DangerousDave16v
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Registered: 20th Feb 03
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the car ('99 1.4 16v sport) has been losing water from somewhere, and been missfiring on i think one cylinder. this morning it missfired as usual, but when i turned on the heater it was not blowing any hot air whatsoever, just cold air.
then i shat myself and looked at the water temp guage and it was reading maximum!!!
so i pulled over and checked there was plenty of water in the header, but it was showing empty (although when i realeased the presure the water rose back into the header tank,is this normal? )
also the engine didnt seem overly hot,it had been running for about 10 mins
started it back up and the temp semmed to go down and it ocassionally blew some hot air thru heaters.
is the thermostat to blame for this or is it the water pump,
i need help,please,
dont want to warp my head, and £10 petrol has done 32 miles!!
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L330wnz
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Registered: 9th Mar 04
Location: Norwich, Norfolk
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DangerousDave16v
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Registered: 20th Feb 03
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my mates response via email-
Ahhh, now you have a problem my friend. Sounds like what I had wrong
with mine, the heater not working is obviously a sign that there is not
enough water in the engine so it keeps it in the engine where it is
needed most. Now, when you took the rad cap off and it all came flooding
back in to the header, that was because the water in the engine was very
hot and needed to expand, with you letting the cap off you created a
lower pressure region in which the water could expand to, hence you
header filling up. My car ran at very high temps when I had no water in
it, understandable really. What you should do Is fill the header when
cold. I don't think ur thermostat is knackered. And I cant explain the
low MPG but I think that you seriously need to find that leak. If that
much was leaking in to the cylinder I believe you engine would be
running rough as shit all the time. U need to check all ur water pipes.
To check ur thermostat is working when you start it up as the engine
gets warmer and warmer you can hold the pipe which goes from the engine
to the rad and as the thermostat opens (pressure in engine increases and
pushes thermostat spring in ) the pressure in that pipe increases and it
gets warm!!!
Let me know the current situation
any input?
help!
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Cybermonkey
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Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
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are you blowing thick amounts of condensation from the exhaust?
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DangerousDave16v
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Registered: 20th Feb 03
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yes mate, i am,
also forgot to mention something else which happened after i let the pressure out of the header and tightened it back up, the engine made i high pitched noise, almost a beep infact, about 3 or 4 times, i nearlyshit myself, didnt know what it was. is this the cooling system letting off pressure via a bleed valve? or is is a sealed pressurized system as i thought it was? maybe the pressure was escaping from the header cap?
more opinions guys
please
cheers
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Mark Petty
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Registered: 26th Jul 01
Location: Bournemouth Drives: Suzuki gsf600
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I reckon it might be the head gasket, not completly sure though.
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romeo t
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Registered: 14th Sep 03
Location: south
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its a head gasket, mine did the same on my 1.6. get it pressure tested only takes two minutes
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DangerousDave16v
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Registered: 20th Feb 03
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Regarding the pressure testing-
this is my post from a few days ago
recently ive been loosing water from the cooling system at a slow rate, and therefore thought my head gasket was leaking water into the cylinder overnight, due to the fact that the engine tends to misfire for a few seconds from cold start up (burning off the water methinks) and also bubbles can be heard in the cooling system. after doing a compression test i discovered that all the cylinders held a pressure of around 15 bar, so i abandoned the theory that the gasket was leaking.
altho the ceramic part of the spark plug (not the electrode) from the 4th cylinder was a rusty brown colour, whereas the others were perfect. (they were changed around 5k ago. (35k on clock now)
there is definately no water in the oil.
no water leaks inside the car
all hoses are intact (i think)
what could be happening in this cylinder?
i have topped up the header and ran the engine with the cap off until i could see no bubbles, this seems to have stopped the gargling
also i have put a new plug in the 4th cylinder to check in a few days to see if the same thing happens to it
there is no engine warning light as the ecu isnt involved
car is still misfiring in mornings even with the plugs swapped around. could it be a duff plug?, but then that doesnt explain the water loss.
sorry for the essay, anyone got any ideas?
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romeo t
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Registered: 14th Sep 03
Location: south
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not a compression test a pressure test. they put a bottle on ur header tank. if it goes green its fooked
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DangerousDave16v
Member
Registered: 20th Feb 03
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ah so this would show if there are leaks in the cooling system itself, i.e the header tank cap, breathers, radiator hoses, water pump etc
thanks romeo
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DangerousDave16v
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Registered: 20th Feb 03
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any other opinions?
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Jonster
Member
Registered: 17th Oct 03
Location: Chester.... Drives: Clio Sport 16v.. XBL: Jono2445
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sounds very much like mine this time last year
also a 1.4 16v
turned out to be the head gasket 
time to get saving mate not a cheap job
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Cybermonkey
Member
Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
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i would say head gasket too. You got all the symptoms really. Probably the water jacket between cylinders 3 & 4. Get a compression test done to confirm this. May need to flush the collant system, replace gasket and skim the head. With all the wattery goings on, its probably warped.
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