2001 Commodore using water !!

[Russell Thompson]

Thanks for the run down on doing the job. It will help a lot.
Cheers

 

[Drawnnite]

And if you are looking for an inlet manifold gasket guide.
This one as linked is very handy.

https://forums.justcommodores.com.a...-gasket-replacement-6hr-includes-pics.187621/

 

[valiant81]

Hi guy's. I had the wife's car at the mechanics for 4 days. re pressure tested the motor and even left the pressure tester connected for 1/2 a day and no drop in pressure . I have told the mechanic of everyone's reply and even what my son in law said about checking the spark plugs to see if there is a change in colour. Was told that to keep a eye on the water level was his response and after spending $900.00 i feel that i have been treated like a fool !!! That money also covered the replacement of the centre bearing in the tail shaft and a couple of rubber mounts in the front sway bar. But still not happy. With this mechanic, we have 3 cars and all serviced every 12 months. The last big bill a couple of years ago i had the upper and lower ball joints + the rubber boots replaced in the front drive shafts of my Pajero 4x4, one had split, but had all 4 replaced. So spending a fair bit of money over the 3 years of living in Tasmania. Apone picking up the car on Thursday from the mechanics checked the water level and it was down once again and topped up with water for the trip home ( 1/2 Hour ).

I moved the wife's car Yesterday ( Sunday ) so as to start to wash all of our cars while the weather is good and you guest it, checked the water level once the car was out of the garage and low and behold, the water level was down yet again. The car was last used on Friday when the wife when shopping for groceries and around a 100 Km trip. The water was topped up before she left, yet again. In all instances the loss water is only about 1 cup full, The problem is that if the radiator is not topped up it will take water from the overflow bottle, till the bottle is empty.
Checking the radiator and topping up i also check the overflow bottle and top that up also ( i fill till i can hear the water run out )

I used to have a VN commodore V6 ( sold that to purchase the Pajero in 2009 ). Great car and it never gave me any problems. It never used water. Also my AU ford never uses water or oil ( 104,000 Klm ) and the Pajero that is now 25 years old ( 1995 model with the 2.8 Ltr diesel motor ) still and with 250,000 Kms does not use water or oil. It's main use is to pull our caravan around when we are traveling around tassie.

This water usage is starting to be a real pain in the backside !!!

What i'm going to do now is print off some of the other members replies and show him what other members have said. Hold on to your hats every one, it's not over till the fat lady sings, watch this space.

 

[Lex]

Checking the radiator and topping up i also check the overflow bottle and top that up also ( i fill till i can hear the water run out )

Sounds like you are over filling the overflow bottle.
There should be a coolant level (like a oil dip stick). When the level is full, stop.
I think this is your problem, your simply just over filling the overflow reservoir.

Maybe another member can explain it better,

 

[Drawnnite]

Overflow bottle should have some head room in it so that it can allow for the water/coolant to contract/expand per say.
It will be written on the side where the low/high spots are and should be filled accordingly or via a dipstick depending on the set up.

The other side of things, there could be an issue that is exceptionally hard to find that even under pressure isnt visible.
Had it happen with my AC where pressurised was perfect, want until it was hot and pressurised the problem was found to be the smallest pinhole due to expansion. In this case it could simply be something is warping when warm and allowing a slight weep, which may not be found under cold pressuring conditions.
Your mech is probably doing as good as they can with what they have at their disposal and the info they have.

One more idea for you. have a look at the engine bay when its warm and been driven to see if you can find a wet spot and or a leaking location.

 

[shane_3800]

The intake gaskets can pass a pressure test but when everything gets hot the intake will shift slightly and let coolant out. The escaping coolant then steams off into the intake via the PCV and goes through the engine and is emitted out the exhaust as steam.

The intake gaskets are likely the cause I can't be 100% over the internet.
I'm a mechanic by trade.

 

[Vin999]

Overflow bottle should have some head room in it so that it can allow for the water/coolant to contract/expand per say.
It will be written on the side where the low/high spots are and should be filled accordingly or via a dipstick depending on the set up.

The other side of things, there could be an issue that is exceptionally hard to find that even under pressure isnt visible.
Had it happen with my AC where pressurised was perfect, want until it was hot and pressurised the problem was found to be the smallest pinhole due to expansion. In this case it could simply be something is warping when warm and allowing a slight weep, which may not be found under cold pressuring conditions.
Your mech is probably doing as good as they can with what they have at their disposal and the info they have.

One more idea for you. have a look at the engine bay when its warm and been driven to see if you can find a wet spot and or a leaking location.

Ok if your bottle and radiator cap isn’t brown oily sludge then you can rule out lim gasket leak, however gasket can still leak water into air/fuel intake to cylinder but your car would be misfiring, so other possibility for water loss is head gasket water leak in cylinder and running ruff.... so we can eliminate all those as mechanic checked and your car is running fine.

You shouldn’t be filling/opening/checking radiator, leave it alone, it’s a sealed pressure system, opening it only lets air in and its been checked and fine. Fill the car from the resi bottle to the appropriate level on plastic level stick.
Next thing is you could have an air lock or your main thermo fan isn’t working (check n replace coolant sensor under thermostat) and system is boiling and spitting water out the resi bottle under pressure. So check and bleed the air out of system, especially the heater core if any.

Other thing is the radiator cap valve is gone or wrong pressure rating cap has been put on, get the appropriate pressure rated cap, sticker should be on plastic radiator cowling, V6 and V8 have different cap pressures. After all that, check for leaks, 100mls in 100 km trip sounds like the overflow bottle and opening the radiator cap scenario your doing coupled with dodgy radiator cap.

Your mechanic should have done all those checks if you’re having water loss, boiling and pressure issues. Also mechanics do the least checks/cleaning stuff, so they can make a profit on less time spent vs the extra time they allocate to charge for a fix procedure.

woops, edit, sorry drawnite, wrong reply, meant for the OP @valiant81

 

[greenacc]

Sounds like you are over filling the overflow bottle.
There should be a coolant level (like a oil dip stick). When the level is full, stop.
I think this is your problem, your simply just over filling the overflow reservoir.

Maybe another member can explain it better,

Doesn't really matter if you overfill the reservoir, the excess will just get forced out onto the ground and the level will correct itself. Still sounds like the problem may be the radiator cap. If you can hear the system blowing bubbles into the reservoir you usually have a dud cap.
As for mechanics with no idea, or who charge a fortune for diagnosis, the best way to deal with them is to tell them what you want done.
Example, if you suspect the intake manifold gasket is worth doing then book it in to have the gasket replaced. That way you know what he's going to work on, and so does he, then you take it for a drive and see if the problem is solved.

 

[krusing]

And if you are looking for an inlet manifold gasket guide.
This one as linked is very handy.

https://forums.justcommodores.com.a...-gasket-replacement-6hr-includes-pics.187621/

Great write up for a L36's

Side note: Keeping in mind, where the L67 is a bit different in plumbing and hardware.

 

[valiant81]

Hi all; Just to clear up a few things.....

The radiator is only check when the radiator is stone cold, no pressure build up and no heat. When checking the car is just backed out of the garage ( 20 odd feet ) and then checked. As for the radiator cap it has been replaced a couple of times.

The radiator overflow bottle also has a small rubber tube so as if the overflow bottle is overfilled the excess water runs out of the rubber tube ( not the rubber pipe that goes up to radiator.

I will be going back to the mechanics on Thursday and take all of your comments as back up !!