Hi,
My next door neighbors called me over last week to take a look at their big
American car that was loosing a lot of coolant. Turns out that the plastic
overflow tank had a crack in it where it was bolted to the body, everytime
the coolant got hot and expanded into the tank it would all pour out in a
matter of seconds. I don't know if this is your GF's problem, but you might
want to check it out.
Good luck,
Robert Weeks
Durham NC
1969 Midget
1968-70 Abitza
http://www.woozy.com/midget/
At 10:22 AM -0500 6/5/98, dereck.carey@cdsi.com wrote:
> My girlfriend's car, not a MG (imagine it is), is losing lots and lots
> of coolant everytime it is driven within the first 15 minutes. Here
> are the steps I have taken so far.
>
> 1 Refill the coolant everytime!
> 2 Replaced thermostat with lower temp unit
> 3 Checked to see if electric fan kicks in.
> 4 Replaced the upper hose and Radiator cap.
> 5 Emptied a full bottle of Barr's into radiator (1/2 at a time)
>
> After each of these steps I refilled the system and the same result.
> Loss of half of the radiator fluid. This last time after applying
> Barr's wonder mix the system was so dry that a vacuum occurred strong
> enough to collapse the upper and lower hoses and making it difficult
> to remove the cap (looked like someone sucking all the air out a
> drinking straw). I never noticed any excessive smoke from the rear of
> the car, however this is a small displacement engine (not much exhaust
> when normal). I did notice a teaspoon of water in the exhaust pipe.
> All this and there is no water in the oil. I plan on doing a pressure
> test next.
>
> Is the head gasket shot?
> Is the cylinder head cracked (vacuum, clean oil)?
> Other ideas?
> Anyone have experience replacing the head gasket on a 94 Geo Metro?
> :(
>
> Thanks for the help. Bye Bye weekend!
>
> Dereck
>
> 70 MGB (desperately waiting to be worked on)
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