Hi. Today my Marea totally ran out of water and I had to stop on the motorway and get breakdown to come out and refill my cooling system.

I left home and noticed the temp rise a bit but nothing to high, stopped at my daughters school and left the engine off for 5 mins while we waited for her to go in. Then got on the motorway about 5 mins after that and saw the temp shoot up (obviously caused by the engine being forced to run faster). Turning the heater on got me no heat so I knew I was out of water and hence stopped quickly and called the breakdown service etc...

Anyhow. When the mechanic got some water in my car he got it running and had a look around the engine and could not see anything obvious in the way of a leak but advised I keep an eye on it for a few days which makes sense.

So this leads me to my question. Does the Marea have any common problems with the cooling system or places it may leak from regularly? As it is hot at the moment I cannot see anything under the car as it will evaporate too quickly, so really want an idea of where to look over the weekend to see if it is anything obvious. Is there also an easy way to tell if it is the head gasket short of taking the head off (which I am not up to doing)?

My Marea is a 1.9 JTD 100 SX Weekend 2 with a Diesel engine if that makes any difference.

Any ideas on where to look would be appreciated as I have only had the car two weeks and am still learning about it.

Thanks
Max

To check for head gasket-- remove the oil filler cap and check inside the cap and rocker cover for creamy emulsified oil.should also be on the dip stick.
Also remove the water top up bottle cap and fill the bottle with water , leave cap off and switch engine on and check for large constant amount of air bubbles in the bottle if so head gasket gone.check if engine smokes on start up. If non of these are apparrent then it may not be head gasket but a problem elsewhere.
Also check in footwell for any water which may have come from a leaking heater matrix. Or maybe a leaking hose.

CLOBAK said:

To check for head gasket-- remove the oil filler cap and check inside the cap and rocker cover for creamy emulsified oil.should also be on the dip stick.
Also remove the water top up bottle cap and fill the bottle with water , leave cap off and switch engine on and check for large constant amount of air bubbles in the bottle if so head gasket gone.check if engine smokes on start up. If non of these are apparrent then it may not be head gasket but a problem elsewhere.
Also check in footwell for any water which may have come from a leaking heater matrix. Or maybe a leaking hose.

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Thanks for this I will take a look in a moment. I noticed the car smoking a little yesterday, but having owned 2 diesel cars previously I thought this normal as they both smoked a bit on starting. Okay both where older cars (an N reg Astra and an R reg Scenic) but both also ran flawlessly and I was told a smoking diesel engine is not unsusal as long as it is not bellowing out plumes of smoke - which they didn't and as best I can tell my Marea doesn't.

I made a point of marking the water level on the expansion bottle when I got home last night so I will know if it has gone down any significant amount.

If the head gasket appears okay, is there any easy way to find a leak assuming it is a hose in the engine bay or is it simply a case of good eyes and a bit of luck?

EDIT:

Checked inside the oil filler using a torch to look in and also the dip stick. Both look totally clean and free of anything. The rocker box looks glossy and black as you would expect with use, and the dip stick appeared to have just oil on it. It may be a little over filled perhaps as the oil was a little above the flattened part on the bottom which I assume is the min-max level indicator on the dip-stick.

The water level dropped a little over night and I put in maybe 100mm of water if that to bring it back up to the marks I made last night. This could simply be cooling over night I am guessing as the temp dropped by around 6-8c and the engine (and therefore water) obviously cooled down as well.

I could not feel anything in the foot wells but will double check a couple of times, and especially when I get to work once the car is hot and the water has been under pressure as that would force it out if any time I would think.

Just another thought. Would it hurt to put some rad-weld in the water in case there is a small leak in the radiator (which I notice is very hard to see), and see if that helps the issue at all? Or would you suggest something else before I do this to try and identify any possible leak?

Thanks

Max

mark the water level when the engine is cold, then check it after use again when its cold. If you mark it when its hot then check it when cold it will have dropped.

It does not sound as if you have a head gasket problem I have used Radweld in the past, and it did work then. I know it was used on a nuclear submarine before the first ever sub north pole transit..

Just a thought have you checked the rad cap on top of the expansion tank, I had to replace at least one on every Marea I've owned, on my third one now.

Notorious131 said:

Just a thought have you checked the rad cap on top of the expansion tank, I had to replace at least one on every Marea I've owned, on my third one now.

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Oddly, no. I checked it was tight but not that rubber seal was any good. I will take a look at that later and check to be sure. Thanks for the though, no harm in checking either way.

Max

Maximus what I found was that they don't perish or anything, i.e. no visible signs of wear, but they stop the system pressurising fully and the spring or whatever is init allows pressure to leak out the system and thus the water temp' increases and eventually it slowly allows the water to leak out.
Might just be worthwile replacing it as a matter of course, the JTD130 I bought the wife is begining to do this now with the hot weather, temp gauge sits just above the middle now.

Maximus, keep in touch and let us know if you find water leak problem
cheers
clobak

CLOBAK said:

Maximus, keep in touch and let us know if you find water leak problem
cheers
clobak

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I will. I will get a replacement expansion tank cap at the end of the month when I can afford it and give it a go. I know the car is still leaking water somewhere as it has dropped again a bit.

If the cap does not fix it, I will then go and get some rad weld and see if that helps. I would rather check the cap first so I can discount it if the water still goes down if that makes sense.

Thanks
Max

i had the same prob with my 405 est td yrs ago it was the head ..an internal hairline crack..

I got a bottle of Radweld today and dumped that in the expansion tank and ran the engine for 15 mins at luchtime to get it right through the engine and nice and hot.

I was loosing about 1/2 - 1l of water every 3 days before. So I will watch it over the next day or two and see if it has made any difference. If not I will speak to my nearest Fiat dealer and get a new expansion cap top and try that. If I am still loosing water then a trip to my mechanic and then to the church to start praying it is not the head going....

I will keep you updated.
Max

MaximusPrimal said:

I got a bottle of Radweld today and dumped that in the expansion tank and ran the engine for 15 mins at luchtime to get it right through the engine and nice and hot.

I was loosing about 1/2 - 1l of water every 3 days before. So I will watch it over the next day or two and see if it has made any difference. If not I will speak to my nearest Fiat dealer and get a new expansion cap top and try that. If I am still loosing water then a trip to my mechanic and then to the church to start praying it is not the head going....

I will keep you updated.
Max

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fingers crossed for you let us know how it goes max..