Using water!

fordluva, Jan 29, 9:41pm
My wifes 2.4 petrol estima has all of a sudden started using water, there are no obvious leaks, no water in the oil or vice versa,
has been idling rough on a cold start for a while and we replaced the radiator cap a few months back after the wife thought she heard it bubbling after she shut it off,
has and still drives fine since and bubbling stopped when we replaced the cap, she took it to auckland last week and I checked water ,oil etc before she left but when she got back the temp got up once she got back into town, stopped and checked the water and apparently took around 4 litres, filled it running and drove home (not far) ,
I have taken it for a run to bring it up to temp, and had it idling on the driveway for 15-20 minutes, didnt get hot (with heater on or off) no leaks ,still no sign of water in the oil!
any ideas on what to check next before I open my wallet!
1fordluva, Jan 29, 9:45pm
Could be the top or bottom tank,they are plastic and split,put your hand down the side of the radiator and see if you get water on your hands.
fordluva, Jan 29, 9:47pm
just had all the cowlings etc off to check, and looked pretty good, the radiator I would say isnt that old, (van is a 1997 so Id say its been replaced)
1fordluva, Jan 29, 9:49pm
Ok,one would think that it has a pessure leak then,water hot and vapouring off maybe!
Leave it running full of water and wait to see where its losing water!
Or see if it is pumping water also,maybe losing it from the casting hole on waterpump
franc123, Jan 29, 9:50pm
if its the old RWD Estima they were also prone to cracking the upper header tanks, where you actually top the water up, ditto the main radiator tanks, as above.Filling it right to the top and getting a proper pressure test done should reveal that, have a good look at the water pump too for any water staining as these often don't leak until the system cools down.If that doesn't show anything up it starts to look more and more like a head gasket or head crack.This is especially likely if the radiator has not had a proper strip and clean at least once in its life, and is mostly blocked.
clark20, Jan 29, 11:07pm
Don't you have to correctly bleed these if you have a leak! Take it to a good mechanic and get it pressure checked before you damage the motor.
fordluva, Jan 29, 11:17pm
yeah its booked in tomorrow, just wanted to check everything I could to rule out anything obvious
lugee, Jan 29, 11:34pm
Put that much cold water in a hot running engine!
glennm2, Jan 29, 11:43pm
Could be a blow head gasket leading into top of a cylinder. Would account for the rough cold start up.
Reason for no signs of leaks as it's getting blown out the exhaust!
fordluva, Jan 30, 1:45am
No it was left to cool first, it was running to avoid airlocks
robbo36, Jan 30, 3:05am
It sounds like the head gasket has gone between the water jacket and a cylinder, indicated by the symptoms you have described in post #1. Rough idle on startup means water is entering a cylinder when engine turned off and hot with the system pressurised. On startup it has to clear (or burn) the water out of that cylinder before running smoothly on petrol. Remove spark plugs when engine is cold and see if any are wet with water. Check on cold startup if "chuffing" from exhaust and condensation appearing. When you rev the engine while idling rough, does it sound like it is only running on 3 cylinders! Then when you sit at around 1500 to 2000 rpm does it suddenly clear and become smoother running! Hope this helps!
fordluva, Jan 30, 3:20am
Thats pretty scary, after reading your post I fired it up and sure enough there appears to be a fair bit of steam from the exhaust, be interesting to see if the warranty covers it.
intrade, Jan 30, 4:55am
estima-enema using water= water leaking on a complex idiotic cooling-system and craked head
Ideling rough= craked head. fill in irontight with no thermostatin cooling system and boil it then shut town and hope it seald the crack in the head otherwise you can tow it to the scrap metal where they all belong
intrade, Jan 30, 4:58am
If you got warrenty make sure you fill it soonest with antifreeze as when they find water and a corroded coolantsystem= warranty not covered.
otherwise they pay out if you are in luck about 4k for another engine. I knowbecause i fixed a enema diesel for a client who had 2 of the heaps and both blew up one was under warranty andhe did keep pouring in water antifreeze and radiator sealer for 4 month untill it stoped on its own with complet rooted engine.
they paid out as it still had coolant not plain water in the engine lol
andrew241, Feb 20, 1:09pm
Hi has it got a vicsous fan! we had a toyota 2lt losing water and geting hot. It turned out that the vicsous fan was not engaging because the silicone oil in the hub was old.$50 and its running mint.