engine and drivetrain Diagnosing a slow leak

[cowlum]

After a whole year off the road for my megasquirt conversion I finally got my car registered and warranted. Hooraaa!! It runs very well for a tired old engine.. loves corners and screams like a banshee on the motor way (horaa again!). Ill post some pics soon of my megabudget megasquirt install soonish.

My nagging issue this week is a very slow water leak from the radiator. It leaks just enough that it only requires about 1 litre of water every 500ks (310.69 miles for the Americans amongst us) . thats not enough to see any water hit the ground and I can not see any obvious radiater fluid on the side of the engine. How can i determine where this is going. The oil is not a frothy cream but I would not rule out the headgasket as the cars got many many many miles under its belt.

[Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo]

I had a similar situation and it turned out to be the water pump. it was a tiny little leak from the hole at the front of the pump.

[c.d.iesel]

cooling system pressure tester - do it hot AND cold

if not from the water pump or hose connections -

remove the spark plugs - apply pressure overnight-

crank motor next morning and stand back -

watch the water show shooting out of the plug holes

good luck

C.d.

[winstontj]

cooling system pressure tester - do it hot AND cold

if not from the water pump or hose connections -

remove the spark plugs - apply pressure overnight-

crank motor next morning and stand back -

watch the water show shooting out of the plug holes

good luck

C.d.

CD that made me laugh out loud in the office... THANKS! I'm going to try that on my e30 that I am almost certain has a head gasket failure. Only problem is won't the h20 leak down through the rings into the oil??? Currently I have no mayo in the oil & I'm losing about 3/4 cup every 500-750 miles. I drove from Boston to Rochester last weekend and the coolant light (low fluid) came on just between Syracuse and Rochester (so it takes 6 hours of driving to lose a cup of coolant).

I don't want to dump any water down into the crankcase.... What's the test they can do to the coolant to see if there's stuff in it? Do they test for hydrocarbons?

Thanks...

[c.d.iesel]

Winston:

"Combustion Leak Detector"

Lisle 75500

Combustion Leak Detector Kit

Order# LIS75500

$25.95 On Sale!

$38.97 List Price

[Add to Cart] [View Cart]

Quickly pinpoints combustion leaks. Checks combustion leaks caused by bad head gaskets, cracked blocks and cracked or warped heads. Indicating fluid changes from blue to yellow when exposed to combustion gases in the radiator. Connect the hose to any vehivle vacuum line. Place tapered end of tool into radiator opening after draining of some coolant. With the engine running, the vehicle's vacuum draws vapors through the indicating fluid for testng

Includes leak detector and testing fluid.

..your drawing vapors up out of the radiator - passing them through

the 'test' fluid and watching for a color change. Very quick and accurate with 'slight' leaks.

find it a 'better' NAPA type auto parts stores

[edgefinder]

retorque the head bolts. If they aren't tight it accelerates the gasket leak. Half the times i've taken an m10 head off the head bolts aren't that tight.

Luther

[Biscuit3]

If all else fails, after you've taken your engine apart as suggested by some of the other hotshots on here, remember, all cars have condensation. Make that times 2 for older cars.

[dapbmw]

check hoses, water pump, rad, gasket surface on the water outlet see if nuts are tight, another would be the heater core having a pinhole leak.