head gasket or somehting else? bit of help please :)

[andygt]

hello peeps still not got this sorted
everytime i take car for a spin ive got to top the coolant up even if its just a short blip into town
ive got no white stuff in filler neck ive got no coolant on the floor ive had all the under pan off to check, ive got no steam cummin from the rear end, but my car from cold only takes about a mile to warm up to the half way point?
the temp never seems togo above the half way point but ive been to scared to take it on a long run
even if i fill the expansion bottle to the top after my run its completly empty weather its gone in the car or overfilled i dunno
anyone got any thoughts?

[Kelvyn]

Where are you actually putting all this coolant? If you just keep topping up the expansion bottle then its possible that its just being expelled.
The expansion tank is just that. Once the system is full it will expand as the coolant heats up and some of that extra volume goes out of the pressure cap and into the expansion bottle.
As it cools and the volume again decreases it creates a partial vacuum in the system. In the pressure cap is a small valve which allows coolant to be sucked back from the expansion bottle into the cooling system.
The best place to top up is at the pressure cap. If you are constantly losing fluid there then you do have some sort of problem which could be as simple as needing a new pressure cap.

[andygt]

yer im toping up under the pressure cap everytime it only seems to be the filler neck tube that im topping up
but its goin somewhere and i dont no were
ive filled the expansion vessel up to the line but its empty evertime after a drive

[Terry]

Have you tried pressure testing the coolant system?

You will need a pressure tester for this, prob worth getting a garage to do it.

Most are like a bike pump that attatches on to where the cap goes.
You then pump away and it builds up the pressure in the coolant system.
As the pressure rises, if you have a leak you will see coolant running from somewhere.

[Fizzy]

chances are its leaking onto something very hot and evaporating - can be a pig to find!

[andygt]

car is booked in tomos at garage for a pressure test and co2 test of coolant hopefully this will sort my problem out
then its helly fuel cut defender abd c how paul woods supra turbo goes
been fitted for 3months to scared to open it up and damage car with no coolant cheers guys
andy

[JJ]

Hey andy !

You still got problems with the coolant ??? sound like a leak under pressure somewhere still !!

Whats was the result of the your break then ??? been meaning to phone you, but when ever I've got time too, its always around 10 at night... dont' want to disturb.

[andygt]

hey jj dude u still about thought u went into a deep sleep for the winter hehe
yer brakes all sorted kinda hard to explain but ill try the caliper comes apart and i was left with the main bit and the cage bit that fits over the top
well youve got them 2 plunger type things top and bottom
well 1 of them would move its was stuck so hard that i had to put it in a vice and smack it with a hammer untill it came loose
after i got it out i cleaned it up and greased it up put it all back together crossed my fingers and hey presto it worked i heard my abs unit do 2 clicks and make that wiring sound
got them tested and they work like new
as the head problem goes i got it tested today and they found nutin wrong with it no leaks no co2 in the water no nutin
so they can only come up with the mixture of water coolant is wrong or my rad cap is dodgy so i gotta check that now

fingers crossed
oh dude how much i owe u for the bits mate?

[raymond.harper]

On a similar car I once had the fluid was being lost through the heater matrix and causing the passenger carpet to get damp. It could also be a leaky pipe from the engine bay to the front. As these pipes are enclosed they can be difficult to inspect. You will have to pick a dry day to have a good look. On all my cars I use a product called Barsleaks which you can get from a good non Halfords car accessory shops.It cured my leaky matrix without having to stip the dash out but it does cause the coolant fluid to take on a rather dark colour

[oBladeo]

Just had the same problem and its your head gasket. Toyota has my car at the min and they ran tests on it and they said that was it. Thats after the people at honda made me replace the coolent pipes grrrrr

[andygt]

ive had all the under pan off to look at the pipes in a dry workshop and got no coolant on the floor even though the car was hot and cold it was left over nite and still nutin if i leave the car standing i get no coolant loss its only wen drivin
ive had the head tested and its not that so im stuck
ive heard bad things about puttin addatives in the coolant system of mr2 cause it buggers things up?
gunna get new rad cap and cheeck coolant mixture and c if it makes a difference
cheers for ur feedback guys keep it cummin

[JJ]

hey jj dude u still about thought u went into a deep sleep for the winter hehe
yer brakes all sorted kinda hard to explain but ill try the caliper comes apart and i was left with the main bit and the cage bit that fits over the top
well youve got them 2 plunger type things top and bottom
well 1 of them would move its was stuck so hard that i had to put it in a vice and smack it with a hammer untill it came loose
after i got it out i cleaned it up and greased it up put it all back together crossed my fingers and hey presto it worked i heard my abs unit do 2 clicks and make that wiring sound
got them tested and they work like new
as the head problem goes i got it tested today and they found nutin wrong with it no leaks no co2 in the water no nutin
so they can only come up with the mixture of water coolant is wrong or my rad cap is dodgy so i gotta check that now

fingers crossed
oh dude how much i owe u for the bits mate?

Deep sleep.... not ruddy likely.... I was busier over christmas than during the working week.

So the route of your problem was a caliper... the sliders were seized, thought you checked all them magoo ??

I simply couldn't figure out what could have been the problem... only that ruddy modulator unit ?

Owings... just pay me the £35 delivery on the items - £25 for saturday delivery and £10 for the donkey delivery that should have got there one friday but arrived .... tuesday ish ????

Ebay those parts off and I'll split it with you !

Glad your also safe now.... I'll bump into you no doubt in thr future fellar Just look for a gay blue metallic MR2 with www.enigma-performance.com written on it !!

[andygt]

yerh i did check them (sliders) think i was interrupted buy the missis so must have checked same one twice (stupid fool) should have re checked to make sure after it cause youself and me plenty of head aches

as the head goes ive had the system pressure tested and it came through fine also had sniffer test done and it came through fine aswell
so now i have no idea wots wrong with it gunna find out have garage did there sniffer test to make sure they did it properly because wen i dropped the car of it had a full coolant system and wen i picked it up it didnt so they must have seen that i was lossing coolant but didnt say anything
still took my money though
dude do u want to pm your addy so i can send the money up? ill do the ebay thing this weekend or 1 nite if i get time and send that too
is it worth doin that idel thing and rev test with the cap off?
cheers chaps
and a massive thank you to jj who has stoped me taking a hammer to my car

[lower]

sounds like you have a coolant leak, rather than a head gasket problem if the sniffer test came up without problems. if you can't find the leak, try leaving the car standing with the pressure cap off. i had the same problem and it turned out to be the heater pipes that run on top of the fuel tank. i couldn;t actually find the leak until i let the car stand with the pressure cap off.

[andygt]

nice ones cheers "lower" ill give it a go
ive also got some tec 2000 to chuck in the system and hopefully cure my little leak then ill b back on the road winding up pauls woods supra turbo i got fitted

[andygt]

ok added that stuff did wot it said on the tin all that
went out tonite for a drive let it warm through no probs got to dual carrige way and booted it
drove it good and hard for 5miles mayb temp guage still half way went round a roundabout put my foot down car back fired no power and it stalled pulled over coolant pissin out from dizzy cap and expansion bottle but temp guage still half way
WTF HAVE I DONE???
anyone make me a offer for my car?

[Andy F]

Hi mate
Ive been having pretty much the same symptoms as you, i tried most things but it will be the HG.
Bit the bullet mate