Alfa Pages

[mt]

As well as the oil leak i also have an intermittent water leak that i can't trace. The water seems to collect on the crossmember/subframe (don't actually know what it is) directly under the head on the left hand side of the engine so i can't actually see what's going on without taking the engine out . I've indicated the area in red on the pic, i can see the ripples from the drip but can't see the drip itself, there's too much in the way. All the pipes above seem dry, i can only think it's coming from the head! But it's not constant and last time it happened was in a car park with the engine off, got back to the car and there was a stream of water leading from under the car and it was dripping. Yet when i tried to look for the leak outside my house after i got home it wasn't leaking, and there's still coolant in the header tank.
I love 33s.
Not knowing how head gaskets work, is it possible for it to leak just water? Intermittantly? The leak is on the same side as the oil leak which could also possibly be the head gasket, but there doesn't seem to be any oil in the coolant and vice versa. Plus the engine is running sweetly.
Any ideas? Anyone? At all? Heeeeelp....

[gritsop]

Hi, How about checking the water pump? This area of leak is close to the water pump which is the first suspect.

You can take out the cambelt cover and see if there is white deposit around the pump pulley.

Just my opinion.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[tvatavuk]

Hi MT, can you see that you're loosing coolant from coolant leve in bottle, if so then main suspect is one that Gristop said, water pump.
Water pump leaks tend to splash timing belt, tensioner or both leading to timing/cam belt snap and colision of valves with pistons.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[gritsop]

Hi,

Another point I 'd like to add. Once I had coolant loss which happened from a crack at the bottom of the coolant reservoir. Coolant was dripping from it, passing under the coil and reaching the end of crossmember.

Hope this helps.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Bellamachinna]

Hi...
I also agree. If the coolant, apears on top of crossmember, your water pump must be leaking.
Leaks tend to be strange things...Sometimes they leak, sometimes dont.
(except if they are not leaks, and are holes).

Best regards
J.Oliveira
_________________
All'interno della mia macchina, vi sedete, tenete sopra e CHIUDETE IN SU...

[mt]

Checked all above the engine and no sign of any water anywhere. Just spoke to my mechanic and he agrees with you guys, which is a complete sod cos we only did the cambelts on Tuesday

I've a feeling this car is going to be my nemesis.

Thanks for your help though I feel better just for knowing.

What can i expect to happen if i drive the car as it is for the next couple of weeks? Will i just lose coolant or is there potential for the engine to self-destruct?

[gritsop]

Hi,

Its a common practice to replace the water pump when doing the cambelts.

Taking into account that a water pump costs around 40€ and the effort installing it will be included at the overall labor the mechanic will charge, one can understand that it is definately a must to replace when doing the cambelts.

Otherwise installing it independently requires taking out of the way half of belts stuff which is kind of job like replacing them (again).

Anyway, good tracing of the problems.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Bellamachinna]

Hi...

If you continue driving your car, with an leaking water pump, you can expect your engine to overheat.
If it does, there goes an headgasket....
Keep an eye on the water temp gauge, an stop the engine if it starts to go beyond 100/110º. Also, just in case, keep an "bottle" of coolant in the boot to replace lost fluid.
However, dont delay the replacement. Do it as soon as possible. The repair cost, of an blow head gasket is superior to the cost of an water pump.

Regards
J.Oliveira
_________________
All'interno della mia macchina, vi sedete, tenete sopra e CHIUDETE IN SU...

[mt]

Thanks for that, kept the distance in it down to a minimum last week and it's now at the garage for the pump to be replaced.
Was easy to keep the levels up as i only have a 30 mile round trip to work which wasn't enough for the header tank to drain. Temp never went above 90 degs in traffic, 80 degs while moving so no probs there.

[Ben_nz]

After I had my engine replaced, there was a bit of leaking from the end of the radiator hose that passes through the red circle in your picture. It leaked where it joined the radiator until I tightened up the clamp some more. The leaked coolant was visible on the front crossmember(?) under the radiator not far from the water pump, but obviously couldn't have squirted there from the water pump!

I've recently added an overflow pipe onto the coolant reservoir, because the original one was missing. Coolant would come out of the overflow hole on the neck of the reservoir bottle (why? overfilled?) and leave white deposits all over the reservoir bottle. Coolant would also get onto the chassis rail below the reservoir bottle. I thought it might be the bottle's cap needing replacement, but it wasn't.

[ak8636]

following into this...

my alfa (1.7 ie 8v, series 3) has a water leak lately.
the level in the water deposit is always reaching below the minimum (not disappearing at all)..

had the car running stable yesterday and let it reach 95-100C so i could see if anything was taking place while the ventilator was on..
It was running for half an hour and even though ventilator kicked in, could not see any water leaking anywhere and the level in the water deposit was stable.

When i started the car in the morning, i got the usual alarm and the water level had dropped!!
Cant understand why...

[tvatavuk]

Hi,
there are times when coolant dissapears in period when engine is cooling.

And if you're not lucky it is sometimes hole in engine block.
Is there any water in exhaust, is there white/brown deposit on sparkplugs?
What about oil level, I presume that there is no oil or mayoneze in coolant bottle, oil dipstick.

It can also be some other things like cabin heater.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[ak863]

no water in the exhaust and nothing on sparkplugs (but do get some water on top of the machine block) but before the water started disappearing from the coolant deposit, it had changed colour to brownish (head gasket?)..

i am planning to change the head gasket and the cambelts but was hopping to last for 1-2 months..

[tvatavuk]

Hi,
water on top of block in my case was from broken pipe that connects left and right head, and thera are also 2-3 more pipes there around thermostat that can start to leak.

Brownish color can be from gasket, but can also be from something other that oxidated iron. i.e. in case you have LPG it could be gas evaporator unit membrane crack and housing oxidation.

If it's realy gasket, then it would be wise to change it ASAP, because water & water steam can clean cylinders of oil, leaving your piston&rings metal to metal contact.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo