General Mk1 punto 1.2 8V mysterious water leak.

[pk090]

Now there is a very strange story to this......The red light came on pulled over let cool down and topped up with water as it was practically empty yet full before i started driving before. Now ive checked the water level in the radiator before every jurney to find it be practically empty so i therefore as sense provails top it up again...

No here comes the somewhat exciting but mysterious part. There is no visible water leak from the radiator as ive had the engine up to a deccent temperature and nuthing.....the oil is not creamy according to the dipstick and its not burning water as there is no white smoke. Theres no loss of power or performance and it starts first time everytime implying to me that its not the head gasket leaking..... I took it to a local garage and they said it was a bearing so they replaced this and it hasnt solved the problem.

this is driving me nuts lol and costing me loads of money.
HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dave]

are your carpets wet?

 

[5abr3]

try looking at the radiator through the front bumper grill at the bottom for signs of coolant or the drain holes in the bottom of the bumper, might be a leak around one of the seals or the readiator actually slowly leaking. Have you tried any form of anti leak products like RadWeld?

 

[pk090]

are your carpets wet?

forgot to mention that check the carpets for moisture whilst fitting my 6x9's at the weekend and bone dry

 

[pk090]

try looking at the radiator through the front bumper grill at the bottom for signs of coolant or the drain holes in the bottom of the bumper, might be a leak around one of the seals or the readiator actually slowly leaking. Have you tried any form of anti leak products like RadWeld?

i cant say i have tried any of them lol where can i get a product like this and what exactly does it do?

 

[mzhussein]

similar to an egg in the mix ( no joke my dads used 1 before) they just gunk up any leaks in ure radiator.

 

[5abr3]

Yep pretty much, motor factors tend to stock them and they have fixed hard to find leaks until iI've had chance to really look around and find the problem for me.

Holt's RadWeld comes in a small blue bottle, there are several products in such bottles including a radiator flushing agent so be careful which you get!

 

[mzhussein]

egg egg egg lol, i have used the holts 1 on cuz's car, seemed to work, nd my dad carries a bottle o holt's rather than a chicken, so probably plump for that.

 

[pk090]

yeah but i dont actually know that it is the radiator all i know that water is coming out from somewhere and the water level in the rad has gone down.

 

[mzhussein]

ok, drive it to clear dry level ground, fill the car with water (dont spill any) and see where it a puddle creates....then look up. u checked thermostat? seen a leak that wasnt obvious till i put a camera round the back...

 

[Ralf S.]

If you're really sure the water isn't leaking from the bottom of the radiator (corrosion) or a hose, then it must be going out the back.

If you don't get condensation from the exhaust (white smoke) or rough running then that's great.. but you may still be burning it.

Take the spark plugs out and have a look at them. Any plug that is cleaner than the others will show you where the coolant is going.

But.. as has been said.. jack one side of the car up a bit, get on your back and get underneath the beast for a good look. Bottom offside of the rad (away from the filler end) is my guess. That should be spotless.. if yours is a bit damp or cruddy, it's leaking.

Do you use a coolant/anti-freeze? That tends to leave blue/green or pink (depening on the brand) deposits where it leaks.


Ralf S.

 

[pk090]

yeah done this before got a few pics but ill have to wait till i get home to upload them. Looked under the car and there was a big trail going from front drivers side under the car all the way back. All the leaks come from drivers side too.

 

[towny37]

Have you checked the water pump ?, it could be leaking from there, worn bearing ,or joint at engine leaking etc.