White Gunk in Coolant

[FAST_aD13]

For the past 3k my car has been loosing coolant, not massive amounts - maybe a header tanks worth from max to min, but i've been finding little bits of white gunk in the header tank.

So my immediate thought was Head Gasket, but everytime i check the oil its clean. I've checked the engine both hot and cold, sump and filler cap and theres nothing in there other than oil (no contaminents)

The car got its 48k interim service on sat and had the coolant changed (weirdly it only dropped 2l of coolant - is that normal!?).. having driven ~250 miles since, this is what it now looks like...

Is it the H.G or is it something else? The cars not down on power, so i'm alittle stumped

 

[mx1_champ]

whats it like on fuel ? any smoke ? the oil may always come out clean but it depends were abouts the gasket has blown... if it has .car starting to run a little warmer that usual ?
just noticed you said its losing water.. howmuch over how long ?
if it is the headgasket then there are a few quick fix's such as k seal etc but personally i would not use them, they can often cause more problems and at the end of the day its just bodging/masking a problem. better to get the head of skimmed and pressure tested then refit. use a new headgasket, and make sure you use new headbolts..they are designed for single use only and not to be re torqued up as they stretch... so reuse may blow your gasket again or rish shearing one of the bolts of in the head.

old fords used to have a similar problem and more likely than not it was just a build up of condensation, but tbh yours looks a little more than that

 

[FAST_aD13]

the cars fine on fuel - can alsmot scrape 400 miles to a tank if im light on the throttle.

alittle bit of white smoke out of the back until the cars warmed up (even now in summer)

Its used about a header tanks worth in 3k (2-3 months)

could it be the water pump - or is it more likely the HG.. no pools of water under the car when its been stood for a while.

 

[mx1_champ]

its hard to say sometimes cars do lose a little water.. i would be tempted to have a compression test and see what that brings up. when the headgasket goes it can either go a little n stay like that for ages.. or go alltogether overheat warp the head and mix coolant and oil etc

 

[rich-6]

FTR, I filled my header tank up to max, it threw it back out when it was warmed up and settles at halfway when cold, Been like this for two years, you should be investigating further into yours!

I personally would be testing the compression to see what readings you get across the cylinders, they should be within 10% of each other across the 4

 

[lemonnobby]

ive seen clios like this before i would flush all the coolant and start again and see what happens

 

[FAST_aD13]

I think a comp test is guna be the way to go.

weirdly there was less gunk in the header BEFORE it got flushed at the weekend then there is now after only 250 miles.. Also it only dropped about 2l of coolant when it got serviced at the weekend instead of 4l like it should have

 

[Riley!]

if you only got 2liters of the old coolant out the new stuff could of reacted with the old if not the same. As for it needing a top up after a few months did you 100% bleed it up properly? Could be just that its bled itself properly now and coolant has reacted . .

 

[mark123]

Looks like oil. I once had a 205 GTI that dumped all its oil into the coolant even worse than that to the point where the pipes were blocked. It had no water in the oil. It was the head gasket.

You need to flush it with a hose, IIRC only 3l comes out from the pipes as normal.

 

[FAST_aD13]

Do different brands of coolant react with each other!?

Theres a chance it might have bled itself - i fitted a new Coolant Temp Sensor a while back and didnt bleed it.. But obviously its been bled recently as it had that done with its 48k service.

So in all seriousness, undo the lowest jubilee clip and stick a hose in the header (engine off obviously), run it through then fill with water and see if the gunk comes back??

(i've never messed about with/bled a coolant system before)

 

[James23]

Think you need to take the thermostat housing off too (the 3 bolts) and more water will come out of there.

 

[FAST_aD13]

Where abouts does the thermostat live - (pictures would be ideal if anybody has some kicking about). Thanks

 

[rich-6]

I'd take all the pipes off and flush them all if it were me! Through the block and heater matrix, But i'd still be doing a compression test before that,

 

[FAST_aD13]

Ok, so i had a poke around in the engine last night and found what looked like some burnt on coolant round the back, just under the thermostat and an area where some had pooled to the left of the gearbox.

Could a leaky thermostat be to blame? I've wiped it clean and will keep an eye on it to see if it re-accumulates btwn now and the weekend.

Looks like comp tests and sticking a hose down the coolant system for my wkend ..

 

[James23]

Where abouts does the thermostat live - (pictures would be ideal if anybody has some kicking about). Thanks

Guessing from your later post you've found it but its on the right of your engine (as you're looking at it) its where a coolant pipe connects to your engine and there are 3 10mm bolts on the thermo housing.

 

[Daniel]

If the cars not overheating and not losing oil, I'd not start panicking just yet.

Me personally, I'd do what lemonnobby1 said and give it a full coolant flush and start again.

 

[FAST_aD13]

Yeah I remembered where the thermostat was.

Daniel - yeah i'm hoping its nothing to panic about... although the level of gunk is increasing since i started the post :S (the temp and oils still perfect tho). Will post up once i've fully flushed it and run the car alittle.

Is it common for Head Gaskets to go on 1*2's? I never really hear of it

 

[Daniel]

Very very uncommon for F4r to s**t a headgasket!

When was the coolant last changed? Has it been topped up with anything else lately? Your wife (or you! ) not put screenwash/power steering fluid in there by mistake??

 

[iimushroomzii]

Sorry to tell you this mate...
your car has rabies..
it'll have to be put down.

 

[FAST_aD13]

Very very uncommon for F4r to s**t a headgasket!

When was the coolant last changed? Has it been topped up with anything else lately? Your wife (or you! ) not put screenwash/power steering fluid in there by mistake??

Haha, if i had a wife she'd be allowed nowhere the f**k near it!

Yeah, i didnt think the headgaskets were a common area to fail on them

The coolant was last changed.. at the weekend, previously it had alittle bit of residue in there - but nowhere near as bad as it is now and it was drinking a small amount of coolant (check the first post for full details).

I got NWP to do it ontop of a 48k interim service: Drain, flush with water and refill. While we were waiting for the thermostat to open it did spit alittle bit of gunk up, but it didnt seam too much, so Matt wasn't too worried - now it looks like frosty the snowmans dropped his bowls in there its that bad! (all stuck around the side - no "floaters" luckily)

Maybe their coolant reacted BADLY with the previous stuff?

 

[Andyrg@ ClioTurbo]

I would just cut the chace and get a Compresion test on the engine, will save you pissing round for nothing, or get a Sniffer Test done and then this will reslove your worring, If they come back ok then id flush the system with a flush run then just put pure water in, run it too temp, let it cool and pull the bottom hose off to get the water out, then refill with coolant, id get the 5litres of pre mixed coolant renault sell for aroudn £15 this stuff had made my car run 5 degrees cooler!!!

Hope thats some help

 

[mark123]

Compression test will only tell you if one of the cylinders is leaking, not if water is leaking into the oil.

 

[joshclio999]

get a hose pressure test? to see if its leaking out of pipes or into the head... i had a similar thing before, but not as much gunk, and had a hole in the rad when was tested

 

[Gaz.]

Leak down tests are far better for diagnosing this kind of thing.

 

[Sean6545]

I would be looking at the heat exchanger (the large plate on the side of the head that carries water and oil). Iv had this problem and it was the gasket on that.

 

[FAST_aD13]

ok, so ive got the car up on stands, trying to get the clip[ off the b ottom of the rad, is it easier to do it from the top or the bottom? Am really struggling to get it off... im guessing all i do is squeeze the two up bits of the clip together wit some pliars and it'll come loose?

 

[Daniel]

Yep.

 

[FAST_aD13]

it really doesnt wana budge

 

[FAST_aD13]

SOLUTION FOUND!

After draining the coolant and popping some fresh stuff in, the gunk reappeared.

On further inspect (thanks to Ryan @ NWP) it transpired that the Water Pump gasket had failed (and maybe the water pump was dieing on its arse alittle too). Contaminents had got through into the coolant, et voila - gunk in the header tank!

So one changed Water Pump, Aux belt and Water pump gasket later and the problem has been solved - 400 miles under my belt and it hasn't come back

Thanks to the guys at NWP for fitting me in the same day and sorting it all out for a very good price!!

 

[shumoboi]

its not common at all for the f4r to have head issue's i.e headgaskets, going porous etc. looks as though theres been a reaction with the two types of anti-freeze used, flush the system and when bleeding just take off the plastic cap on the side of the thermostat housing and pour the coolant in until it pours out with a steady flow this way you wont suffer an airlock.

hope this helps, and sorts things out for you.