Cooling Problem - The list continues

[Matt]

Hi I would really appreciate any advice you can give as I feel fed up and cannot afford to continue as it is.

Some background - my 75 2.0 v6 has needed topping up with water every couple of months for many years, last month it got worse and needed around a litre of water every 300 miles or so. Took it to my local garage who said it needed a new radiator as it was leaking, this was completed and within 250 miles the engine overheat light came on, took it back to the garage who said it needed a new water pump as that was leaking, I asked to be sure it was not the thermostat as I am aware it is a more common cause of water loss, they confirmed it was definitely the water pump so I duly had that changed as well as all the timing belts at the same time. Got the car back last week and this is what happened since.

First few miles of each journey lots of gurgling and sound of water moving through pipes behind the dashboard, temperature gauge always in previous nearly 10 years of ownership stayed at the 9 o’ clock mark i.e. half way point on all journeys now moves between a quarter to half throughout the journey. After driving for 2 days and covering just under 70 miles decided to check the water level after the car had stood overnight, had to put in nearly a litre, after this I looked inside the tank and noticed it was now on the max mark so waited a few mins to see if it needed more, there was a gurgle and it dropped so added some more, decided to leave the cap off for a couple of hours in case this helped with any trapped air.

Around an hour later went back outside to see water dripping from under the car (driver side of engine) and running along the road, coolant level dropped again. No water had dripped during the night only since I topped up and left cap off. This is where we are now, car back around the garage today. So far I have spent £1100 this year and still have a car I cannot use. I am not technically minded unfortunately which I realise with a 75 is a mistake. Does anyone have any ideas what is going on?
Appreciate any advice on this.
Thanks

[T-Cut]

There's an as yet, undiagnosed leak. Not the radiator one, nor the water pump one, but this apparently, third one (!?) That must be correctly identified and fixed before refilling the cooling system by the official MGR proceedure. By sheer chance alone, it must be the thermostat housing assembly. A way you can easily check yourself is to remove the small bolts holding on the engine cover panel and look for puddles and/or pink coloured residues in the Vee between the heads.


TC

[vitesse]

As above especially as your thermostat doesn't seem to be getting up to temperature (mid 90s). You can monitor the temperature yourself by using T-Cut's OBD guide (do a search).

Don't discount the two thick hoses running from the thermostat, one of them has a protective sheath, and the other a bleed screw. Both leaked on my daughter's V6, the first around the bleed screw and the second under the protective sheath.

But from your description (driver's side) it does sound more likely to be a failed, and leaking thermostat. Perhaps some owner in your area could have a look.

Regards

[SD1too]

Matt; it sounds very much to me as if you have an air lock caused by the garage not refilling and bleeding the cooling system according to the special procedure for the V6 engine. This would explain the gurgling and the unstable coolant level.

I strongly recommend that you book your car into Souls of Olney, just the other side of Milton Keynes and not a million miles from you. Club member Phil-T4 works there and he is ideally qualified to solve your problems.

Simon

[Matt]

Thanks for your replies and advice.
I now have the car back, SD1too you are correct, the garage have bled the system again found some air and have checked for leaks of which there are none. They confirmed again it is not the thermostat and the water pump was the last problem causing a leak. Apparently the cause of water on the road after i filled was due to most likely the car 'burping' as best way to describe so coming out of over flow due to the air in the system.
I am still unsure how i needed nearly a litre of water to top up with but i presume the air in the system could have caused that also.They have had it running for a long while today and found no leaks and normal temperature so here's hoping its now ok, time will as always tell!

One more note SD1too - i used to have PhilT4 do all the work on my car when he worked for himself, excellent work, i just found the additional cost of a garage and that bit further to drive beyond MK to much for my regular stuff.