97 ECOTEC constantly low on water

[Trikky]

+1 for the inlet manifold gasket
My VS was using water but not as fast as yours is, they are a plastic gasket that goes all brittle with age/heat

Took a couple of hours to do as I took the time to clean the inlet manifold etc while it was off

no more coolant loss and car runs much better due to no leaks between heads and inlet

Oh also check your spark plugs to see if they have any whitish residue on them as I think that this is a sign of coolant getting into the cylinders due to blown head gasket

 

[The1]

+1 for the inlet manifold gasket
My VS was using water but not as fast as yours is, they are a plastic gasket that goes all brittle with age/heat

Took a couple of hours to do as I took the time to clean the inlet manifold etc while it was off

no more coolant loss and car runs much better due to no leaks between heads and inlet

Oh also check your spark plugs to see if they have any whitish residue on them as I think that this is a sign of coolant getting into the cylinders due to blown head gasket

checkout mace's inlet manifold gaskets, there alloy, seems alright i replaced mine with them instead of the plastic stock ones, see how long they last.

 

[djvass]

Use mace

checkout mace's inlet manifold gaskets, there alloy, seems alright i replaced mine with them instead of the plastic stock ones, see how long they last.

I used the mace ones as well. Worked at treat and they are suppost to last alot longer than the standard ones.

 

[Cpt Awesome]

I highly doubt that. If the clamps were tighten enough in the first place it will keep the seal there no matter how "bedded" in they get. Even if they weren't sealing properly it would only be a very slow leak and not enough to see it being filled up every day. He would also see coolant marks everywhere if this was the case!

See, how tight do you tighten a jubilee clip??? if its not tight enough it wont be tight to make a seal. doesnt cost much to inspect the hoses

 

[FstStig]

I'm sure they would of been tighten up enough. Don't want to do them up to tight otherwise you will split the hose when it pressurizes. As stated above there would be evidence of it coming from around that area if they didn't tighten them up enough. He hasn't stated that there is, so all we can do is work with what he has given us and say its not coming from the hoses.

 

[Bryce_VS]

fixed, the radiator cap wasnt holding pressure. haha 15 bucks from repco, and i thought it was going to be thousands. well hey thats what the mechanic said...
what do you expect from a P plater? sorry guys
Honestly though, i only noticed it leaking recently, and its weird that i was losing around a litre a day. Hopefully it doesn't come back and bite me in the ass.

 

[Trikky]

glad to hear it was only a simple fix

 

[calais24/7]

a bit of a thread dig now, but i have the same problem and its starting to piss me off, it's not the radiator, there are no visible leaks either. Im thinking it might be the inlet manifold gasket, there was white coolant stains on the engine, how hard is the gasket to change, it is a 5l not a 3.8