VE Commodore Sportswagon coolant disappearing

[Tony Sweet]

I have a 2008 Sportswagon. Overheated a few months back driving from Toowoomba back to Brisbane a few months back. Stopped and added water after it cooled down and took it to radiator bloke who fixed it, replaced the water pump. A few weeks later started to use a lot of coolant again. Took it back and did pressure test no external leakage. My concern it is internal with damage caused to gasket and at worse head. Oil is clear, and clean no oil present in coolant, not bubbling, no visible smoke and the engine sounds ok. Any advice please as to what to do next?

 

[greenacc]

Some leaks can be very hard to see. Hopefully it's the radiator but you might have to pull it out to find it. Removing the lower plastic cover might help you see it. Also check for pink stains around the front of the transmission.

 

[UTE042_NZ]

Not losing any oil though? Your concern about overheating causing head gasket damage could be correct and there are different degrees of damage. Yours may have just enough to allow a small amount coolant to be sucked into one or more cylinders on the intake stroke, but not so bad that the coolant is blown into oil galleries during compression, or oil sucked into bores. (YET).

You say it took a couple of weeks after "the radiator bloke fixed it" (whatever his "fix" was and whatever he applied it to). Did he pour some "Product" in the radiator or did he re-torque the head bolts? That two weeks may be how long it took for portions of the head gasket between the cylinder bores and the water jacket galleries to be eaten way (due to decreased torque on the head bolts from expansion and contraction during and after the overheating). If so, the process is probably continuing.

I some cases you may see water dripping from exhaust tips when engine is warm and idling (and idling may be getting rougher). You can also check for air bubbles in the radiator at high revs. Pulling and examining all the spark plugs can also give you a clue (the affected cylinder(s) have lighter, cleaner, brownish plug ends that eventually get a build up of minerals from the water).

 

[VFSV6FORME]

I have a 2008 Sportswagon. Overheated a few months back driving from Toowoomba back to Brisbane a few months back. Stopped and added water after it cooled down and took it to radiator bloke who fixed it, replaced the water pump. A few weeks later started to use a lot of coolant again. Took it back and did pressure test no external leakage. My concern it is internal with damage caused to gasket and at worse head. Oil is clear, and clean no oil present in coolant, not bubbling, no visible smoke and the engine sounds ok. Any advice please as to what to do next?

How lot is a lot coolant being used.how much per 100 k is the car using?

 

[Tony Sweet]

How lot is a lot coolant being used.how much per 100 k is the car using?

No idea mate. Uses more on longer trips when engine is warmer longer

 

[VFSV6FORME]

No idea mate. Uses more on longer trips when engine is warmer longer

I dont think these Alloytech (your Engine) suffer with issues like the Echotech with LIM (Lower intake Manifold Gasket leakages) but if this is the case you should see water in the oil, they call it COFFEE. Some get confused when you start the car up and 5 minutes later you see water coming out the muffler or rear pipes and they think they have a blown head gasket but most of the time this will happen depending on the days temperature but I you car has the Correct Coolant and you run you car the correct dosage 50/50 or 60 coolant/40water as you can smell and taste it a mile away (Dont drink it) and see the water coming out of the muffler and catch it with a cup and it smells or even taste like coolant you could have a issue.
I heard of one issue with these engine and in this case one head was cracked in the exhaust to the water jacket so when you turned the engine off the water pressure wold force itself out of the crack to the exhaust and when starting the engine 5 minutes later you would see water coming out of either a dual or a single pipe. If you have a crack and water go's into the cylinder well thats different as you can destroy the Engine because you cannot compress a liquid.
Older cars like the Ecotech on the Vr VS VT Vy all you have to do is take all the Spark Plugs out and see what hole sprays out with water but to do this on a Alloytech its a big job.

You have to be unlucky for this as I know at least 2 persons that have overheated a Alloytech and there car shut off before it was damaged. Dont now if it was a VE or VF, some more experience member here will tell you if you car engine has protection for this.

 

[Tony Sweet]

I dont think these Alloytech (your Engine) suffer with issues like the Echotech with LIM (Lower intake Manifold Gasket leakages) but if this is the case you should see water in the oil, they call it COFFEE. Some get confused when you start the car up and 5 minutes later you see water coming out the muffler or rear pipes and they think they have a blown head gasket but most of the time this will happen depending on the days temperature but I you car has the Correct Coolant and you run you car the correct dosage 50/50 or 60 coolant/40water as you can smell and taste it a mile away (Dont drink it) and see the water coming out of the muffler and catch it with a cup and it smells or even taste like coolant you could have a issue.
I heard of one issue with these engine and in this case one head was cracked in the exhaust to the water jacket so when you turned the engine off the water pressure wold force itself out of the crack to the exhaust and when starting the engine 5 minutes later you would see water coming out of either a dual or a single pipe. If you have a crack and water go's into the cylinder well thats different as you can destroy the Engine because you cannot compress a liquid.
Older cars like the Ecotech on the Vr VS VT Vy all you have to do is take all the Spark Plugs out and see what hole sprays out with water but to do this on a Alloytech its a big job.

You have to be unlucky for this as I know at least 2 persons that have overheated a Alloytech and there car shut off before it was damaged. Dont now if it was a VE or VF, some more experience member here will tell you if you car engine has protection for this.

Hi admin and thanks for thorough response.There is no sign of any water in the oil at all nor oil in the coolant space in fact both are quite clear. Have never seen and fluid including droplets come from exhaust either. We are in Brisbane so does not get real cold here weather wise. I had a pressure test done a few days back and now it is clearly leaking externally from right side of the car. The bloke may have busted something when he was doing pressure test which did not show any fault at the time. Hopefully the radiator is not had it and it is a hose or something. I am also thinking of adding something like Bars or Blue devil gasket fix just in case once the external leak is sourced and fixed. From what I have read it seems to be a gasket problem and not a cracked head or anything like that.... Thoughts please?

 

[Skydrol]

Hard to say but my best guess is a Craked Head. What happen is, cracks are shut when the engine is cold and open when warmed up. Not necessary all mix oil and coolant, all depends where the crack is located. When the head warps or blow the head gasket, some blow by get in the cooling system and the oil. So you might see the coolant boil with bubbles and the oil turns into coffee color.

Pressure tests might pass since the engine is cold and the crack is shut during the test.

Few words of caution...

Cathalytic Converters, when oil and/or coolant get in the exhaust gases, they (Cat) get clogged quicker than a hurry. So a prompt repair is in order. Let it be, you will see EGR Fault, Multiple Random Misfires, O2 Sensor Codes, Power Loss, Transmission Shift Problems... all that, because a clogged Cat Converter.

By the way... when it was the last time the Coolant was replaced/flushed by the service manual?

 

[VFSV6FORME]

By the way... when it was the last time the Coolant was replaced/flushed by the service manual?

Geeee,, this job alone is a nightmare to flush out the old coolant

 

[VFSV6FORME]

it is clearly leaking externally from right side of the car.

More info needed. Where was it leaking on the righ side of the Car? Did you see it on the Clean Floor leaking? If you see a puddle on the floor on the right hand side you need a fibre optric camera to see where its leaking from. Only last week I purchased this from ALDI with a 1M flexible steel lead, It one of the Best ever WORK ZONE tool that I bought and it come very handy too