Using lots of water ?

[Jonesie]

Could this be a bad sign?
My LCR is using alot of water....

Could this be my head gasket?
Will it be exspensive to replace

Thanks
Jonesie

 

[Willie]

could be alot of things bud. Check for coolant leaks first like drops from below the radiator and coolant hose. Check oil to see if its gone like mayonaise

 

[cupracupra]

One to try, the housing for the green temp sender, it's got three pipes attached to it and is bolted onto the passenger side of the engine, just replaced mine at the weekend, gradually got worse and worse, you need to take out the air box to get a good look.

 

[andycupra]

or the joint at the bottom nearside of the radiator. This uses a single 'o' ring for its seal and may have leaked.

If the oil has not gone a funny colour and there is no steam coming form the exhaust, (other then usual when car is cold) then its unlikely to be head gasket.

Check all pipes and radiator for signs of leak.

how much is i losing?

 

[Mylo]

jack the car up and check for drips after a drive.

Mine had a coolant hose for the turbo leaking

 

[Jonesie]

Not losing lots, but topping up every other day at the moment.
Will check when i get to work 2mrw for any leaks in the areas
you guys have told me to . Will post back 2mrw with further news
Thanks again for your advice guys greatly appreciated...as im **** with cars

 

[Muttley]

The LCR has a complicated undertray which may make it difficult to spot a slow leak. Best to get under the car, take off the tray, run the engine and have a good look. One place that's difficult to check is the cabin air heater matrix.

Drips on the drive are usually from the air cooling part of the air conditioning system, cooling the air squeezes moisture out which condenses on the cooling matrix and is drained away to drop out under the car.

The diagnostic signs of immanent head gasket failure are oil in the water and water in the oil. Water in the oil usually shows up as oil-water emulsion forming in the cam cover. Mayonnaise is an emulsion of cooking oil and water, which is why the appearance of a creamy emulsion inside the oil filler cap is a warning sign. Though this can also happen if the car does a lot of short journeys and never gets properly warmed up, simply from condensation.

 

[andycupra]

well said

 

[Jonesie]

Ok been doing some investigating ...it is leaking from the front nearside
Im taking to Seat dealer 2mrw and hoping they will sort it
thanks for all your help guys

 

[m0rk]

do you need to take it to the dealer to change a hose?

bloody expensive way of changing a cheap part

 

[andycupra]

Ok been doing some investigating ...it is leaking from the front nearside
Im taking to Seat dealer 2mrw and hoping they will sort it
thanks for all your help guys

you dont say if its leaking from a joint, pipe or radiator from the fron nearside.

so could this be where i said it may be? the pipe joint on the lower nearside of the radiator?

If there is so signs of damage it will be a rubber ring. and likely to cost pence.
You can do this yourself.
There is a tap on this joint to drain the coolant.
Then remove the joint, i think its a push fit joint held in place with a spring/circlip type arrangement.
Look inside, remove the rubber ring, (then say outloud " blimey is that piddly thing the difference between keeping coolant and losing it all?" shrug shoulders and carry on)
Replace ring with new one.

Reassemble.
Refil with new coolant and run for a bit with coolant expansion top off. (put heater on inside cabin to ensure full circulation of coolant). Top up as necessary.
Dont forget to put cap back on the coolant.

check coolant regularly for a few days to check its solved the issue.

Spend the money you have saved on something pretty.

 

[Jonesie]

Took car to Seat and they said it needs a new radiator
I did take a look at the radiator and at the top there seems to be evidence
of a leak near a pipe...brownish water stains
Should i put some radweld in to see if it helps?

 

[andycupra]

given the winter coming up id say best not bother, get it repaired properly.

Labour on that is going to be the expensive bit. So id advise going to an independant thats not going to be charging £100 an hour like a dealer. You could get a quote from the dealer and see what how long they give the job so you have an idea.

 

[LEE69]

brownish water stains

Anti-freeze leaves a white crystallised type stuff, a clear sign of leakage.

 

[markoh]

Seems to be the same problem. Can anyone post up 1M Leon's Cooling system diagram ?

 

[elviscat]

you dont say if its leaking from a joint, pipe or radiator from the fron nearside.

so could this be where i said it may be? the pipe joint on the lower nearside of the radiator?

If there is so signs of damage it will be a rubber ring. and likely to cost pence.
You can do this yourself.
There is a tap on this joint to drain the coolant.
Then remove the joint, i think its a push fit joint held in place with a spring/circlip type arrangement.
Look inside, remove the rubber ring, (then say outloud " blimey is that piddly thing the difference between keeping coolant and losing it all?" shrug shoulders and carry on)
Replace ring with new one.

Reassemble.
Refil with new coolant and run for a bit with coolant expansion top off. (put heater on inside cabin to ensure full circulation of coolant). Top up as necessary.
Dont forget to put cap back on the coolant.

check coolant regularly for a few days to check its solved the issue.

Spend the money you have saved on something pretty.

Hi, just read this post and seems I have the same problem, definitely passenger side front corner leaking from the o-ring just inside the plastic part bottom corner of rad. replaced the o-ring and still leaking from around that point, as I just noticed a small puddle with the red coolant in it again same place on drive. i'm gonna take it back off tomorrow but it had a new rad 55K ago, and all I can think is it could be rad around the same place but am pretty sure the leak is still through the new o-ring!!

any ideas?

 

[Bouncerbeater]

Hi, just read this post and seems I have the same problem, definitely passenger side front corner leaking from the o-ring just inside the plastic part bottom corner of rad. replaced the o-ring and still leaking from around that point, as I just noticed a small puddle with the red coolant in it again same place on drive. i'm gonna take it back off tomorrow but it had a new rad 55K ago, and all I can think is it could be rad around the same place but am pretty sure the leak is still through the new o-ring!!

any ideas?

If you need a replacement rad then I have one you can have cheap. I'm fairly near too