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Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 15:49
by windsurfervw
Think I may know the answer here but would like some other opinions from you guys! 1987 DG engine,(four cylinder petrol 1915cc.) Starts from cold perfectly-no misfires etc, runs very well indeed, quiet, no smoke, no oil in the water or the other way around.BUT! Warms up stationary in the normal way, idles-all seems well. As soon as you get on the road, warms up and up and spews coolant out in the form of steam! Once that has happened you can let the engine cool and it will just continue to pump out the top of the expansion bottle. Cracked head/gasket? I have changed the water pump, flushed the system through, bled it through, radiator has no cool spots, strange thing is the hoses are always 'touchable' and are not solid to touch? Typical coolant loss would be 3-4 litres in 10 miles!! New engine? Anybody got one for sale? Thanks.

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 15:50
by R0B
sounds like you might need a new dalek cap for your tank.brickwerks

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 15:53
by R0B
you could try the wanted forum..

Anybody got one for sale?

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:01
by windsurfervw
The problem is there cap on or off-off the coolant pours out of the header,on it steams out of the switch seal in the tank, or even a jet of coolant when very hot! I can only think this is caused by gasses getting in the cooling system-head/gasket/liner seals? I understand this is probably terminal??

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:04
by armyphil
Like rob says it's your Dalek cap, head gasket would pour smoke.

Sounds like the seal in the cap has gone causing the system to over pressurise

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:07
by jamesc76
windsurfervw wrote:The problem is there cap on or off-off the coolant pours out of the header,on it steams out of the switch seal in the tank, or even a jet of coolant when very hot! I can only think this is caused by gasses getting in the cooling system-head/gasket/liner seals? I understand this is probably terminal??

might find the tank is fubared too, they do fail! replace the lot !

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:07
by R0B
just check the cap anyway.you should be able to blow through it.but not suck.worth a try

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:08
by windsurfervw
Thanks-I will try that asap!!

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:15
by windsurfervw
I can suck and blow through mine!! So you think that that could be all that's causing it? I'll get a new one soonest! Thanks again!

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:42
by Ian Hulley
Don't be tempted by the cheapies from GSF, they've had a whole batch that are no good. Brickwerks are VW ones.

Ian.

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 16:59
by ricicles
check all the above, i had the same problem after rebuilding my engine. it turned out that the machining done to the heads was wrong and the combustion gasses were pressuring the coolant system. the same could be happening if the heads are corroded badly or the compression rings have failed. you can get a check done on the coolant to see if there is combustion gasses present in the coolant
. might be worth doing that before you change everything.

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 17:03
by R0B
even vw ones fail.i had to change mine last week.it was less than two years old. but like the man off t'mountain says.dont go for the gsf one.

Re: Coolant pumping out of the header tank

Posted: 08 Sep 2010, 20:35
by footstuck
Sounds to me like a thermostat failing to open.
They should fail in the fully open position but it costs F... A.. to remove it and eleminate it.