So the beast has started to lose water. So far i have replaced the top and bottom radiator hoses, the bottom was split! but, still using water.

I cannot locate any water run marks or marks on the garage floor (except air con) I get around 50km before the whole radiator is empty, so its not a tiny leak. Water pump "seems" to be ok, all other hoses seem to be ok. Fans working properly.

Oil appears to be clean and not milky. Car has turned 220k so i am leaning towards water pump, but as mentioned there are no leaks visible.

When the car overheats or just getting back from a drive, you can hear steam build up somewhere around the distributor cap location (general vicinity), you can also hear water burbling around that location as well, but...i cannot see anything wrong.

BTW, this has all happened, suddenly, no pre issues at all, never overheated or used water before this prob.

SUGGESTIONS ANYBODY........

compression test the cylinders just to be on the safe side, and add some chemweld to the radiator ( available at any parts store for around 10.00) is there any sign of of water inside the car ( heater box behind dash) and double check the clamps on the hoses are tight. check your thermostat and replace the radiator cap. let us know if any of that helps

compression test the cylinders just to be on the safe side, and add some chemweld to the radiator ( available at any parts store for around 10.00) is there any sign of of water inside the car ( heater box behind dash) and double check the clamps on the hoses are tight. check your thermostat and replace the radiator cap. let us know if any of that helps

Well i have noticed on 2 occassions that the floor on the passenger side was absolutely flooded, HOWEVER, the car was parked outside overnight in very heavy rain....i pressume that this issue is a seperate "seal" type of problem. The car never has a wet floor when parked in the garage.

Maybe it's more of a case of it overheating so much that it's dumping it out of the overflow. The hose may have split due to a combination of age and higher pressures due to overheating. Radiator could be blocked, Thermostat could be faulty and stuck, faulty water pump,faulty radiator cap not hold enough pressure and the top or bottom radiator tanks which are plastic can crack.

Is the overflow bottle overfull when you get it back with no water in the radiator.?Are the temp readings on the gauge normal? There's always a possibility that you may not bet getting a true reading especially if coolant is not flowing over the sensor.

I know there's a pipe which runs in the valley under the intake plenum which could probably corrode or the O-Rings at either end could fail. Maybe there's water hiding in there. The heater core inside the car could also leak too.

Best way to find the leak or if it is a leak would be to get the cooling system pressure tested and see if it's holding pressure or it may even expose where the water is coming out of. I had a leak once in a car which I struggled to find the source. it was dripping at the back near the bell housing. expecting the worse like a cracked block I pressurised the radiator and managed to trace it all the way back to the water pump at the front but there was no water on the ground near there. It managed to travel along a well hidden path.

I hate paying for repairs but given the expense of an engine rebuild if the engine gets damaged because of overheating it may be better too get a professional look at it or at least they may do a quick pressure test for very little. At least then you'll have a starting point. If it's bubbling away and hissing this is really hot. The cooling system is pressurised(radiator cap) which raises the boiling point of water so it means it's probably more than 100 degrees Celsius. If you want to start throwing things at it replacing the thermostat, radiator cap or cleaning the radiator could be a start.

Check ever part of the engine carrying coolant with a bright torch for green residue, assuming you've been using coolant! This includes the heater core hoses, throttle body heating hoses, around the radiator cap, the whole radiator (there might be a hairline crack in a weld for example), and also check the condition and tubes etc. of the overflow tank (its more of a 'secondary reservoir'), as that can be one place people don't check and can cause the problem you are experiencing.

I'm still learning about Magna's but if the heater does happen to leak, does the leaking coolant flood the carpet or drain out the aircon condensed water drain hole (meaning it may happen but you will be unaware of it).
When I had an old Jag, you could check for leaks by pressure testing the system yourself - you just made up a plug or bung to fit in the radiator drain hole and applied compressed air (set at a low pressure or use a hand pump). You cannot (in theory) damage the cooling system as the radiator pressure car will vent excess pressure. Once the system is pressurised you simply listen for leaking air or squirt soapy water over all joints and look for bubbles.

I'm still learning about Magna's but if the heater does happen to leak, does the leaking coolant flood the carpet or drain out the aircon condensed water drain hole (meaning it may happen but you will be unaware of it).
When I had an old Jag, you could check for leaks by pressure testing the system yourself - you just made up a plug or bung to fit in the radiator drain hole and applied compressed air (set at a low pressure or use a hand pump). You cannot (in theory) damage the cooling system as the radiator pressure car will vent excess pressure. Once the system is pressurised you simply listen for leaking air or squirt soapy water over all joints and look for bubbles.

The A/C drain has nothing to do with the heater. If it leaks you'll end up with wet carpet and if you have coolant it'll proabably have a distintive odour and colour.If it's a slow leak you may not notice it straight away.

The A/C drain has nothing to do with the heater. If it leaks you'll end up with wet carpet and if you have coolant it'll proabably have a distintive odour and colour.If it's a slow leak you may not notice it straight away.

Fair enough - some manufacturers have a common drain for cooling/heating seeing as they both share the same housing plus it's a safety item to prevent the drivers leg being splashed with boiling coolant if the matrix etc fails.

Check your oil for sludge..... might be the h/g- run the car with a full radiator and check for bubbles

Just a quick update and hope for more guidance.

I managed to locate a water leak. The leak is coming from the water intake pipe and going into another hard plumb line near the air intake thingo" sorry.

So i replaced the hose, 5" little sucker. But water still pisses out of there especially when car is hot, on idle.

I have noticed today!...........

When the car is in the garage idling, the thermo fan comes on....nice.....but the water leak that was is now steam (coming from that little hose)

The top radiator hose is *** HOT......the bottom radiator hose is COLD.....weird

Water/steam comes out of the hose end with 2 x clamps on it!

I am pulling my hair out now. Any suggestions on what the cause of this could be?

Cheers


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In my experience with those hose clamps is they can cut the hose, you may have damaged the hose with them. Replace the hose, and get some of the rounded edged hose clamps.

Thanks antil33t, all hoses new..

It may well be your water pump. Just like us they tend to void their bowels at any old moment when they get old and tired. Then they come good for days, weeks before doing it again.

If one hose is really hot and the other cold then it's sounds like there is a circulation problem. Having a guess, stuck thermostat, faulty water pump or an air lock in the system, blockage. I don't know if magnas suffer air locks. The other thing looking at the second picture it looks like there are 2 clamps one end, nill on the other? Always a possibility that the joint is cracked or maybe if it's badly corroded enough the hose may not be able to seat/seal properly regardless of clamping pressure.

Had that happen to me on my old Commodore - water pump had failed. Top hose red hot, bottom cold. Both hoses under pressure. The electric fan would come on but had no effect as there was no coolant circulation and the radiator was cold. In the Commodore it was just a $70 fix, but a Magna it will be the same cost as a timing belt. I hope I am wrong.

It is perfectly normal for the lower hose to be cooler than the top hose, th hot coolant enters the radiator at the top, goes to the bottom cooled down and back to engine

The pics you showed also show that the other end of the hose has not clamp for some reason. The clamps you want are actually efi clamps, they have a tag inside the clamp to prevent cutting

DONT USE CHEMIWELD on a Magna, find the issue and fix it

Hot water passes through the housing, if you have a leak there, it could be a damaged hose, a damaged spigot, a clamp that is not holding, corrosion on the spigot, or a cracked housing. Pull the whole thing off, basically the whole throttle body, and have a good look.

The spouts are steel(?) pressed into an aluminium housing. Check that the spouts haven't come loose, and that the aluminium isn't cracked.

is that hose too large for the job? it looks like it. a large hose will never seal over a small pipe.

Make sure you check the thermostat dude, its one of the first things I check when I see a car overheating.

Thanks for the comments guys they have helped in diagnosing this problem. The car is now fixed.

At the bottom of the throttle body, there is a hard plumbed water intake.....This intake had blown a hole in the backside of it, so no amount of tightening brackets or hoses was going to fix the problem.

$150 for a 2nd hand TB (bit expensive i think, but i was in a bind) and 1.5 hours work all done and running nice again.

Cheers.

Good to hear. One of those less obvious things . That's what's great sometimes about these forums, we all benefit from other peoples issues when it's all solved.