yiannisthegreek

Hi All,

Ok I have another question and please forgive me if this post is long, I just want to cover all the bases...

I have a 2000 V6 5 speed manual with 172000 KM (approx. 107000 Miles) on it. I have owned the car for about 4 and a half months.

I have just had the clutch done (almost full replacement Clutch, Pressure Plate, Flywheel resurface, Pivot Ball, etc) 2 days ago.

About 2 months ago I had an intake manifold gasket leak / blow on me and I had it replaced. It was leaking externally at the water jacket I was told so it is possible that it could have been leaking a bit internally as well but I dont know.

The mechanic did a complete oil change at this time, changed the gasket, replaced the antifreeze (4 Liters / Gallons) and put a new rad cap on (apparently my cap was bad) and off I went. I asked if they checked for any other signs that could be wrong in the cooling system and he said they did and all else was ok.

All seems to be fine with it pretty much as I am not overheating, no visual leaks of any kind, have great heat, etc but about a month ago I noticed that the reservoir bottle was empty (or close to it). I put some fluid in thinking that perhaps they did not fill everything properly and that was that BUT...

About 2 days ago when I drove home from work, I shut the car off and heard sort of a "gurgling" sound coming from the passenger side of the car. It sounds either like it is coming from under the dash OR somewhere not too far in the engine bay. This happened again this morning when I drove to work as well.

If I run the car with the heat on out of gear and just in idle for 10 - 15 minutes this sound does not appear. It only seems to "gurgle" after its been driven and seemingly NOT all the time.

I have read that this could be the A/C condenser draining or whatever as the Defrost / Heat in these cars also turns on the A/C but I am curious to know what else this COULD be.

I know that someone is likely to say that it could be a head gasket but like I said, the mechanic told me after replacing the intake manifold gasket that they checked for other areas of failure including heads, etc and all was ok. I have NO sweet smelling / white plumes of exhaust, NO water in my oil and from what I can tell I have no "FURTHER" oil in my water. I say "FURTHER" as before I replaced the intake gasket there WAS an oily residue in the reservoir bottle which is STILL there as the mechanic did not remove and clean the bottle (not sure if he should have or not). He also told me that I shouldnt worry about that residue as he said that they (the factory) added something to the cooling system that can cause that film as well.

At any rate, can anyone tell me what the likely cause of this is? I live in Canada and it is about -25C (-13F) here today and I really dont want to have to worry about things too much.

Again, I have GREAT heat and I am NOT overheating. Could this simply be air stuck in the cooling system?

Please advise and I thank you in advance and again I apologize for the LOOOOONG post.

Thanks,

yiannisthegreek

Oh and one other question...

The car also seems to not really get to operation temperature (on the gauge anyway) when I take it for a "quick drive" in COLD weather. And when I say COLD I mean a day like today -25C / -13F... Let me explain...

I left work for lunch and drove to the coffee place (about 5 minutes away from work). I sat in the drive thru (about another 5 mins) and then drove to a spot I like to chill at before returning to work where I stayed sitting in the car with the heat on for about 15 minutes.

Through all of the driving and sitting with the car on and heat on - about 1/2 hour total (heat was HOT by the way) the needle on the gauge never went up past the 1/4 point (approx. same point as a 1/4 tank of gas). And as I drove it back to work (another 5 min drive) the needle started to rise again and made it to the 1/2 way point on the gauge / Normal Op Temp.

I attribute this to the weather being so cold as it does not do this on warmer days. Even like -10 to -15C / 14 to 5F which is still pretty damn chilly so I am a bit dumbfounded on this as well.

Is this normal?

yiannisthegreek

Anybody? :-(

MaxOrbit

The gurgling may have to do with the temperature -25C....ugh. Have you tried shielding the rad from outside airflow? That may allow it reach full operating temp.IMO the gurgling would be air in the system. The lack of coolant in the tank sort of confirms that. It's not impossible that the new intake gasket has failed but unlikely. You could have the cooling system pressure tested and a leakdown test.

Good Luck

BTW...-25 is the reason I'm on the wet coast.

yiannisthegreek

Thanks Max. I appreciate the reply. Ya, I wish I was in BC right about now instead of Edmonton!!! Lol...

Whats weird is that when Im driving the car say for more than 15 mins straight (more cold air entering the grill) the car DOES reach the mid point of the gauge or Normal Operation Temp but when I am sitting still after a quick cruise as I described the needle dont go up past the 1/4 mark. Youd think with the car running and possibly low on fluid or air in the lines that sitting still would cause it to Over Heat but this s not the case at all... Its reverse in this instance.

I doubt the intake gasket has failed as well and I am really leaning towards there being air in the lines somewhere. Maybe the mechanic did not properly bleed the system of air when he fixed the gasket?...

yiannisthegreek

So I just checked again and the overflow bottle is completely dry and I pulled the rad cap off and you cant even see any coolant in the filler neck so it is definitely low or blocked with air.

Man, I paid close to $700 bucks Canadian to have that Manifold Gasket replaced 2 months ago and 2 days ago I just spent a Grand on the clutch. I SERIOUSLY hope that all it is is air in the system. I will be taking it there this afternoon to have them look and try and bleed out the air.

I CANT see it being a head gasket / head issue cause Im not overheating (even being low on fluid) and I have no white / sweet exhaust, no antifreeze smelling heat, no water in my oil or ANYTHING...

AAAAAHHHH!!! I paid $3500 for the car in August and I have already spent $1700 in repairs since... Why me? LOL...

yiannisthegreek

Just an update...

I took the car to the shop I had the Intake Manifold Gasket repaired at and they ran the car, bled the air and added antifreeze for no charge (thank god cause I just spent a thousand bucks on the trans the other day and its CHRISTMAS) but...

I drove it home last night and did not have the "gurgling" sound when I got home and shut off the car but this morning when I got to work and shut down the gurgle was back so...

I am going to attribute this to one of two things and perhaps someone may be able to clarify...

1. Its the A/C condenser doing whatever it does / needs to do as it is activated by using the Defrost setting and I've heard that it will "de-pressurize" and will make a noise like what I am hearing OR...

2. I am hearing the antifreeze drain back into the overflow bottle after shutting down the car and releasing the pressure from the system.

Thoughts?

MaxOrbit

Again, you should do a cooling system pressure test. The coolant is going somewhere. It could even be a pinhole in a hose. Take it back to the same shop and ask/tell them to do the test. Otherwise, you will be pissing around with it until you blow the motor.Do it and get back to us.

Good Luck

yiannisthegreek

Hey Max,

They told me when they did the intake gasket that they pressure tested the system for further leaks and such and found the system to be all good. That was only 2 months ago. And when I went last night the guy told me that he "tested" the system again after he bled out the air and added antifreeze and said it was good too so Im not sure what to do or say now.

Is it easy to pressure test it yourself?

***EDIT***

And one other thing... They told me last night also that although the top hose(s) were hot, etc that it took forever for the bottom one to get warm/hot. The wierd thing about that it that I had pretty good heat even before they did anything last night. It seems to be even better now but I still had pretty good heat so I know its not the T-Stat... Dear GOD dont let it be the heads / head gaskets...

MaxOrbit

Pressure test is simple but you need the tool. You may be able to rent one to use. It's just a pump with a pressure gauge and a fitting for the rad cap. Attach the fitting pump up to the pressure on the cap ( 15lbs) then watch the gauge .The gauge should not move.It should hold pressure. If it does lose pressure you can look to find it. You can also pull the plugs to look for coolant from a bad head gasket. I wonder if it would be better to take the car to a radiator shop for further testing.