7]

sounds like some fun stuff....any more info on it?  ill see if random words produces something in google

[the hat]

i think the dye glows under uv light same way as you look for leaks on a\\c systems

[nuki]

similar issue to a friend.
get a tester that samples the water out of your cooling system which tells you if your combustion gasses are escaping into your water. Thats how my friend diagnosed his water seal failure.
 
something like this i believe
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ENGINE-HEAD-COMBUSTION-LEAK-CRACKED-BLOCK-TESTER_W0QQitemZ360230662455QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=382dac121250a0aad4b69276ff9ca5ad

[monterx7]

im still lost......
 
with a new rad cap nothing has changed.  i wasnt expecting it too.  i did notice after starting it first thing, it does smoke.  does that mean water seal or turbo?  but does not smoke the entire time.  after about 30 sec or so it does stop.  
 
i had to turn it off after letting it run for acouple of minutes because of the low coolant buzzer.  i slowly lifted the cap and let alot of air out filled the rad and went on my way.  funny thing, the air coming out of the vents was almost hot.  and car temp sat about 79c.  
 
hopefully on the way home from work the air will be almost hot again.  chilly out tonight.  ill see what happens tomorrow.

[cyman]

im still lost......
 
with a new rad cap nothing has changed. i wasnt expecting it too. i did notice after starting it first thing, it does smoke. does that mean water seal or turbo? but does not smoke the entire time. after about 30 sec or so it does stop.
 
i had to turn it off after letting it run for acouple of minutes because of the low coolant buzzer. i slowly lifted the cap and let alot of air out filled the rad and went on my way. funny thing, the air coming out of the vents was almost hot. and car temp sat about 79c.
 
hopefully on the way home from work the air will be almost hot again. chilly out tonight. ill see what happens tomorrow.

are you sure the heater isnt working just because you have an air lock there?

[monterx7]

im honestly not sure.  

now that i have a good rad cap im hoping that will help in some way or another....on the drive home air was cool again and low coolant buzzer kept going on and off.  ill check the overflow bottle with day light.

so if i have smoke at first start of the day, but not for long amount of time, and loss of coolant, does that mean i have a blown water seal?  

ill top off the coolant and see what happens tomorrow

[Prof]

im honestly not sure.
 
now that i have a good rad cap im hoping that will help in some way or another....on the drive home air was cool again and low coolant buzzer kept going on and off. ill check the overflow bottle with day light.
 
so if i have smoke at first start of the day, but not for long amount of time, and loss of coolant, does that mean i have a blown water seal?
 
ill top off the coolant and see what happens tomorrow

They can all smoke a bit when cold - depends on the smoke colour.  The car runs very rich on startup - so there is a considerable amount of unburnt fuel in the exhaust during the first minute or two.   The engine also seals better when warm, so there is some oil burnt on startup.
 
Normal smoke is grey/bluish but can be more on the white side - if it smells sweetish then maybe it\'s coolant pooling in the rotor - but it\'s equally likely if you do have a leak it\'s coming out from the outer seal.
 
I wonder if it\'s worth putting a flourescent die in the water and using a uv light to see if you\'ve any leaks anywhere ?

[monterx7]

i want to try the flourerscent dye trick....ill be looking that stuff up today and hopefully ordering it today too.  there shouldnt be any issue shipping that stuff right?