Corsa C coolant leak ?

My son's corsa C 1.2L 16V SXi has been suffering from a loss of coolant plus you see a "mayonnaise" like substance when you remove the oil cap, which looks like emulsified oil. The oil level is ok, but the oil pressure light does flash on/off occasionally while driving along. He mainly does lots of very short journeys. I suspected a head gasket problem so we took it to the our local garage who did a coolant pressure test but couldn't find any problems. Does anyone have any ideas what is causing this problem ? What other tests we can try to identify the problem ?

Reply to
TonyB
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Compression test? Oil pressure test?

Reply to
The Revd

vauxhall's do suffer from the "mayonnaise" problem in the oil filler cap. you say they did a coolant pressure test or did you mean a cylinder head combustion leak test ? you can buy the kit on ebay

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,bit of an over kill though if your only going to use it the once. but the garage should have the kit to do this.try putting a piece of cardboard underneath the car after it has been run & re-check it in the morning, that way if you get any water patches you will have an idea where its come from, it may well be the water pump leaking after the engine has cooled down.

Reply to
reg

You often get mayonnaise at the oil filler especially with short drives. It doesn't get hot enough to boil off the moisture. Providing the oil is fine on the dipstick it's ok.

What's the oil level like? It's the first thing to check if the oil pressure light is flashing, especially on cornering.

Look for water leaks while the engine is running. Sometimes they can leak at a join when cold or when hot. Also the pressure cap on the filler bottle can fail and allow water vapour to escape. You are using the correct mix of anti-freeze and water to top it up I hope. If the anti-freeze concentration gets low it can cause all sorts of problems since it contains anti-corrosion additives as well.

How much coolant is it loosing by the way?

Reply to
rp

Ignoring the other symptoms for now, have you checked the heater matrix for leaks? Just changed one for a relative and was told by the parts place they are a commonly sold item for the Corsa C...

Reply to
Lee

I wonder where the coolant is leaking from. Could be worth checking the likely suspects, I'm no expert I might add. I'd start looking at the radiator, hoses, thermostat housing, coolant temp sensor, also if the seals on the coolant cap are in tact as when pressure builds up it can leak out of that if the seals or lid are past it. (not vehicle specific) just what I usually look at.

Reply to
Jeff

Radiator on mine had a small weep that took me ages to find.

IIRC it was on the bracket at the top FNS it only weeped when hot (and probably only then when vibrated.

Changing Rad was a peice of cake, just check the cast brackets before you start. They are cheap as chips anyway.

Reply to
Tom Burton

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