No Water = Noisey Water Pump? Or Some Other Prob

[GTAAAH]

K so i can finally drive my car as of this sunday, but of course (2 days after losing my job and 1 after my pc breaking) the GTR has decided to mess up on me.

It was an AFM problem at first, and as soon as it started stalling after the installation of 2 pods and a catback i got out and fiddled with the wires and it came good.

However, driving up the road about 5 minutes later (freeway) and giving it a bit of stick the thing started to cut again ( i guess the wires got messed as the car internals got pushed back) so we pulled over, popped the hood and noticed quite a bit of foamy crap coming out the top of the engine

Now i'm pretty sure that there is a waterleak and the temp was still dead on middle on the gauge (water needed 1.5 L to refill) but the car started making a new noise, sounded sorta like a rubbing noise, except it seems to be coming from the head (it's not a belt or anything)

i was thinking/hoping that this noise may have been because i had insufficient water/cooling, and maybe the pump was running a bit dry?

or any other suggestions? It has never done this noise b4 and i am going crack hunting tonight to seal it up

Thx dudes

[Beer Baron]

dude, when you say foamy crap coming out the top of your engine. you mean out the top of the cam covers right? or the oil filler cap? if that is the case then you are in a world of trouble I would say most probably you have a blown headgasket. change your oil and see what it looks like, and do the coolant too.

[Granthem]

yeh probably will have water in your oil.. check under your oil cap is there any sign of water?

[GTAAAH]

dude, when you say foamy crap coming out the top of your engine. you mean out the top of the cam covers right? or the oil filler cap? if that is the case then you are in a world of trouble I would say most probably you have a blown headgasket. change your oil and see what it looks like, and do the coolant too.

Whoops did i say top of the engine, sorry i'm a spaz, it's coming out of the radiator cap (which on closer inspection is missing the rubber seal, it's an aftermarket item) the thing that worried me was that it was so foamy (as opposed to bubbly), so i was scared it was a head gasket and must be getting compressed a lil, now i'm not so sure (note, it was getting pushed and the temp gauge stayed still, even though water was down about 1.5 litres). It wasn't running coolant at the time (it had all drained out while it sat in my driveway) as i just topped it up from a jug. There is no white build up on top of the engine cap and the water seems pretty clean, no oil or white crud

A blown headgasket is what i was hoping for as i can do that myself, my dad seems to think the bubbling was just overheating/lack of fluid/afm messing around, but i'm not so sure.

I was just worried it was a bearing or something, suddenly appearing noises + rb26 freaks me out

any other suggestions?

thx guys

Edited November 1, 2007 by GTAAAH

[Beer Baron]

ok well radiator is a different story, but possibly still has the same ending. the cooling system is under pressure so it's possible that the blown radiator seal was just frothing up the water as it came out. what does the coolant (you should always use coolant BTW, not just water) smell like?

[GTAAAH]

Well it doesn't smell like burnt (my old golf did pretty badly) it smells like nothing, which is why i was sorta confused, the bubbling was there, the tapping noise is there but the water seems to be fine.. albeit a little low

I'll drain it all tonight and put new coolant in it and let it idle for a bit tonight, see if it drinks any water

I will check it all out with dad tonight and post results tomorrow but i guess any new noises from the head = bad noises, I bought the car 4 months ago, and can finally drive it on Saturday and now this happens bleh

thanks dude

[Granthem]

depending on where the temp sensor is even though the needle hasnt shifted doesnt mena damage isnt being done. fingers crossed

[GTAAAH]

K so checked this out, the AFM thing still happens but it's intermittent and if i fiddle with the wires it fixes anyway

My car bubbles out of the radiator.. but only under load, the more rev's you give it the higher the water rises and you start getting a bit of froth, my dad still seems to think it's something other than a head gasket because of the way theres no bubbles at idle at all and they increase with revs.. Also the noise only happens when the engine is cold.. Dad seems to think the noise is inconsistent with a head gasket too (it's sorta like a shuffling noise coming from the head)

taking it to protek tomorrow to get it checked out hopefully :<

[benl1981]

Mate you might be stressing about nothing. Most cars if you rev them and have the radiator cap open will give out heaps of bubbles.

The water pump is churning up the water/coolant and causing some extra water to come up through the radiator cap opening.

Are you sure that as you are doing this water isn't spitting onto the belts and causing the noise? Or that your belts are tensioned correctly?

Might want to try this:

1. Grab some silicon spray and spray around the belts and pully wheels

2. Just let the car idle with radiator cap open - allow to get up to operating temp, keep topping up

3. Put radiator cap on, take for about a 5-10 min soft drive, keep an eye on engine temp

4. Allow engine to cool >1hr..Top up before your next drive.

Edited November 4, 2007 by benl1981

[GTAAAH]

Hey yeh it could be this (the water oozes out and down and isn't hitting the belts though), i'm used to seeing bubbles when the cars on and the caps off, got worried when it was all frothy (like a cappuccino top)

It's odd also to note that when the thermostat opens the water level doesnt drop.

If i drive the car it starts frothing once it's seen high-ish rev's, if i keep the rev's low nothing will come out of the cap (which isn't sealing very well) i seem to lose about half a litre of water per drive through the top of the radiator (and i think it has a slow leak also)

The noise does seem to be coming from the head (although my first thought was the timing belt was fraying) however and only happens once the car is at operating temp, it sounds fine when it's cold, (and a screwdriver on top of the head is the noisiest)

I've just been struggling to figure it out, it only has some of the symptoms of a head gasket and seems to be coming from the top, i'm going to take it to the mech's today, and hopefully it's something like a valve sticking and the radiator problem is just because the cap is sucky

Thanks dude

Edited November 5, 2007 by GTAAAH

[GTAAAH]

just thought i'd complain!!! My stupid car stopped making the noise this morning (even though it's hot) i taped up the afm so it'd stop messing up, and even though i drove the car for 30 minutes when i arrived at the mech's it was still quiet (no noise) i guess that rules out bigend hehe.. having a comp and co2 test done though just in case..

Results came back as almost perfect for both.. mech said they have sorta noisey lifters and i was probably just freaking out, also said engine was in perfect nick which i'm happeh aboot, now i can mod

Edited January 11, 2008 by GTAAAH