Rover 25 (1999 - 2005) - 02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water!

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Tue 13 Oct 2009 16:39
02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water! - TinkCymraes
Hello there!

Forgive me, but i don't know much about cars, only really the basics. I have a problem with my water. I have checked for water in the oil, it appears fine. I have checked underneath the car for obvious signs, nothing. I've checked to see any white smoke coming from my exhaust, that seems fine. The coolant has had to be filled twice in 3 days. It is a little merky and there is yellow sludge on the inside of the tank. I have just bought some K-Seal as thought i could try to see if it helps. Any other suggestions anyone?? Many Thanks
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Tue 13 Oct 2009 16:50
02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water! - kithmo
Some leaks are not easily spotted, especially if they only occur when the engine is hot. E.g. a water pump leak can trickle down the hot engine and evaporates before it can emerge from behind the cam cover and a radiator leak can similarly evaporate off the hot radiator. another water loss can occur from a leaking pressure cap on the expansion bottle, this allows the coolant to boil and evaporate off or overflow from the expansion tank.
Have a look behind the cam cover and on the radiator for rusty or green stains and check whether the expansion tank cap is sealed properly.
These engines are prone to Head gasket failure if the coolant is allowed to drop, due to the fact that there isn't much coolant in the system to start with.

Edited by kith on 13/10/2009 at 16:52

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Tue 13 Oct 2009 16:55
02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water! - Peter D
Is the header tank over pressurising. Let the engine heat up with no cap on the ehader tank then fit the cap, run at 3000rpm for 1 minute then test if the water hoses are hard. If so I suspect a HG failure. Take it to a decent garage and have the use a gas detector, or revealer to see if there are combustion gases in the header tank. Regards Peter
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Tue 13 Oct 2009 19:12
02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water! - Wurzel83
K Series Engines are prone to Head Gasket failure. Look for sludge in the filler tank, a drip from the exhaust, presure at the filler cap when engine running and Mayonase under the oil filler cap.
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Wed 14 Oct 2009 21:38
02 1.4 Losing a fair bit of water! - bbroomlea{P}
it could be the inlet manifold gasket if you are loosing lots of water and your oil is fine. If you are loosing a lot and your oil hasnt turned to mayonnaise then its worth checking the inlet manifold. Its cheap to replace and on your year car it will be plastic so well worth a look. Later ones were metal which helped cure the problem.

Any water being lost to the inlet manifold gasket will burn straight off whilst the car is running so no leak will be visible. Also replace your coolant cap - for sake of a fiver it has cured many coolant loss mysteries on this engine! The little valve inside breaks after time and doesnt hold its pressure and therefore boiling and evaporating the water in the headertank when driving
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