VL Commodore losing water

[toranamike]

Hey..

I have a '88 VL commodore 6cyl that's losing water.

When it's idling, the water runs out of the top of the radiator and bubbles a lot.
When you turn the engine off, the water level goes down out of sight, and it needs to be topped up again.

I had it running for about 15-20 min, and the converter for the gas system froze up.

I cant see any leaks externally from the cooling system.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Mike

[jatsvl]

you need to top it up with the engine running and the heater on, I use one of those large $2 funnels you get with the flexi hose on the bottom, take the flexi hose off and attach a piece of radiator hose that fits nice and snug in the radiator spout, this way the water level is above the top of the engine.
run the engine until the heater blows hot air and the top radiator hose is warm top it up and give it a few light continuous revs about 2000rpm make sure there are no bubbles remove funnel replace cap all done.
if you continue to lose water and no leak is evident you can assume it is going through the engine and out the exhaust = cracked head, cracked block or blown head gasket.
idling the car for extended periods on gas will cause the gas converter to freeze over because without the higher revs very little water pumps through the converter to stop it freezing.

[detox_nath83]

also look along all your welch plugs intake and exhaust side as well as small ones in head for evident water loss. if u let it down too low make sure you bleed the bolts first one near thermo housing and second up on top of intake plenum. if u dont then will surely get a cracked head in due time.

[harry3]

I have a water loss also and cant see where its leaking, have checked everything and replaced radiator cap in case pressure spring was worn, also added leak stopper chemicals

can the cooling system be pressurised or is there any way of working out where its leaking

[jatsvl]

you can pressure test the cooling system through the overflow pipe near the radiator cap. you need a pump and an accurate pressure gauge maximum pressure for the system is 105kpa.

[Jimmyblonde]

Is there any rust on your radiator? Near the top? I'm guessing you have a pinhole leak in the rad, check it out. Also do you get water jetting onto the windscreen at times?

Clean your expansion tank and check the radiator for leaks.

[detox_nath83]

tighten all possible water pipes top and bottom hoses of rad as well as the hoses at the block. also heater hoses .
overflow hose from rad along under plastic trim infront of radiator where radiator shroud is(plasic clips holding It down) could be a pin hole in this line.
as well as radiator. c a rad man he will put a manual pump on where your rad cap goes and pressure test it.
if there is no evident fluid loss from seeing coolant it could be dropping onto exhaust or somewhere hot and vaporising.
No Milky oil????(cracked head)

[harry3]

thanks for that, the oil isnt milky

[Paiste402]

maybe the heater core is leaking as well, thats happened to a few people. Its baffling when that happens cause you wont see and water in the engine bay

[harry3]

I replaced the hose from top of radiator to plastic catch tank and the leak seems to ahve stopped, perhaps there was a hole in the hose so water was leaking down front of radiator where I couldnt see it

also noted that the clip holding hose to radiator is a spring type that had weakened over the years

[detox_nath83]

thats the one man. i have seen it there on a few vl's.
Hope all is well

[Goon]

Yeah ive found tighten up the clamps by hand isnt always a job done, as ive used the drill and been able to tighten stuff up further..

[detox_nath83]

just be carefull with drill.... set the clutch(not full drive) so you dont cripple/crimp the hose or pipe.