VL peeing water

[LoveB]

hey all. Now that I got the VL ilding up normally, she decides to pee water. lol I still havent replaced the leaky injector I just moved the idle up a bit to keep it form dying. it still sputters but yeah..

onto the real topic,

I drove around with my missus last night (was fairly cold in ACT) and the temp never even reached half the gauge. it only went as far as 1/4 and almost half when I went up a mountain road. But then it would just sit between the 2nd and third line on the gauge.

Fast forward to this morning, there was a small puddle that formed from what seemed to be dripping water overnight. (probably like half a coffee cup) I checked underneath and the only drip was coming from the front end of the radiator. I couldnt tell where it was dripping from as the drip I saw was coming from the metal bars that surround the radiator.

I checked the rad cap and the fluid was still visible from the top. so I closed it and drove off as I didnt really have time to go to a shop. Was driving for about an hour or so and the temp was just steady at the same place it was the day before (between 2nd and 3rd line) so I didnt really pay it any attention. My missus and I were going out for a drive and needed directions so I pulled the car over for a while and the temp stayed the same. I shut the engine off after a while anyway. then I turned the car on again and the temp was still the same, if not less.

So I get to driving again and a few minutes later I notice that the temp gauge is now in the middle. and upon looking into the rear view mirror I saw a trail of water following me, not like spilled water but just drips close enough to stay together while going around 70kph (so it was still alot I suppose)

I pulled the car over and looked underneath to see that she was pissing water everywhere. So I decided to drive home as I wasnt very far yet, temp started to crawl up higher. I think the highest it got to was two clicks below the red line. so I'm fairly certain it didnt overheat as it didnt die or knock or anything. I left it at home and shut it off as my gf and I were gonna be late for our lunch.

THEN fast forward to tonight, seeing as i knew there would be a leak I put water in first as opposed to coolant so as to save me some dough lol. and heres what I noticed

when theres only a little bit of water in the radiator, theres little drips coming from both sides of the radiator. but only very little. same as when I saw it in the morning.

however once you start to put more in (like near full) water starts to spill out from underneath the engine. like around the block/transmission area. also when I got home that night I noticed just a wee bit of oil around the transmission area. but when I bought the car there was some oil around the oil filter area so I'm guessing it was just that. As the water wasnt really milky. It just felt the same as greasy water. no real visible residue.

I got too tired from putting water in 1.5 litres at a time as the only tap was upstairs in the apartment so I decided to start her up and drive to the servo to just get water from there. since I was near full when I left water was dripping out from the transmission area again. and the drops of water followed me on my 10 minute drive. lol

I filled it up at the servo again and left it running (but didnt have heater on) (also dont know how to bleed after putting coolant) when running the water continues to drip down. stays at the top of the radiator for about 5 seconds and starts to go down again. With the engine off it can sit full. where teh drips would only be on the front of the radiator.

seeing as that wouldnt have helped I just topped it all the way up and drove home. I parked somewhere else before parking in my already wet parking spot to see how much water it would actually lose, i left it running for about a minute and the water pouring out from the block/transmission area was about worth a cup more or less.

any ideas as to what I should look at?


sorry for the long ass thread. Just bought a VL and its broken down on me so I'm pretty pissed. lol plus it would save you time from asking more specific questions!

I'm just stumped as if it was the radiator I would probably change it out myself tomorrow. but seeing as the water seems to come from the transmission/block area I have no idea whats going on I'd appreciate any help! thanks guys

[227shanno]

youve probly got amongst other things, a cracked radiator. also (not sure about the vl's, but on latter commys...) the ac drain tube pokes down from above the transmission case which could piss coolant if your HVAC has a broken heater core

[LoveB]

around how much does it cost to get the heater core done? i read someone here around 800? I'm just in canberra on vacation to visit my gf so I havent got much money to fix the car now lol ****en sucks.

I'm gonna try bleeding it later although I highly doubt that would do anythign seeing as its peeing water out anyway

[227shanno]

detirme first if it has a cracked radiator (they are cheap and not hard to install), cracked hoses (cheap and easy but you wouldve allready noticed it pissing from there). a cracked heater core is probly worst case scenario, but if the heater was off while it was leaking from under there you can rule that out (unless it coincides with a screwed heater control valve, which is what happened to my vt). you really need to get under there with a torch and confirm where its coming from, cause liquid has a funny way of dripping far from the actual leak

[LoveB]

yer. Well, I did try to turn the heater on last night that was probably wht killed it. As I had just bought the car I wanted to find out if it was working or not. I had turned it on and when I would move the switches to either recirculating or vent, it would make a hissing sound. as well as when I turned the a/c on. it worked both cold and warm but I turned it off after that. This morning I had the heater off but I changed the knob from defroster to open air. :/ that might have helped?

also, would you or anyone know how I can bypass the heater core on a VL? I read on here that on VN's you can just take the two hoses that go in and out of the heater core and join them together so the fluid doesnt come out of the heater. But I dont know where the hose is on a VL. that might be my best bet at the moment.


I'm also buying a radiator tomorrow as well as injectors as my car has a leaky one as well. but the leak is definately coming from the heater core I think. when the car is off it doesnt really leak much. but when you run it it just pisses it everywhere.


I'm taking it to a radiator place tomorrow morning just to see where its really coming from. Might bring a hose and clamp so I can just bypass the heater then and there.

[jatsvl]

the two heater hoses are located drivers side from engine to firewall and yes just join them together to bypass the core also if the heater core is leaking you would have a wet carpet in the car.

going by your description above I would check your heater hoses for leaks which is quite common and also the welsh plugs on the engine block.

[LoveB]

Will have a look. Thanks mate. Would I need to have the car lifted or would I be able to reach them just by hand through the bonnet? cheers

[LoveB]

Ok let me just take a small sigh of relief lol *sigh*

ok well here goes,

I took the car to the local repco this morning and had a pressure test done. It appears I've got a busted hose just behind the manifold. Right infront of the firewall hence why I didnt see it. and apparently its only that that is leaking. it's leaking right above the exhaust pipes which is probably why there was steam around it I'll get pics up tonight to show the exact hose I mean.. but its the small one at the very end of the manifold just above the leads. Which bends down I think at a 90 degree angle. Will have a better look. Also no wet carpets which could mean its not the heater core (I sure hope so)

Question now is, would that hose be easy to fix? i mean just me on my own without any car ramps or what not? the repco guy said he'd call me with a quote. I'm gonna judge how easy it is once he calls the quote in. he said it'd probably be just a couple hundred bucks. but he said to be fair on me he didnt want to say 200 then and there and it would end up costing more. lol also it appears all the hoses on the car are still original O_O a sign its unmolested but quite possibly semi uncared for? lol So yeah. I'll get pics up later and hopefully its an easy fix so I can do it on my own and not spend to have someone do it

[LoveB]

Well ok guys. heres the pipe I'm talking about. I put gaffer tape on it which has done enough to slow it down. still pissing water but slower. most likely enough for me to get to the local repco or autobarn tmrw which is like 5 mins away. havent bled the coolant but with it dripping i dont think there is a need for me too. seeing as its been really cold here my temp doesnt go up so i hope im safe from a cracked head from a hotspot. but here are the pics




I cant really say where it goes but it goes from the side of the manifold, to underneath it to another metal connector by the block. could be for the heater core. But I cant tell. I wanted to pull the hose up and connect it after i cut it but it wouldnt budge. I'm gonna try to get the local autobarn guys to just patch it up or get a new hose and join where i would have cut it off. as i think it would cost alot more to remove the whole hose. atleast that'll give me time to save up and get all my hoses replaced.

[LoveB]

okay well I did a bit of DIY dodgy fixing on the hose. seeing as the hose was in an almost 180 degree angle when it burst, and seeing as I couldnt for my life undo the bottom part of the hose, I just undid the top one,pulled it up and re routed it so that the bend on it wont put as much stress on the pipe as it did the last time.

I started the car for about 5 mins and so far no leaks at all. My only problem is now I was gonna undo the bleeder screws... my bottom one snapped in half leaving half of it inside. lol so now im stumped at what to do. I might just jack the car up to the left side or in front and fill it up the normal way and pray I dont get a hotspot. :/

[harry3]

its risky undoing the bleeder bolts as they often sieze due to corrosion and break, some say you can get the water where needed by putting it in thru rubber hoses that are high up

if you can get the bolts out, coat threads with grease to reduce chance of freezing later

[LoveB]

Yer was able to fix it mate. Cheers was able to bleed it too

[detox_nath83]

make sure u put on brass washers for the both of the bleeder bolts this helps them from sticking. i also undo them once every few months to keep em free.
as for the hose (coolant) it runs through the intake plenum to heat the intake air.

[Goon]

and dont overtighten the ********** thats how they break or the plenum might crack..!!

[detox_nath83]

keep a spare easy-out with ya no dramas... and be carefull not to strip the tapped hole :P
fkn cast ally