Loosing water but no obvious leaks

[VT2Commie]

and heads don't have to come off for that but a bugger of a job to do so he might as well get head gaskets as what mechanic will do a valve stem seal while on the block , once the lims and the stem seals are done should be good on water unless it boils due to water pump or thermostat problems or a blocked water jacket a prity common thing on holden v6 and v8 engines so that is why i suggested to get a mace vrs kit with head bolts there only about $250 while head are off mechanic can check them.
[/QUOTE]


Most of them, why? Just yank the plugs and pressurize the cylinder. No need for heads off.

 

[krusing]

it was just a suggestion while at it with a rely good brand recommended by this site as he needs to do lim gaskets assuming he gets it done at a mechanics a mace vrs kit will sort the lims and seal the exhaust as mentioned here:

and heads don't have to come off for that but a bugger of a job to do so he might as well get head gaskets as what mechanic will do a valve stem seal while on the block , once the lims and the stem seals are done should be good on water unless it boils due to water pump or thermostat problems or a blocked water jacket a prity common thing on holden v6 and v8 engines so that is why i suggested to get a mace vrs kit with head bolts there only about $250 while head are off mechanic can check them.

I never said anything about taking the heads off,
or doing stem seals, water pump and the thermostat,
where did that come from ?
the OP said " I am suspecting its the manifold gasket(s).. "

All I said

"Your not necessarily loosing water, but consuming it without you knowing.
[probably constant steam/condensation out of the exhaust]
I had the exact same problem, and doing the LIM Gaskets and flushed the motor a fair few times to get the gunk out,
and it’s not losing/consuming water now."

People are turning a common/simple job into a motor rebuild !
Where some people just dont have the money to do extra work at the moment.

 

[krusing]

I've only checked it via the dip stick both before and after a short warmup and the last oil change was fine when it was starting to show water loss... I'm tending to think its inlet manifolds, replaced the gaskets several years ago so they may have failed earlier than expected..

Maybe check the tension of the LIM Bolts,
If they are loose, you may have to re-do the LIM Gaskets again,
if they are still tight, you may have to look into it further, as others have suggested.

 

[Brysha89]

omg your all blowing a suggestion out of the water if he gets lim gasket and stem seals for the exhaust might as well get head gaskets and get them from mace as there a high quality set used them my self a few times on ecotecs and l67's, and krusing i was just using your post as an example as i was thinking too that if not in the lower intake then it would be coming out exhaust as it would of boiled the engine if it was water pump, thermostat or blocked water jacket

 

[Brysha89]

[/QUOTE]
Most of them, why? Just yank the plugs and pressurize the cylinder. No need for heads off.
[/QUOTE]

do i need to answer this really? how stupid would a mechanic be to do that and possibly drop a valve into the block when its far easier to take a ecotec head off for the repair then torque them back down with the new bolts, gaskets and seals, but as my last post says your blowing my suggestion out of the water as i already answered OP by saying yes it could be in the lower intake.

 

[Brysha89]

funny how you both decide to reply back at silly hours in the morning when eyes are not up to fully reading and understanding what was written a suggestion and a example

 

[lowandslow]

Had the same prob with my VY. LIM gasket was cooked. No water in oil, no water on the ground and no excessive amounts of steam from exhaust either. Start with the LIM gasket and see where you end up.

 

[Immortality]

it was just a suggestion while at it with a rely good brand recommended by this site as he needs to do lim gaskets assuming he gets it done at a mechanics a mace vrs kit will sort the lims and seal the exhaust as mentioned here:

and heads don't have to come off for that but a bugger of a job to do so he might as well get head gaskets as what mechanic will do a valve stem seal while on the block , once the lims and the stem seals are done should be good on water unless it boils due to water pump or thermostat problems or a blocked water jacket a prity common thing on holden v6 and v8 engines so that is why i suggested to get a mace vrs kit with head bolts there only about $250 while head are off mechanic can check them.

WTF do stem seals have to do with water?

V6 engines are well known for bad LIM gaskets, head gaskets are NOT an issue unless you have repeatedly boiled the damn thing. Why break a good head seal and spend extra money when you don't have to?

$250 for gaskets and head bolts, than a couple of extra hours for the mechanic to remove and replace etc, I'll bet that extra work will quickly add up to over $500 just because you were there.....

$500 buys you another mod or you could do head gaskets that were perfectly fine?

 

[losh1971]

If the heads are coming off might as well spend $1300 and have them overhauled and ported with HD Crow springs just in case the OP decides to go lifters or cam........

 

[vc commodore]

When the engine has run for 5 minutes, take the oil cap off and see if there is a slight milkiness on the cap....

This is a sign the LIM gasket is failing....

I bought a V6 VY about 6 months ago and this is how I could tell the LIM was failing.....Replaced it and no more water usage. When I removed the old gasket, you could see the old gasket, where it sealed against the manifold, had started to lift away from the rest of the gasket..

Doing valve seals and head gaskets are a complete waste of time and money for a water loss issue, if there is no milkiness in the sump.....If the head gasket was toast, you would have water in the sump and valve stem seals are there to prevent oil getting into the combustion chamber....So doing them is pointless for a water leak problem.....