HELP! Diagnosis help with water leak on Peugot 106xnd 'p' plate...VERY STRANGE..

DEBTMONKEY1A

Hello!

Again thanks for all previous advice as I'm a technical 'baby' in relation to car mechanics/diagnostics (!).

My trusty 106xnd 'p' plate is losing coolant. Usually allways a similar ammt, about a pint & a 1/2 each 52 mile round trip. heres where it gets confusing....(!) Usually no puddle on floor when checked after leaving overnight. When running NO visible leaks (checked when up on a ramp). Took it to a mechanic reccomended by our postman (nice guy-set up on his own & £20 an hour labour). The car was warmed up properly when arrivied. As mentioned-NO leak visible to me or mechanic when car running. Turned engine off....put on ramp...so about 1-2 mins from turning engine off to being fully up on ramp. At this time the water dripped out REALLY fast (again about a pint!) for one minute then STOPPED. At this stage could not see exactly where the leak was from as just dripped down from the bottom of the engine block in a 'general' way. All hoses checked as much as poss-no leaks seen. Mechanic thinks its NOT head gasket (no other signs) or core plugs/water pump (he said if it was thesethey'd be a continual leak.....) but thinks it will be 'something small/silly' thats been overlooked....

Could any of you nice people hazard a guess as to what this might be & the number of hours to fix it???

Mechanic has access to a machine to put cooling system under pressure from midweek onwards which I HOPE will fix situation...

Any ideas anyone??

P.S. Again after a run & car warm (10 miles in town driving) parked car up at tescos car park. Left car for an hour & discovered again a pint 'puddle' under car....so obviously car needs to be at full temp??

Norman_Castle

Turned engine off....put on ramp...so about 1-2 mins from turning engine off to being fully up on ramp. At this time the water dripped out REALLY fast (again about a pint!) for one minute then STOPPED.

Try doing this while looking from above. Use a torch and a small mirror. Remove engine covers etc. The highest place you find water will be close to the leak. Not sure if pressurising the system will help as its not leaking when under pressure. Its leaking while cooling down and possibly un-noticed while warming up.
Talcum powder on the engine might help.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Thanks for that.......any other ideas? My sisters B/F is a mechanic (allbeit on commercial vehicles) & thinks a gasket/seal could expand when heated-stopping leak- & as it cools (shrinking)-allowing water to leak out....any thoughts on this theory?

HiTo

I'd take a look behind the cambelt cover or maybe expansion bottle/radiator overflow pipe

Browntoa

ue to have a 106 , early ones were reknowned for head gasket leaks , often oil at the back of the engine

DEBTMONKEY1A

Browntoa.....mines a 1.5 with iron enigine.....it was the eralier 1.4d that had an aluminium engine that was known for leaks.....mechanic says fairly certain its not a head gasket leak....

colino

That type of leak sounds like a waterpump seal failure. Doesn't leak much hot or cold, but the transition between the two shows up the leak.

Browntoa

mine was a 2001 "Y" plate

mechanic I used said he saw them leaking all the time , not sure if it was Alloy engine

optimus_primera

Does it make any difference if the heater control is on or off?
ie If it does not leak when the heater is off,then you know its coming from the heater matrix plumbing.

DEBTMONKEY1A

Optimus primera.....will have to check that! However water seems to flow from nearer the front of the engine block-thought matrix plumbing was at the back?

Colino....water pump seal failure.....easy job to fix? Will it be dear? Thanbks all for taking the time to answer!

mikey72

Could be anything.
Water pump is behind the cambelt, on the offside of the car.
Matrix and pipework is at the back.
Only pipework at the front is the radiator, theromostat housing is on the nearside of the engine.

You're going to have to stop the engine, and find the water leak by eye.
That much must be visible.

The head gasket does fail, first sign is an oil leak at the camshaft end, but it can go on for years like that. Never usually starts as a water leak, if at all.