Losing Water

clubadria

Member
I have now got the engine and gearbox back in the car but have a problem, It keeps losing water from the expansion tank.
I have filled the system with new coolant twice at a cost of £20 a bottle. Ran the engine up to temp with the cap off to try and get rid of any air.
On this last occasion I ran the engine at 1500 rpm when it got hot water started to bubble up and over flow with the cap off. Put the cap on and switched the engine off and over night there's water under the car and the level is low.

I have taken the car up the dual carriage way and it goes much better temp up to 90c park up and it will loose water.

Jobs done to the engine.
Replace timing belt and pulleys.
Replace oil pump chain kit.
VAG water pump and thermostat and O rings.
Air con O rings.
Head gasket Victor reniz. Not sure how its spelt.
New head bolts.
New turbo.
And may nuts and bolts.

My search says head gasket but that's new and the right one 2hole.
I did think air lock. Un did the bleed screw near rad only got water.
Not sure what to do next.
The car before all of this work never had any problem with water loss.

I did think about the tool someone on here used to fill his radiator but cannot remember what its called.

Hopefully someone will have the answer or recommend a good VAG garage.

Thanks
David
 
One obvious question - along with all the parts you've replaced elsewhere, have you replaced the lid or is it an original one? The o-ring seal in the lid goes hard over time so you can get leakage out of the expansion tank even when the pressure is 'normal' for a hot engine. Replacement lids with a functional seal are cheap - less than £10 or thereabouts and available delivered overnight ; I have bought a Febi lid for all three of our A2s and it made a significant difference in two of them.

Febi part number 14700 corresponding to vw / audi part 1J0121321.
 
Its still the original one, I will look at getting a new one and give that a try. ECP or GSF be OK.

Thanks
David
 
Best of luck! I normally stick to Febi as they seem to have consistent quality but anything half decent with a properly-sealing o-ring will probably be better than a 20-year old original.
 
Well bought one from ECP and now it worse, So something is wrong and it looks like the head gasket is faulty. Not sure what to do next.
i did put the hose down the water ways while it was apart to flush out old fluid.

Thanks at least it was a cheap possible fix.

Regards
David
 
Hi it might be worth checking coolant hoses.When I had my tdi90 there was a diesel leak from the tandem pump.Once this was sorted a few weeks later I also started to lose coolant.After investigation it was one of the hoses that are directly below the pump.The diesel had softened the hoses causing a tiny leak.I couldn't see it as the hose runs around the back of the engine.
 
Thanks but this is causing the loss from the expansion cap, It must be building up pressure then releasing out the over flow.
 
I have now got the engine and gearbox back in the car but have a problem, It keeps losing water from the expansion tank.
I have filled the system with new coolant twice at a cost of £20 a bottle. Ran the engine up to temp with the cap off to try and get rid of any air.
On this last occasion I ran the engine at 1500 rpm when it got hot water started to bubble up and over flow with the cap off. Put the cap on and switched the engine off and over night there's water under the car and the level is low.

I have taken the car up the dual carriage way and it goes much better temp up to 90c park up and it will loose water.

Jobs done to the engine.
Replace timing belt and pulleys.
Replace oil pump chain kit.
VAG water pump and thermostat and O rings.
Air con O rings.
Head gasket Victor reniz. Not sure how its spelt.
New head bolts.
New turbo.
And may nuts and bolts.

My search says head gasket but that's new and the right one 2hole.
I did think air lock. Un did the bleed screw near rad only got water.
Not sure what to do next.
The car before all of this work never had any problem with water loss.

I did think about the tool someone on here used to fill his radiator but cannot remember what its called.

Hopefully someone will have the answer or recommend a good VAG garage.

Thanks
David
Hi David,
I’ve used a vacuum system that runs from a compressor to evacuate all the air from the system & then refill with your coolant after checking for leaks under the vacuum , I got it from Amazon cheaply.
Has yours got a Webasto as there’s another bleed screw for that.

Hope that helps
Keith.
 
Thanks Keith I will have a look for one. Its a ATL and does haven't a Webasto. I might try removing the coolant and flushing water through just in case there's a blockage.

Regards
David
 
Thanks Keith I will have a look for one. Its a ATL and does haven't a Webasto. I might try removing the coolant and flushing water through just in case there's a blockage.

Regards
David
Water won’t circulate due to thermostat unfortunately, you may be able to flush rad via top & bottom hoses & possibly the heater matrix by its hoses in the
engine bay.
 
Water won’t circulate due to thermostat unfortunately, you may be able to flush rad via top & bottom hoses & possibly the heater matrix by its hoses in the
engine bay.
Daft question - could putting boiled water out of a kettle or a few litres from a big pasta pan in with a funnel be enough to flush to resolve this issue?

Alternatively, remove the thermostat and re-install the housing without it, then flush through - obviously, don't run it like that but for this precise application could work?
 
Might be worth testing the coolant for the presence of exhaust gases in the coolant.
Make sure you have flow back to expansion bottle have also seen egr coolers leak exhaust gases into the coolant
 
Thanks for all your replies, I have taken the thermostat out and ran water through the expansion tank to make sure water flows and that's OK then in the top of the radiator and water flows out the bottom so all good there.
I am looking into getting one of the kits.
I refilled with what fluid was left keeping the top hose off, And then filling the radiator.
Ran the engine and it doesn't bubble like before took it out for a run and temp went past 90C and small loss of coolant.
So I think that maybe air is the problem and buying one of those kits will eliminate air in the system.
 
I did think about the tool someone on here used to fill his radiator but cannot remember what its called.
That could be me, the tool I use is only suitable for testing and filling a drained system. If the vacuum is held then there are no leaks, but you know you have a leak and your car is filled with coolant.

One of these is better, it creates pressure then you go looking for the leak. Never used it on the A2 so check before buying, I think about £30 delivered.

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