Coolant expansion tank completely empty.

[jrt]

Not trying to muddy the water (so to speak), so the leak that was noticed at the campsite was fuel and not water and you don’t have a coolant leak?
David.

[lefty67]

I don't want to be the bringer of bad news but this sounds similar to the issues I had with my 1.9td aaz.
System pressurising over a period of 12mths or more, perhaps stupidly did trips to France, Scotland and other places with the problem.
It started with the coolant level staying above the max line in the tank behind flap and eventually on last trip had to stop at every service station between Carlisle and crewe to siphon water from one tank to the other and bleed the radiator.
Weirdest thing was that nothing indicated the engine was overheating ie fan never came on, temp gauge needle hardly moved from half way and red light never came on.
Ended up being a split in the cylinder head.
Fitted a new head and gasket and the turbo blew on the test drive!!

[jas915]

It will be head gasket or head leak. If the cooling system is doing weird/ inconsistent things.

[Gingermagic]

Right, I've finally got back to this.

I think that my assumption about the garage was right. I think that they just put coolant in, but didn't get rid of any air, leaving a massive air lock.

I've just added coolant to the system, and kept adding air pressure until the front radiator was letting out coolant rather than air. I needed to put about 4.5 litres in there!

So, the coolant level is fine now. And I know that there's not much air in there. So, let's see how it goes.


Unfortunately, we went for what turned out to be a very short drive on Thursday night. A new light came on the dashboard. What the heck is this one ...



It came on a bit. We stopped for a bit. Restarted, and it was off for a while, then came back on.

I pulled over and tried to look it up online. The page that I found advised something like, "Drive, very slowly, to your nearest garage". So, we got nervous and went back home. About a 20-minute round trip in total.

This was before I redid the coolant level, but I wasn't getting any heat lights.

Any ideas on this one? I'm going to start a new thread on it, but maybe it's related to this stuff, and many of you thinking that I have a problem with the head gasket? And/or the garage thinking that I have a problem with the pump?

I've no idea and getting a bit fed up with all of the problems! I've not got the budget for them.

 

[clone123]

Heater plug light supposed to come on when you start your van from cold for about 20 seconds then go off

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[jrt]

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=96867
David.

[Gingermagic]

Heater plug light supposed to come on when you start your van from cold for about 20 seconds then go off

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

What about when it comes on after you've been driving for 5 minutes?

Although, I'm questioning my memory now. Maybe that didn't happen?

[jrt]

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/glow- ... 31949.html
David.

[Gingermagic]

Update (copy of what I've just posted on the thread about my other light, but it may also be relevant here)

OK, here's an update on this.

Yesterday, I topped up all of the coolant and bled the system.

Took the van for a short drive today, to see what's going on with this new "Glow plug light".

It was mostly off, for the entire time, with a couple of exceptions.

1
Firstly, it came on at one point while I was waiting at traffic lights.

I've never had that before, what is that indicating?

I doubt it's something good!


2
Also, I randomly rotated the heat/blower fan control (it's not working, and I was just double checking if testing all the fuses had fixed it).
The fan/blower still isn't working, but whenever the dial was at position 4, the light came on ...



What the heck is that about?

Rotating the dial down, to any other number, turned the light off. Whenever it was on 4, it would come on again.


Does this lead to any more clues?


I also noticed, at one point, while driving up a hill, that this light ...



... started flashing.

It settled down again as soon as I stopped going up the hill.

I have no idea if this is related, or if the whole thing is falling to bits!

[Mocki]

I unsuspected you have a bad case of damaged wiring in the engine bay or previous owner stupidity

The glow plug light should only come one when the glow plugs are heating , so only when you first turn the ignition on when the engine is cold , once the coolant is warm that should never come on until the engine is cold again . It is controlled by the big relay in the electrics box in the engine bay , triggered by a temp sender in the engine reporting coolant temp.


The red flashing coolant warning light is saying low coolant if it’s not a wiring issue
But I thought you had covered all this months ago with the alleged coolant leak ?

[Gingermagic]

More on this saga.

After not touching the van for several months, and then getting someone else to take a look at it (they found another leak, but still didn't get to the root of the problem), my coolant issues continue.

Today, I tried to bleed the system while the engine was running. While doing that, I could see air coming into the system! I assume that's not supposed to happen, and will explain why the expansion tank often seems low, and then when I remove the cap, the level goes up, with a rush of air. It probably also explains why the refill tank sometimes overflows and throws out lots of liquid.

Here's a video of the bubbles coming into the tank. They look like they are coming from that pipe that's nearest to the bubbles.

Video link

Does this help any of you guys get to the bottom of what the hell is going on here?

Thanks,
Damian

[clift_d]

Have you had a sniff test done? I confess I've not read through the whole thread, but pressurisation of the header tank pushing all the coolant into the expansion tank, is a classic sign of combustion gases getting into your coolant system, meaning either the head gasket is gone, or the cylinder head is cracked. At least it was on our JX when we had similar issues.

[TONYT25T25]

Has a head gasket leak been mentioned yet, leaking gas into the coolant, if not already tested for it may be worth doing so.  Oops just noticed clift has just put in the same suggestion as I was drafting mine.  Just to add what does the oil look like and cap any milky substances.

[Gingermagic]

This is driving me nuts.

Why do all the garages and mechanics that I take this to think that the head gasket is fine, when it's the one thing that everyone on this forum seems to think is the problem!?!

Can anyone recommend someone, who knows what they are doing, that I can take the van to? I live in Somerset, and I'm way out of my depth with this. I just want someone to sort it.

Fingers crossed for a suggestion,
Damian

[clift_d]

I'm afraid you're going to have to insist that somebody does a sniff test.

The only garage I can recommended in your part of the country is Coast VW down in South Molton - not exactly near, but perhaps close enough?

E D I T: Maybe put your location in your signature?