water release through header tank but no usual associated problems.

[suffolkadam]

Hi Guys, I've tried not to post but I've now run out of ideas and would gratefully appreciate some advice from the wise old sages that run this forum.
Mk2 Galaxy 1.9 tdi Ghia 155.000 miles.
Firstly the car runs like a dream ,starts on the first turn, has great fuel economy, and also no noise's .
I done the cam belt and water pump and a full service at 149,000 .
she only gets driven at the weekends or when we go away on a family trip cos its more comfortable than the wife's fiat 500. On the way to the shops the other day I noticed I had no heat coming from the vents after 15 mins of running controls up to max etc but just ice cold air. temp gauge was at min? pressed the econ button to shut down the aircon and whoosh temp gauge rose to 70 and then started to get warm air. got to my destination and on exiting the car I could smell antifreeze and a dreaded puddle under the car N/S/F ? popped the bonnet and noticed water in and around the battery tray so I assume it blew out of the header tank. my first thoughts were I had a sticking thermostat so I topped the system and waited to see. I took the car on a family trip and done 360 miles pulled into a drive in and "STOP check coolant appeared". yet again had to top up the system and again water in the battery tray. after looking at the forum pages noticed lots of us with pressure in the header tank and all pointing to head gaskets but surely I would notice other pointers i:e water and oil mixing , smoke , over heating etc. I only say this because in the 25 years of being a diesel generator engineer I've seen a lot of head gaskets let go and they always have the associated problems. the heating issue I first mentioned only happened the once so maybe just a coincidence . in an attempt to rectify this I also removed and re-brushed the aux water pump cos that stopped working some time ago and I stumbled upon a post on here on how to do it so a big thumbs up to the author of that post. although that now works I still have the water loss problem so I am now in your knowledgeable hands. many thanks in advance. Adam

[SiC]

Speaking from experience of being a former Seat Alhambra 1.9tdi owner (same as the mk2 galaxy) who had the pleasure of 3 HG failures you wont always get the oil/water scum contamination, nor will the engine sound any different or seem down on power and you may not even see white smoke until the HG goes big time.

If there are no obvious leaks on any coolant pipes then the cheapest item to cross off the list is a new header tank cap.

Does your engine have an egr cooler (i cant recall if they do),  if it does it could be leaking internally causing a loss of coolant an pressure within the system causing it to blow out of the header tank.

Another potential leak point is a corroded oil cooler leaking internally.

Only way to see if its truly a HG is to have it pressure tested which is what I'd recommend given your observations.

One more thing that's just popped into my head is on an Alhambra there is a little valve within a coolant pipe that feeds back into the top of the header tank that can get blocked - however im not sure if the galaxy is identical to an alhambra. If you can post a pic of your engine bay with the header tank in view I could confirm it.

[johnnyroper]

As above head gasket failure would be my guess my auy engine suffered the same,very common in these engines don't usually damage head though.
Always worth checking the restrictor in hose to top of header tank though as this allows any air to bleed back

[suffolkadam]

Hi and thanks for coming back to me , sorry for the delay in returning been away working up north for the past week. . I've had a look at the restrictor in the pipe to the header tank its about 1 inch up the pipe away from the t piece. only thing is though is how fast should the water return? if I rev the engine it spirts a little but other than that its just an occasional drip?... I'm now about to rip off the thermostat housing and check the water pump and thought it wouldn't hurt having a new stat anyway. but need to get sorted cos I'm off to France fishing in April and don't want to chance it with an underlying problem.
thanks again guys....Adam

[johnnyroper]

You should get a steady stream coming out of it if no air in system and restrictor is not blocked.

If you release pressure from system refit cap and run engine how long does it take to build up pressure again?
When my gasket was gone it took about a minute of running to pressurise,according to be sites the head bolts stretch over time causing insufficient pressure between head and block,my one was obvious when I stripped it the bolts were not very tight and clear path of combustion gasses between gasket and head in to cooling jacket. The head was not cracked and perfectly flat still so relatively cheap fix all things considered.

[Chrispb]

Hi Adam
What was the condition of the coolant/mix? was it the usual pink colour or rusty sludgy brown, if the latter then likely overheating issues for some time.

[suffolkadam]

Hi guys , just fitted a new thermostat and while it was out I reverse flushed the system. the stat that I removed was obviously the original it was stamped with a date. while it was out I turned the engine by hand via the crank so as to feel the water pump was alright and yes it was, I only done the cam belt and new water pump in august last year approx 3000 miles . Now what I did notice was the return pipe back to the header was not squirting water at all just a little drip if the engine was revved so I removed it and water came squirting out of the t piece below the restrictor .the little restrictor must be partially blocked I could just about blow through it but it was hurting my cheeks with the amount of pressure needed. I have now fitted a new piece of pipe but without a restrictor. what does the restrictor do and why is it there???. I have just taken her for a 20 mile run and I have noticed that my temp gauge is now sitting at 90 deg...it never went to 90 unless it was pushed hard down the motorway for a time say 85mph and would then drop down to 70. so my next question to you lovely people is what is the normal temp. .The new stat was stamped 87 degrees
many thanks Adam

[suffolkadam]

sorry Chris forgot to mention, the antifreeze/water was like new when released but had been replaced when doing the cam belt so not that old, after running on the drive for some 30 mins noted that the bottom hose still felt cold?

[Chrispb]

sorry Chris forgot to mention, the antifreeze/water was like new when released but had been replaced when doing the cam belt so not that old, after running on the drive for some 30 mins noted that the bottom hose still felt cold?

The bottom hose always feels cold on the TDI this is also normal especially if the radiator cooling fans are running

[johnnyroper]

Normal running temp is around the 90 mark of stat is doing its job properly.

[suffolkadam]

thanks for the reply john , it really is irritating cos the car starts and drives like new with no smoke and full power but obviously this problem is sitting in the back of my head so just want to sort it before going on a longish run. many thanks for the advice. aint gonna drive her till next weekend now back in the transit all week!!!

[johnnyroper]

I know what you mean, I bought mine knowing it had a coolant loss issue but seller didn't know where it was going as no external leak. I was aware the 115bhp suffers H/G failure so took a punt as was cheap. I drove it from Peterborough to Wiltshire with no issues just stopped a couple of times to release pressure and top it up. Made it home no problem and no lasting damage temp never went above 90 on a motorway run in the summer. Apart from the gasket issue they are pretty bomb proof engines.

[SilverBeast]

Normal operating temperature is 90C on the dash.  It should be pretty much rock solid at 90C when warmed up as I understand the dash software keeps it pointing at 90C when then sensor reads a "normal" operating temperature ( probably so it's easier to see when something is wrong).

[suffolkadam]

Through looking at the various posts it seems that you all agree its 90 deg normal temp . the only reason I asked is that the temp gauge on my gal never showed 90 unless sustained driving at say 75/80 on the m/way etc for at least 10 mins at all other times it stayed at 70.. since putting in the new stat at the weekend It would appear my heaters are quite a bit warmer took her for a run last night 20 miles and temp at 90 and heat was much warmer. once back home popped bonnet and ain't noticed any water in the battery tray and not a lot of pressure in the h/tank, water level correct and the water was returning through my new return pipe very nicely indeed.. maybe I need a bigger run to check but will have to wait for the week end.

[bigjeeze]

I can add to Johnny's observation that both my MK2's always sit at 90 oC once warm.  My MK1 also did.    The only time one of the MK2's gott hotter was when the Head gasket went.

Sounds like you fixed it!