rockthemullet

I'm leaning toward head gasket but I'd really like a definitive direction before I tear into the car that deep.

I bought the car in March, had a shop replace a fitting on the intercooler pump in April (I was out of the country and wanted it fixed). Since I bought the car, it has seemed like I go through just a little bit of coolant, topping it off maybe every 1k miles or so.

Fast forward to last weekend. I pulled the blower to install meth injection. In doing so, I probably lose about a gallon of coolant, no biggie. I put the blower back on and Mon-Wed I'm seeing cruising temps of 230°F. On Wed, I bleed the intercooler side of the coolant system and end up adding an additional 1.5 gallons in... strange. This makes me wonder whether or not the shop in April did the job correctly.

Thursday and Friday I notice my cruising temps are back down to 195-205 but I'm going through a TON of coolant, about a gallon every 35 miles to be exact. No external leaks I'm aware of, oil cap is clean and has just a hint of E85, no white or foam. Transmission has been shifting fine all week, and I have an 05 so I'm confident it's not in the trans. Exhaust smells 'different' but then again I'm on E85 running through bad cats so who knows.

Here's the kicker... the meth injection (or more appropriately the water injection, since I'm only using it to reduce IATs) is working. Without injection, a 40-130 pull would take me from 90°F to 160°F IATs and with the injection, my IATs don't move from 105°F.

If it was a head gasket:
1) The water injection wouldn't have the impact that it does. If there's already water in the combustion chamber due to an HG leak, then the additional water would not reduce IATs like it does.
2) If I'm actually dumping a gallon into the engine every 35 miles, the car would run like ****. The engine idles great and pulls normal before and after the blower removal.

Ideas?

rockthemullet

Additionally, performed some testing yesterday.

I let the car cool to ambient and removed the expansion tank cap. I then topped off the expansion tank and drove for 15-20 miles with the cap off, not allowing the system to build pressure. At the same time, I had the heat on full blast. When I parked, turned the car off and checked, the coolant consumption was very little, perhaps even just the amount that spilled over from turning. The expansion tank was steaming so I put the cap on. Five minutes later, I took the cap back off and the system had pressurized (since it was still hot) and I had gone through a gallon and a half! Obviously, if I just dumped a gallon and a half into the motor, the car would not start... turn the key and it purrs like a kitten.

Where is my coolant going?!

Mods are in my signature, the only thing not installed right now is the Shardul supercharger pulley.

vietjdmboi

So your system isn't split? Get a pressure tester and pressurized the system and look for leaks. Check the heater core to see if it's leaking inside the car.

rockthemullet

System is not split right now. I could split and add a res for the intercooler side to gauge consumption.

No visible external leaks unless it only leaks while under load.

Carpet is dry, heater core circuit isn't leaking.. at least AT the heater core.

Another idea that has come up is that my intercooler is leaking into the valley of the motor and the water is then evaporating. This is possible, and I plan on pulling the blower tonight or tomorrow... but I feel like I would notice if it was leaking at a gallon every 35 miles.

MindBend

If they didn't bleed the air properly you'll have air in the system which will eventually dissipate over time, explaining the usage.
Connect a hose from the bleed point (on the intercooler metal line on front of engine) over to the reservoir and run it for a while 'til no air bubbles are visible. You can also do it w/o running the car if you put voltage to your H/E pump.

BTW, where/how are you measuring IAT's at 230°? If it's really that high, the ECU should be shutting off the blower.

If you were putting that much water through the combustion chambers you'd know it. Any milky-looking oil?

Critter

What I would try to do to minimize the uncertainty of the head gasket is remove the spark plugs looking for a cylinder in which the plugs are clean. A cylinder that is leaking coolant will have plugs that look like they were steam cleaned. Pressurize the coolant system to say about 14 pounds and leave it overnight, in the morning check for any residual pressure. Now have a friend spin the motor over with the key while looking at the motor. Any coolant that has seeped into the motor will be shot out of the plug hole that is if the head gasket is leaking. If by chance you see no coolant coming out any plug holes at least now you can check under the car front to back to see if there is any coolant that has dripped down. Sweet smelling exhaust coming out of the exhaust in a white cloud would also show coolant entering the combustion chambers, head gasket or crack in cyl head or block, milky oil in engine or mousse in trans, or fogging of the inside of the windshield would be a heater core failure, which would drain out of the heater box out on the road.

3BNick

If there was a bad head gasket you would be able to remove the coolant reservoir cap while the vehicle is running and look for bubbles coming up into the reservoir. If that is the case it is possible the HG failed. I doubt unless you have a major leak that water is leaking into the cylinders while its running. Combustion pressures are too high for that and if cylinder pressure was low enough to allow water in the cylinder you would have some pretty nasty misfires or no running at all paired with a **** load of smoke out of your exhaust.

There are a couple of tests that need to be performed. First one is a cooling system pressure test. Make sure there are no leaks that have been over seen. also be sure to test the radiator cap. If you are losing pressure but can not find the leak, you can try adding a water safe ultraviolet dye kit and letting it circulate through your cooling system and motor and try to find the leak using a UV light and yellow glasses. Most auto parts stores sell this. Next test is to check for combustion gas in the cooling system. There is a tool made that looks like a fancy turkey baster that you place a special blue colored liquid in and you place it in the opening of the coolant reservoir. Squeeze the bulb on the tool and it will "sniff" for combustion gasses. If the blue fluid turns yellow, you have a bad head gasket. You can order this tool from some online retailers and its simple enough to use.

Good luck.

e55amgrocket

Do a combustion leak test. I would bet head gasket is leaking ( i had that problem after i bought my car too)

rockthemullet

I figured people would come in with compression/leak down, I'll need to grab the proper tools from one of my buddies.

Rocket, I've followed your progress around here, I initially planned on just PMing you with this. Since you've had the car apart, can you tell me what special tools I'll need to do the head gaskets? I'm sure there are a couple for timing but I don't know beyond that and Alldata is lacking. I assume replacement of vc gaskets, head gaskets, head bolts, timing chain, guides, and tensioners would be in order.. what else?

statepkt

My E63 just blew its head gasket.

Symptoms:
-Smell the exhaust and it was more sweet than gassy and fumes. Burning coolant
-Open coolant reservoir and you can smell exhaust fumes.
-Significant coolant loss

I did not get milky oil until just last night (final blow to the gasket I suppose) and I parked it not wanting to hydrolock.

A leak down will confirm the integrity of the cylinders. I didn't bother with the compression since I had the other symptoms.

Critter

statepkt, what is your mileage and are you the original owner, how do you drive the car? Easy or DRIVEN ! Has the engine ever been apart before. Thanks

statepkt

I just made a dedicated thread on my situation. I'll answer your questions there

rockthemullet

Fixed the problem.



While I had the blower off, apparently I was a little too rough with the aluminum tubes that run to the bottom of the intercooler. During reassembly, this clamp must have snapped, causing an external leak into the valley (only under high pressure conditions) so what I thought was an internal leak was actually just an external leak that wasn't visible. My car has 106k miles on it, and it was modded when I purchased it so who knows how many times the blower has been off. Watch this area, people! This could have cost me an engine if I wasn't constantly monitoring my coolant level.



This is the location under the blower. I threw two standard worm clamps on there to test and see if this was the root cause. So far so good, I'll be pulling the blower back off at the end of the season (we have seasons here) and fixing the problem permanently.

rockthemullet

Another update... definitely bad head gasket. I blew the end tank off the radiator doing 150 yesterday so the motor was pressurizing the coolant system pretty bad. Teardown to commence.

Critter

Whooo Hooo! That must have been interesting. Glad you are alright.
Good Luck on the refit.