water usage

[Cassandra69]

using plenty of water, no bubbles in radiator or frothy oil what could it be????,Doesn't go over half way temperture wise. Vs Esteem series 2 1997

[Pimpn1]

how often do you have to fill it up?

[alex2_s]

No leaks? and is the radiator cap fine

[hako]

Usual culprit is the waterpump - check under the pulley for a dried coolant trail - usually you will not see the coolant as it evaporates almost instantly as its very hot but it will leave a whiteish deposit.

[Trevor 062]

If you change the water pump, splurge out & change heater taps too.

[Cobez]

Leaking gasket, possible cracked radiator are 2 possible things.....

[ephect]

usually its the waterpump or heater tap, but as the posts above suggest, it could be hoses, radiator, radiator cap, possibly heater core, could also be a leaking welsh-plug..

have a look around your engine, check over all the hoses.. and let us know what you find.

[maldotcom2]

I have the same issue in my VS esteem. The reservoir will drop to half way in about a month.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Try bleeding it properly and then only filling it up via the tank, not the radiator. The VS is notorious for air locks. The air expands and pushes too much coolant into the reservoir then out the overflow, once it cools it sucks the coolant back into the radiator.

[kopper69]

My VR is emptying the reservoir in a week. I was going to start with the inlet manifold gasket? Water pump is less than a year old, never see any coolant on the ground. Got me a bit stumped.

[hako]

My VR is emptying the reservoir in a week. I was going to start with the inlet manifold gasket? Water pump is less than a year old, never see any coolant on the ground. Got me a bit stumped.

You'll only ever see coolant on the ground if its a massive leak and/or it also leaks when the coolant is cold. Normally the coolant will leak most when it's hot....and the hotter it is the quicker it evaporates...basically instant - plus it usually leaks onto a very hot surface like the engine block which keeps it at around boiling point so you never get the chance to see the actual coolant leaking.
An old trick is to draw a chalk line around the radiator cap, the waterpump or any other probable leakage points. When it leaks it will leave a smudge/stain in the chalk line. They used that on Merlin V12 engines in WW2.

[muggo05]

i just had my heater taps changed today cos i was losing water too. the only reason i knew where it was coming from is because the system needed a MASSIVE flush out and it left a brown mark and trail in the engine bay where the water was coming out and where it drained. got the whole system pressure tested and new coolant and thermo checked too, well worth it.

the thing with cooling systems is if you replace a part with a new one, it will put more pressure on the weakest part of the system and eventually that will fail.

[pando666]

yep my heater tap was leaking loosing about 1 to 2 litres a week, because its so close to exhaust manifold I never saw any water. while looking for leak I was tightening hose clamps and the heater valve broke, replaced valve no more problem.

[faroogoo]

Also check the end tanks of the Radiator especially mounting points,if theres a hairline crack it will leak out when driving but will be minimal when parked.

[vsl67]

Had a leak in a vp once ,it turned out to be the heater core it would only leak under pressure while hot , I found out one day when I was driving and the pressure got too much and the thing let out an almigthy hiss coolant ,steam and expletives every where it still shits me thinking about it and the 9 hours to fix it pulling the dash out , but if I were you I would start by bleeding the system My Vs stato would empty the overflow tank in a day before it was bled

[pillarless]

i just had same prob, and it was cooling core for g/box which is housed inside your radiator, hence water in g/box, and vice versa, worth checking.

[ephect]

Cassandra69: how did u end up goin? did u find the cause yet?

being a first post, n a week now, may not hear back