HEEEELP! Is my cage haunted? Mechanical opinions needed.

[Hans]

The wife's car grenaded itself in a most spectacular fashion yesterday evening.
The whole cooling system has failed in a way I have never seen before.
There are leaks just at just about every hose connection. Coolant is pissing out of the bottom of the water pump and out of a hole in the housing. The hole is circular, about 3mm in diameter and looks as if it was there before, but has no thread in it. The drain plug in a metal pipe at the very bottom of the system fell out when I touched it. The screw looks freshly corroded away, heaps of fine pitting and a bright metal surface.

What the fuck is going here? I serviced the cooling system about 8 months ago, put in demineralised water and inhibitor of a compatible type. It looks like the whole system received a huge amount of hydraulic shock. The radiator cap shows no signs of having released any overpressure, but appears functional. Any ideas how, why?

I am now facing 50hrs plus of labour to get the thing up and running. I am well and truly fucked.

BTW the car is an sw20 Toyota MR2.

[SMOKEU]

It's fucked mate.

[Hans]

I know that. I'm trying to figure out how it's fucked and how it came to be fucked, so it doesn't get fucked again when I fix the damage.

[LBD]

Sounds like you and a 1965 VW beetle would be a match made in heaven.....

On a more serious note....Check the coolant....was it anti freze or corrosion inhibitor....and when you say compatible type you need to read the lable to confirm it is suitable for engines with liquid cooled Aluminum components....

Lastly, have uyou any electrical problems or mods, that may be causing electrolysis

[Hans]

Sounds like you and a 1965 VW beetle would be a match made in heaven.....

On a more serious note....Check the coolant....was it anti freze or corrosion inhibitor....and when you say compatible type you need to read the lable to confirm it is suitable for engines with liquid cooled Aluminum components....

Lastly, have uyou any electrical problems or mods, that may be causing electrolysis

Yep, I read the label on the inhibitor, it was definitely compatible. I have no electrical problems that I know of. Funnily enough this electrolysis theory sounds kinda right. The remains of the coolant contained a fine suspension of rust that wasn't supposed to be there 8 months after a thorough flush, and stuff that I've taken out shows signs of either chemical or electro-chemical damage.
Care to elaborate on the electrolysis problem and possible causes?

[Hans]

Is it possible this has something to do with a reconditioned alternator being fitted (not by me) about two weeks ago?

[LBD]

Quite possible, although two weeks is quick...Is it an OEM alternator? EG,the old alternator may have been above ground (With its own negitive return to the battery) and the new one may rely on negitive ground, earthing back to the battery via the engine.

I cannot recall all the coolant symptoms that can be found with coolant problems and their cause...I will need to get back to my office and find the resorce material I collected la couple of years back year on the subject. (Coolant analysis goes hand in hand with oil analysis which is part of my work, except that we do not do coolant analysis so I have forgotten most of it)

Will look it up on Monday whan back at work.

PM me the coolant details.

[Hans]

It was the original alternator which had apparently been sent away, reconditioned and refitted. I don't know the precise type of inhibitor, but I'll look through my receipt to see if I can find out. Thanks for your help, any material on the electrolysis issue will be greatly appreciated.

[Urano]

don't think so, alternators has little to do with cooling sys.
more probably the pressure limiter on the circuit cap was stuck (corrosion, dirt, stuff like that...) and the circuit received a thermal shock: the pressure raised without being possible to expand and so simply "exploded"...
i think it's really gone....

get a mech to take a look

[LBD]

don't think so, alternators has little to do with cooling sys.

Then there is the truck hauling PVC tube....the air passing through the tube generated so much static that it set up stray currents that caused electrolysis in the cooling system causing leaks in the cylinder liners every 6 weeks. After the third warranty claim against the engine manufacturer, Cat sent an factory engineer to investigate. Electrical problems can very easily generate coolant problems.

Yes burning the coolant is another possible scenario, but seldom will that cause corrosion or errosion inside a coolant system.

Will get some info on Monday...the exact brand is not crucial...the info I have is generic.

[Hans]

don't think so, alternators has little to do with cooling sys.
more probably the pressure limiter on the circuit cap was stuck (corrosion, dirt, stuff like that...) and the circuit received a thermal shock: the pressure raised without being possible to expand and so simply "exploded"...
i think it's really gone....

get a mech to take a look

In this case the alternator might have something more to do with the cooling system than either of us would have thought. And I did mention in the op that the cap seems to be fine... The cooling system has always operated well and has been stable. It warms up and then temp doesn't vary more that about 5-10 degrees.

[jonbuoy]

I wouldn´t panic - sounds like the water pump has shat itself like water pumps do - its probably been slowly corroding over the last few years and has finally broken through. That hole without a thread is a tell tale for pump leaks. Replace pump and probably cam belt and tensioner while your at it, hoses might be hard with age and heat cycles. As long as the head gasket hasn´t blown you can do the whole lot yourself with a torque wrench, socket set and parts from repco.

[howdamnhard]

I wouldn´t panic - sounds like the water pump has shat itself like water pumps do - its probably been slowly corroding over the last few years and has finally broken through. That hole without a thread is a tell tale for pump leaks. Replace pump and probably cam belt and tensioner while your at it, hoses might be hard with age and heat cycles. As long as the head gasket hasn´t blown you can do the whole lot yourself with a torque wrench, socket set and parts from repco.

What he said. The waterpump definitely is stuffed if it is leaking out of the telltale hole.

[MaxB]

I wouldn´t panic - sounds like the water pump has shat itself like water pumps do - its probably been slowly corroding over the last few years and has finally broken through. That hole without a thread is a tell tale for pump leaks. Replace pump and probably cam belt and tensioner while your at it, hoses might be hard with age and heat cycles. As long as the head gasket hasn´t blown you can do the whole lot yourself with a torque wrench, socket set and parts from repco.

What he said.

Water Pump. The hole is there to deal with overpressure caused by the pump not er pumping.

When you get it back together replace the thermostat and rad cap. They're cheap enough. Plus any hoses that look munted. Do a thorough leak check especially as you said coolant is pissing out from other places.

You will only need a new cambelt/pulley tensioner set if you have to take them off to get at the water pump. Not sure about MR2s.

[scissorhands]

A pressure cap problem would have caused a blow out leak in the weakest place, only one, not the whole cooling circuit?

Check the rad caps rating as it may be too high, especially if the alternator fitting had a disagreement regarding the bill..... I wonder if you can sabotage some ones cooling system by adding stuff....

Pump will need changing....