EA Guzzling water????

I hope I've put this in the right spot.

I have an EA II (1990) 3.9L Sedan. lately it's been going thru three or four litres of water a day (about every 80 k's) and the subsequent overheating is obviuously occurring. I have a new radiator and tanks only 10 months old.

I know the E series has a weakness for blown head gaskets every 100,000 or so (so I've read, anyway). But there is no evidence of this, that I am aware of. The water is clean, the oil is clean and the engine is running fine.

I don't see any water leaking or coming out the overflow when the engine is running. It's got to be going somewhere, so it must be coming out while I'm driving. I suppose. Any suggections as to what may be happening??

(P.S. I've even checked the transmission too, because I recently had a busted oil cooler inside the radiator which made the water go into the tranny, hence the new radiator, but that's all OK too (besides, after all the gallons that have gone missing, the tranny would have given up ages ago, if that's where the water was ending up).

Thanks
Steve

[gthofan]

HEAD GASKET. exactly the same as mine. sorry to tell u.
i had no sighns either, no icecream in the oil, no oil in the water. take a look down the back of the rocker cover, near the gear box. u may have a bit of a water trickle. but its filling the engine. i drove 500km's before the sighns were there!!
how is the power of the car??

[ilsautomotive]

Check for coolant stains on the block, and also start with making sure your hoses are all as new.

[gthofan]

oh and check in the passenger side footwell, toward the back and feel if it is damp. it wont be if the head gasket has gone, but if the aircon, or the heater has gone, it leaks coolant into the carpet

[naughtyfalcon]

yep,head gasket time,i couldn't find where my coolant was going either nor did any pressure test find it,but i replaced the gasket and it's been fine ever since,mind you i have a 4l from a eb to go in in a few months.

speaking of heads,is the ea and eb heads the same?

[gthofan]

reccomendation..... get it changed before you get the icecream in the oil cap

Thanks people. Appeciate the advice. I was kind of hoping is wasn't head gasket time, but I had it done about 130,000 ago, so it's probably it.

I haven't checked the passenger side carpets, which I will do. In the recent heat (Sydney), alot of it could be drying out and not be so obvious (although 3 litres a day is alot of water to hide!!??)

Thge thing that puzzles me is that the power is fine and there's no rough running. I checked the back of the head because that's where the water was coming out last time. It doesn't seem to be this time.

Oh well, looks like another $800 -$1,000 (can;.t do it myself these days, I'm disabled. I HATE paying people to do something I know how to do myself, but can't physically!!

Thanks again, people.

[Damo]

if you're located in melbourne i'm sure a few of the boys could lend you a hand. Are you sure it's not leaking from a hose or waterpump or something ? Next time you shut the car down have a good look underneith and in the bay, see if anything is evident.

I have a problem with my radiator resevoir cap in the EF. thats causing about 2 or so litres to go missing. Because it cant keep any pressure the water boils easier, and that flows out of the crack in the seal of the cap. Everytime i stop it pours coolant out. (heat soak)

[[chubbz]]

my eb is loosing heaps of water to no evidance of head gasket and cnt find were it goes any ideas (Hopes its not head gasket)

Thanks for the suggestion of help, Damo. But I'm in Sydney.

I've had as good a look around as I'm able (I can't get under the car) and the hoses all seem to be ok. The pressure seems OK too. I loosened the cap a couple of days ago when it was hot and there was plenty of pressure there (I can feel it in the hoses anyway). The cap is sealing well, too.

I'm at work at the moment, so when I drive home, I'll have a good look around while it's hot and the pressure is up and see if I can find any water anywhere.

Further to Damo's suggestion, if it ends up being a blown head gasket, I don't mind paying someone in Sydney (I'm at Colyton) who wants to make some dollars. I have a good, honest mechanic who does my work for me now, but unfortunately, he has to charge like a mechanic. Upsetting when the gasket kit is about $100 and the rest is labour.

(To paint a picture of how much good I'd be - I changed the plugs a couple of months ago. I started and made it to number 3, until I couldn't bend over the mudguard any longer. I had to do the other 3 plugs the next day! Consequently, I would be much help)

Originally Posted by [chubbz]

my eb is loosing heaps of water to no evidance of head gasket and cnt find were it goes any ideas (Hopes its not head gasket)

I've read many times that the entire E series is prone to blown head gaskets "about" every 100,000 klms or so. The write-up that I read most recently said that the worst contributor to this is not changing the oil often (I'm sad to say, due to my disability, this doesn't happen often).

I always thought that acar with a blown HG ran like a 'busted bum', and there was always evidence of water leaking (maybe not into the crankcase, but somewhere - But from what I experienced when mine blew last time and the comments of the people above, who obviously know these models better than I, this isn't the case with our nice E series Falcons.

Although, I hope yours is something a little more simple and cheaper.

Steve :

I was just thinking about what the best way to go would be if it is the gasket.

The bottom end is 15 years old and has 280,000. It's a bit smokey thru the oil cap. Doesn't blow smoke or use oil, but I can tell it's getting a bit 'old and tired' (like me...lol).

I know a full Reco long motor from Higginbottoms is $2500 (with 12 months warranty). If I end up having to find $1000 to fix just the head, would it be a better decision to try (somehow) for the full motor???

Of course, no-one can answer this question - Just thinking out loud.....

Does anyone in Sydney know of a reco mob like Higginbottoms who may be cheaper??