Hgf

[K-S]

Hello lads,

Lucky today I didn't drive the zed to work I got a lift from a work colleague. I come home and I notice some oil / water on the floor underneath the car. I was a bit concerned so I popped the bonnet open and had a look. The cylinder head had oil coming from the right hand side, the block was covered in oil and dripping underneath, to top it off there was no coolant at all in the coolant tank. I checked the oil cap and dip stick for mayo deposit and saw nothing, the oil looked clean too, checked the filter and saw no oil/water combination either. I then took another look underneath the car and checked the substances, from the block there was oil and from the radiator there was water. Checked the radiator and it had coolant limescale on it and was very flaky. I started the car and revved it but no white smoke? But the manifold got very hot (probably due to no coolant and it's quite common apparently). I had a quick look at the coolant hose and saw no splits.

I'm an optimistic person and like to think positively and not just jump to a conclusion, I may be completely wrong and it could just be that the coolant needs topping up, the cam seals need replacing and the block cleaned up. Alternatively the radiator may have a puncture?

I would really appreciate your feed back on the situation guys.

[Mal7921]

The cam cover can leak oil and there are various reasons for coolant loss, including dodgy pressure cap so that the water boils and is lost trough steam in the engine bay, Water pump can also lose water in a fine spray so that it effectively evaporates away and leaves no trace, or there is te crappy plastic inlet manifold that warps and you lose coolant that way.

If it was going into the cylinders, the water would either evaporate and become steam which you would see, or if there was enough of it, it would bend and damage the valves as water does not compress very well (Most likely the piston would also be damaged or destroyed and you would quickly know about that!)

Top up the coolant while cold and then run the engine to temperature (Make sure there is sufficient oil as well), see if there is anything obvious that you can see, and note where any leaks that are visible are coming from. With the oil it would be worth cleaning what is there away so that you can see where any new oil is coming from. If there is nothing obvious, try getting some coolant dye (I have some I can send you iif you need some) and a UV light, that will show where any water has come from, even if it evaporates.

If it is not HGF (And I hope not), thnn expansion tank cap,inlet manifold and gasket, then pipes or water pump.

Oh, and I've know expansion tanks split, fill the expansion tank, run the car and once you have it to temp, feel under the expansion tank for water, my TF did that about a year ago!

[poppy]

SPOT ON MAL. Does not sound like H/G failure to me, but, to run the engine with insufficient coolant is sheer madness....eek.

[K-S]

The cam cover can leak oil and there are various reasons for coolant loss, including dodgy pressure cap so that the water boils and is lost trough steam in the engine bay, Water pump can also lose water in a fine spray so that it effectively evaporates away and leaves no trace, or there is te crappy plastic inlet manifold that warps and you lose coolant that way.

If it was going into the cylinders, the water would either evaporate and become steam which you would see, or if there was enough of it, it would bend and damage the valves as water does not compress very well (Most likely the piston would also be damaged or destroyed and you would quickly know about that!)

Top up the coolant while cold and then run the engine to temperature (Make sure there is sufficient oil as well), see if there is anything obvious that you can see, and note where any leaks that are visible are coming from. With the oil it would be worth cleaning what is there away so that you can see where any new oil is coming from. If there is nothing obvious, try getting some coolant dye (I have some I can send you iif you need some) and a UV light, that will show where any water has come from, even if it evaporates.

If it is not HGF (And I hope not), thnn expansion tank cap,inlet manifold and gasket, then pipes or water pump.

Oh, and I've know expansion tanks split, fill the expansion tank, run the car and once you have it to temp, feel under the expansion tank for water, my TF did that about a year ago!

Thanks man, will take a look at what you suggested tomorrow and keep you updated.

SPOT ON MAL. Does not sound like H/G failure to me, but, to run the engine with insufficient coolant is sheer madness....eek.

Haha, I know it's crazy but at first I just wanted to see if it turned over and when it started I revved it to see if white smoke was coming out the exhaust and it was all clear. Didn't keep it on for long, maybe 20-30 seconds.

[Mal7921]

SPOT ON MAL. Does not sound like H/G failure to me, but, to run the engine with insufficient coolant is sheer madness....eek.

Thank you and your right. If it isn't HGF now, it soon will be if you run with low (Or no) coolant!

[K-S]

Thank you and your right. If it isn't HGF now, it soon will be if you run with low (Or no) coolant!

Going to buy some coolant and antifreeze tomorrow. Not driving it until then.

[Mal7921]

If the level has dropped sufficiently, you may well get an air lock, so you may well see the coolant level rise as the engine gets hot. If it does, let it cool. One tip I was given for the TF was jack it up at the back or get it to a point where it is on a hill facing downward. This helps with getting air out of the system but knowing where the bleed points are is the best solution to air trapped in the system.

[Mal7921]

Did anything come of this?

[K-S]

Haven't had time to do anything at the moment and the car hasn't been driven for about a week.

I'm just going to replace the radiator, cam seals and cam belt. Top up coolant and oil and hopefully it's good to go.

[Mal7921]

Wait before doing the belts, if changing the head gasket you would be best advised to fit new belt rather than refit an oder one, even if it were not so old. Also if the head does have to come off for gasket work, makes sense to do them at the same time. Be sure you know where the coolant issue lies first