COOLANT LOSS, NOT MY ROCCO BUT SAME ENGINE, HELP PLEASE...

[sciroccosi]

Hi chaps im just wondering if anyone can help me out my daily driver is a 1991 mk2 golf gti 8v,running @128bhp ive been having a few problems now for quite a while, i was loosing coolant at around half a litre a week at approx 200 miles per week, so i changed the hedder tank, cap etc so the suspect was the headgasket so a fully recon head was fitted along with a waterpump etc etc, and im still loosing coolant 2 months on and its now doing my head in, out of shear desperation and advice from a work mate i put a K-seal in and still the same, but it seems to have like a soap sud effect when you release the cap when slightly warm, today after aprox 60 mile trip i checked the level and there was no fluid at all in the expansion tank upon removing the cap there was a bug whooosh and the level came back up but no were near the min level but loads of suds there so i have flushed the system again and put in new coolant etc nad the level has dropped again from max to min after 30 miles ish...can anyone help cheers si

[Funky Diver]

I may be WAY off mark here... but I take it that there is heat coming out of the in car heater? If not, it could be blocked, causing a huge airlock... just a thought if you've checked all the usual suspects

[sciroccosi]

Hi mate yes everythings woking fine hot when on hot and cold when on cold, the engine never overheats even after a good thrashing, only thing i remember not changing was the thermostat to be honest, the car never overheated before the head swap, the car was sat for over 2 years when i stole er i mean bought it off my mate lol...

[sciroccosi]

This is the car in question its a good one but now wears its original bbs ra's

[Nate]

you've checked all hose ends for signs of furry stuff? this would point to a leak.

water pump firmly bolted to block and joint not leaking?

rad ends corroded?

core plugs corroded?

front carpets wet?

[sciroccosi]

Hi yes theres no obvious signs of leakage, pumps bolted down good an proper and no leaks as you can see from anywere

[ChrisPears]

PB engines have a plastic water outlet on the side of the head, think it leads off to the heater matrix, can't really remember. I had one crack before although it looked fine. Took ages to figure out thats what was leaking. could be worth jamming a few paper towels under yours see if its leaking from there. Other common candidate for coolant leaks on a Mk2 is the metal pipe that runs along the front of the car, comes from the oil heat exchanger I think.

Although these wouldn't cause the symptom of the water changing level when you take the expansion cap off...that sounds like an air lock. Have you bled the system?

[sciroccosi]

Hi mate when the head was replaced less than 2k ago everything was replaced too, all flanges, seals temp sender seals etc etc all with genuine VW parts, it cost me a fortune to be honest and yes its been bled up evey time ive had to top up or changed the coolent when ive thought ill just try this or ill just try that there are no water leaks on the engine bay at all and i have several times left a piece of cardboard underneath overnight and nothing at all... if i wasn't bald already id be pulling my hair out at this one lol

[ChrisPears]

Errr sounds like a weird one. Expansion tank cap maybe?

[sciroccosi]

No mate new tank and cap along with many other things lol

[ChrisPears]

Grapsing at straws now...was it compression tested after the head was fitted?

Theres only a limited number of places it can go....sure someone isn't drinking it?

[MikeH]

The flanges and hose ends are the common problems - as already said. Also, if you have a leak that drops onto a hot part of the engine / rad, then it could evaporate and never drip. Seams can go on the sides of the radiator too, or round the thermo switch for the fan.

If that doesn't find it, it's time to start checking for compression leaks.

[sciroccosi]

i have come to the conclusion that there is some sort of internal leak lol so i have bitten the bullet and bought a 2.0 litre mk3 golf engine to do a conversion...shame really as the original engine is putting out 128bhp too... im going to use the 1.8 head on the 2.0 block, wish me luck.