Losing water

[Kyah mckenzie]

Hi everyone I have a 2003 2litre tdi140. I had a suspected head gasket failure. I used steel seal and it stopped the smoke but its still losing water/coolant. I replaced the cap and it retained the water for longer but its still losing it. Its not coming out of the car onto the floor. It's disappearing into the engine. Please help

 

[cliffcoggin]

Kyah.

An improvement from a new pressure cap suggests poor engine cooling. Is the engine overheating? If it is then the water is probably boiling away as steam. A pressure test might confirm a leak but it could equally well be blockage in the radiator.

Are the carpets dry in the front foot well? If so it is likely the heater is leaking. It would be an expensive repair but cheaper than the alternative of an internal engine leak.

If you conclude that water is disappearing into the engine there are still several possibilities:

[1] The head gasket. A compression test should reveal if this is so.

[2] The water pump. This will be revealed by water in the engine oil forming a brown emulsion.

[3] Possibly the EGR valve which I think is water cooled. I hope somebody else can confirm this point.

[Kyah mckenzie]

On 10/30/2021 at 12:48 PM, cliffcoggin said:

Kyah.

An improvement from a new pressure cap suggests poor engine cooling. Is the engine overheating? If it is then the water is probably boiling away as steam. A pressure test might confirm a leak but it could equally well be blockage in the radiator.

Are the carpets dry in the front foot well? If so it is likely the heater is leaking. It would be an expensive repair but cheaper than the alternative of an internal engine leak.

If you conclude that water is disappearing into the engine there are still several possibilities:

[1] The head gasket. A compression test should reveal if this is so.

[2] The water pump. This will be revealed by water in the engine oil forming a brown emulsion.

[3] Possibly the EGR valve which I think is water cooled. I hope somebody else can confirm this point.

Thank you so much mate that is the most help I've been given. Thanks to everyone on here. Really appreciate all of your time