Post by roarr on Jul 16, 2014 15:32:02 GMT -6
Hey guys,
I'm starting to worry about my Aurora. I feel like I may have either a slow leak, the dreaded head bolt issue, or some other gasket going bad.
Some history:
Bought car in January with 141,000 km. At the time, I noticed hint of a slightly sweet smell from exhaust but there was no visible smoke, no obvious coolant loss, and a brand new VW I checked also had a slightly sweet smell, even less noticeable but then again, it was a 4 cylinder. Then I checked the forum and other members also had a slightly sweet smell but no coolant issues.
Had coolant flushed (yes, it was a flush not a dump and fill as I watched them) by oil change place for green coolant at 142,000 km under recommendation by another mechanic at a different place working on my brake lines who used one of those coolant testers and told me it was clearly pretty old and may not have ever been changed.
It ran fine at a temperature a bit over the center mark (just under it if it was highway driving) but fluctuated greatly depending on city or highway driving. Was a bit odd as I was used to cars where the temperature stayed the same the whole time but it never came anywhere close to overheating so it wasn't a big deal.
Car has ~ 148,600 km now, so about 6,000 km after the coolant flush.
About 800km ago the "low coolant" warning came on and indeed the overflow tank was clearly low.
Realizing that the oil change place probably didn't put those sealant tabs in (which it says to do on a sticker in the engine bay), I dumped whatever coolant would come out of the lower rad hose; it was rusty brown in color. Bought the tabs, crushed and put all 6 into the hose, then put everything back together and filled through the overflow tank until the level stabilized at the "full" level. Checked the next day and a little bit needed to be added but this is expected after a coolant change as it hadn't been circulated.
--- CURRENT ISSUE ---
Last morning, at about 148,600 km, the "low coolant" message came on again and, again, it was clearly low, and there were what looked like a bunch of air bubbles concentrated in the coolant in the tank. I was surprised because I was driving the car just fine the night before. I overfilled the reservoir a bit so it sits a bit higher than the full (cold) mark when cold. I know this is a bad thing but I was a bit frustrated at the time and didn't think much about it.
This morning, about 5km away from home, I was at a stop light and noticed clearly white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. The car never produced visible smoke before. I thought this was the end for sure, but then I drove off and at the next stop light there was no smoke at all. It was about 16 degrees C out so definitely not cold enough for it to be just water vapor. Could this be from overfilling the reservoir, causing enough pressure for some coolant to seep through the head gasket? I thought excess coolant would simply be vented or drain out but it's possible I suppose.
On the way back, the car completely cold after about 6 hours of sitting, there was again no smoke throughout the entire trip and the coolant reservoir was still at about the same, overfilled level.
I just drove the car very hard for a couple kilometers (almost redlining) and there was absolutely no smoke, temperature stayed just below the center point. Actually, since last overfilling the coolant, the temperature now always stays under the center point whereas before it did not. In fact, I was very surprised because when I smelled the tailpipe there was absolutely no hint of any sweet smell, it just smelled like gas.
I'm going to buy a block tester kit this weekend to find out for sure but I'm considering just selling the car as I'm honestly just too paranoid about the head bolt issue because the car is essentially worthless at that point.
In the meantime, has anyone had any experience with a similar issue or are able to chime in on what could have happened?
Thanks!
I'm starting to worry about my Aurora. I feel like I may have either a slow leak, the dreaded head bolt issue, or some other gasket going bad.
Some history:
Bought car in January with 141,000 km. At the time, I noticed hint of a slightly sweet smell from exhaust but there was no visible smoke, no obvious coolant loss, and a brand new VW I checked also had a slightly sweet smell, even less noticeable but then again, it was a 4 cylinder. Then I checked the forum and other members also had a slightly sweet smell but no coolant issues.
Had coolant flushed (yes, it was a flush not a dump and fill as I watched them) by oil change place for green coolant at 142,000 km under recommendation by another mechanic at a different place working on my brake lines who used one of those coolant testers and told me it was clearly pretty old and may not have ever been changed.
It ran fine at a temperature a bit over the center mark (just under it if it was highway driving) but fluctuated greatly depending on city or highway driving. Was a bit odd as I was used to cars where the temperature stayed the same the whole time but it never came anywhere close to overheating so it wasn't a big deal.
Car has ~ 148,600 km now, so about 6,000 km after the coolant flush.
About 800km ago the "low coolant" warning came on and indeed the overflow tank was clearly low.
Realizing that the oil change place probably didn't put those sealant tabs in (which it says to do on a sticker in the engine bay), I dumped whatever coolant would come out of the lower rad hose; it was rusty brown in color. Bought the tabs, crushed and put all 6 into the hose, then put everything back together and filled through the overflow tank until the level stabilized at the "full" level. Checked the next day and a little bit needed to be added but this is expected after a coolant change as it hadn't been circulated.
--- CURRENT ISSUE ---
Last morning, at about 148,600 km, the "low coolant" message came on again and, again, it was clearly low, and there were what looked like a bunch of air bubbles concentrated in the coolant in the tank. I was surprised because I was driving the car just fine the night before. I overfilled the reservoir a bit so it sits a bit higher than the full (cold) mark when cold. I know this is a bad thing but I was a bit frustrated at the time and didn't think much about it.
This morning, about 5km away from home, I was at a stop light and noticed clearly white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. The car never produced visible smoke before. I thought this was the end for sure, but then I drove off and at the next stop light there was no smoke at all. It was about 16 degrees C out so definitely not cold enough for it to be just water vapor. Could this be from overfilling the reservoir, causing enough pressure for some coolant to seep through the head gasket? I thought excess coolant would simply be vented or drain out but it's possible I suppose.
On the way back, the car completely cold after about 6 hours of sitting, there was again no smoke throughout the entire trip and the coolant reservoir was still at about the same, overfilled level.
I just drove the car very hard for a couple kilometers (almost redlining) and there was absolutely no smoke, temperature stayed just below the center point. Actually, since last overfilling the coolant, the temperature now always stays under the center point whereas before it did not. In fact, I was very surprised because when I smelled the tailpipe there was absolutely no hint of any sweet smell, it just smelled like gas.
I'm going to buy a block tester kit this weekend to find out for sure but I'm considering just selling the car as I'm honestly just too paranoid about the head bolt issue because the car is essentially worthless at that point.
In the meantime, has anyone had any experience with a similar issue or are able to chime in on what could have happened?
Thanks!
