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Coolant leak

3K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  Ian T 
#1 ·
Well my car has been drinking coolant for a while now. It doesn't overheat and I have just got used to topping it up every now and then.Today I found where the leak is. Not sure what the prob is though. It leaks on the right side of the engine near to the cam belt cover. Any ideas? http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb143/lthornton2/P5040015.jpg
 
#6 ·
My 214 had a leak in the exact same place as your picture. I took it back to the garage where i bought it and they said it wasn't the head gasket but the water pump leaking and running around the side of the block. They fixed the leak and to this day i haven't lost a drop (touch wood).

I would advise getting a pressure test done before all else as this should show where the leak is.

HTH
 
#9 ·
Well I haven't been able to give it a good look over but I'd be suprised if it is HGF. I bought the car about a year ago and it has always had a slight drop in the coolant level. It was at 17k when I bought it and 8 years old so the first thing i did was have a new cam belt put on with an oil & filter change. The mechanic I used is a friend of my old man so I asked him to have a look for a leak. He did a pressure test and said he found nothing.Recently I broke down after having misfire problems. Got the car to a garage and it took almost 2 days to find what was wrong. It turned out that at christmas when I replaced the dizzy cap I had put the wrong one on, even though it ran fine for 4 months. Anyway during its time in the garage they apparently did a pressure test and said it was absolutley fine.I think i'll get it to my home town and get my dads friend to give it a look over. Just hope its not going to cost too much :(Thanks for your help guys!!
 
#10 ·
Well my car has been drinking coolant for a while now. It doesn't overheat and I have just got used to topping it up every now and then.Today I found where the leak is. Not sure what the prob is though. It leaks on the right side of the engine near to the cam belt cover. Any ideas? http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb143/lthornton2/P5040015.jpg
That's exactly where mine leaked until a couple of weeks ago.

I replaced the inlet manifold gasket and it's not lost any coolant since. The coolant was leaking from both ends of the inlet manifold gasket, running down the head and settling into the gap between the head and block. From there it was moving round behind the cambelt cover and appearing at the front of the engine, exactly where you have pictured it. Also running down the front of the gearbox. This only seemed to happen when the engine cooled down and stopped leaking pretty much as soon as it was warm.

Have a look at the attached photos for some DIY inspitation. :)


Here's the same shot you had, albeit of a dirtier engine bay!


And here's the inlet manifold, photographed from underneath and behind...

Drivers side end of the inlet manifold:


Passenger side of the inlet manifold


There's no Xpart dealer within reasonable distance of me in Orpington, so I bought a FAI inlet and exhaust gasket pair from a local factors for £4.50ish and it's been as good as gold since, well not lost any water yet.

For the head gasket to fail there, seems to usually have been caused by careless replacement as the timing belt tensioner should be removed to allow the head to drop into position. Damage to the head gasket there is caused by sliding the head into position to accommodate the tensioner and damaging the new gasket.

My money would be on you just needing to change that inlet gasket, if you have a digital camera with a macro mode try taking the same photos I have posted above when the engine is cold and see if there's any trace of coolant there.

Hope this helps,

Ian.
 
#13 ·
Well I haven't got under it to have a look yet but whilst looking behind the engine I can see coolant collecting in an indent on the engine. I have ran my hand under the inlet manifold and can see no sign of leakage there. Just underneath the inlet manifold there is a hose that connects to a round plastic part (sorry so vague) is this the water pump? It appears to be leaking from around this area but I cant see how it would run to the front of the block as it appears to be lower than where I have photographed. Any Ideas? I will try to tighted the jubilie clip on the hose to see if it helps.
 
#14 ·
It seems you may be refering to the thermostat housing. It may have a leaky seal on the thermostat or the O ring connecting the housing to the coolant pipe. There are 3 bolts attaching the housing together. Try nipping these up.
Need a pic really to see what you are actually refering to
 
#15 ·
Mine was wet below that area as well, so may still be the case.

It's worth taking pictures of it after the car has run to temperature and cooled overnight. It's pretty subtle really, and if the coolant is emerging at the front of the engine then it must be coming from somewhere above / level with the head gasket.

Good luck. :)

Ian.
 
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