water leak then no leak?

boydE

we have just purchased a car off ebay, my wife's uncle looked at it for us and said it was fine, no water in the oil or no oil in the water, clutch was fine, everything about the car was brilliant, even the bloke selling was really nice, since yesterday I have done 150 miles.

on to the problem, we picked the car up, 2 miles down the road I pulled over to get a drink from the boot, the wife pulled in behind me, when i looked at the car there was water over the floor, about 2 dinner plates in size, not a puddle.
When I opened the bonnet i looked towards the bottom right of the radiator and there was like a jet of water shooting from somewhere (like a pin !!!!! size jet)

Phoned the guy who sold us the car, he came out but it wouldn't leak when he was there and hasnt leaked since, i did notice some water came out of the exhaust but not a lot and again I havent seen any water from the exhaust again.

So any ideas if serious or no serious?

ps the 2 miles we travelled were full of road humps, so whether they had anyhing to do with it i am not sure.

s_b

why would you go to the bother of writing 221 words and not say what make or model?
sometimes i really wonder how this country functions

boydE

s_b wrote: »

why would you go to the bother of writing 221 words and not say what make or model?
sometimes i really wonder how this country functions

didn't think it would matter TBH but since you asked it is a suzuki wagon r+ 2000 reg, 1.3

s_b

boydE wrote: »

didn't think it would matter TBH but since you asked it is a suzuki wagon r+ 2000 reg, 1.3

its so i could build up a mental picture of the car
my suggestion if it did come from the radiator and im assuming you have re-topped up the water system and the overflow bottle to the right as you look under the bonnet also is topped up to the right level
that the seller put a radiator sealant into the system but either he didnt run the car up to temp after doing it ofr the hole under pressure got bigger leaked and then resealed itself

i would suggest you ask a garage to do a pressure test on the cooling system to confirm at 14lbs square inch that the system can hold pressure and also to check for tell tale signs of erroneous substances added to water system:)

boydE

s_b wrote: »

its so i could build up a mental picture of the car
my suggestion if it did come from the radiator and im assuming you have re-topped up the water system and the overflow bottle to the right as you look under the bonnet also is topped up to the right level
that the seller put a radiator sealant into the system but either he didnt run the car up to temp after doing it ofr the hole under pressure got bigger leaked and then resealed itself

i would suggest you ask a garage to do a pressure test on the cooling system to confirm at 14lbs square inch that the system can hold pressure and also to check for tell tale signs of erroneous substances added to water system:)

thanks, do you know roughly a cost for the test?

the bottle is half way between full and empty, can i just top the expansion bottle up with water for now or does it need anti freeze?

poppasmurf_bewdley

I once thought my Astra had a problem with a water leak. Puddle under the engine when parked. Took it to the garage and they told me it was from the condenser on the air con, and perfectly normal. It apparently gets very cold and when it meets warm air, water forms and drips off. I did feel a fool!

Could that be what's happening to your car?

boydE

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I once thought my Astra had a problem with a water leak. Puddle under the engine when parked. Took it to the garage and they told me it was from the condenser on the air con, and perfectly normal. It apparently gets very cold and when it meets warm air, water forms and drips off. I did feel a fool!

Could that be what's happening to your car?

no air con

also saw the water jet shooting, as mentioned could have had stuff added to block holes etc..

s_b

boydE wrote: »

thanks, do you know roughly a cost for the test?

the bottle is half way between full and empty, can i just top the expansion bottle up with water for now or does it need anti freeze?

a lot of places would do it for free as a service but if they did charge i would expect to pay no more than £10 remember im talking independent garage with friendly faces and local though
no corporate pants down places

boydE

i will give these a ring tommorow, see what they say.

http://www.rickettsradiators.co.uk/index.html

s_b

boydE wrote: »

i will give these a ring tommorow, see what they say.

http://www.rickettsradiators.co.uk/index.html

ideal place

Strider590

Leaks only when hot I assume? only once the thermostat kicks in to send water into the radiator?
Could still be 101 things, but my first guess would be a cracked hose (no big deal to fix).

But then again as it's a Wagon R, I wonder if there's any truth to the rumour that they fall apart and explode if driven at more than 30mph? :rotfl: