loss of water

[Simon 1867]

Quick question,

i filled up the water bottle in the car, left it over night in the garage and came back in the morning and it was empty...

There is no sign of a leak on the floor as the floor is dry, i cant find any wet spots on any hoses,

Where has it gone?

Am i right in thinking i have a internal problem?

[paul james]

Check your oil, if its theres messy off-colour gunk in there, your oil could be mixing with the coolant. And its off with the head time.

Have a look at the water pump and radiator too, could be leaking there. Or maybe inside the car through the heater matrix?

[Simon 1867]

Check your oil, if its theres messy off-colour gunk in there, your oil could be mixing with the coolant. And its off with the head time.

Have a look at the water pump and radiator too, could be leaking there. Or maybe inside the car through the heater matrix?

Nothing inside the car, will have a look at the water pump and radiator. The oil is abit messy actually.

[auzzy-b]

Did you fill it from empty? If ya did make sure you leave it to run for a while usually until the fan kicks in, the water will be pumped around the system and will need topping back up!
Also as said funny coloured oil is a sign of interenal problems

[Simon 1867]

I had the car running and topped up like you said auzzy-b. Im beinging to think its going to be something to do with the head as ive checked the oil and its still coloured as if the water has mixed with it.
Any one have any ideas what my next step should be, I know its proberly simple but I just cant seem to figure it out

[comptoncj]

My guess is you will go to start it one morning and it will hydraulic as the bores are full of water

[nova_saloon]

if you start it and run it for a while it makes face cream mmmmmm

[mowgli]

didn't you do the head gasket the other week?

did you bleed it properly when you refilled the coolant? as in heater set to hot & the temp sender taken out and only put in when the coolant starts coming out of the hole?

[Simon 1867]

I did do the gasket not long ago.....oh flipping eck, I dont think I did it right mowgli, I was to eger to get it finished. Is it worth starting again? or can I drain the system and salvage it.

[mowgli]

try rebleeding it before you do anything else. if it holds water, then yippee... but if the water is still going, its time to put newspapers on the carpet to see if the matrix is leaking slowly, or sitting it running on a dry surface, cos sometimes leaks only happen when it is warm & running, and not show any symptoms when cold.

also, just how old is your haynes book??? the original print edition didn't have enough torque figures for the head bolts, only the second edition onwards had them.

[Simon 1867]

My haynes book is the blue covered one, whys that?

[mowgli]

they did 2 editions of the haynes book.. and the early one (my first one was new in about 1988) had a torque stage missing, as it was taken from the original gm engine book for the small ohc. gm revised the torque figures & it took haynes until the second blue (i think its the one with with 1.4 & gte added) to get it right..

i say this cos back in the late eighties, i had a 1.2 & i blew the head gasket so often, i actually had a spare head set & bolts in stock at home, until a chance conversation with an old boy at the local gm dealer, who showed me the handwritten amendment to the torque figures, at which point i stopped blowing gaskets...

the symptoms were dead simple, the water would start disappearing, i could prolong it a bit by bleeding the coolant system

then i bought a newer haynes book, now i think about it, it was a new edition pre 1400,gte,book cos i still had the book when i first fitted my e16se & had to totally strip the loom to work out the wires cos no=one had a wiring diagram for the gte.

[Simon 1867]

thing is im not blowning the headgasket, it doesnt seem to be compromised in anyway, which to me seems strange. So what your saying is my torque settings might be out slightly and this is causing some of my engine problems?

[paul james]

Unless you take the head off, you won't know if the gasket has gone. The water doesn't have to be escaping visibly outside the engine. The gasket can be compromised between the water and oil channels, that go between the head and block.

If the torque settings aren't correct, there can be too much or too little pressure on the gasket, causing a gap, or crushing the gasket.

[Pistol Pete]

How much water/coolant did you put in?