Water leaking

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andylane1
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Joined: 04 Oct 2018, 18:38
Location: Dublin Ireland
My Cars: 2009 Citroen C5 2.0 Diesel

Water leaking

Post by andylane1 »

Hi Guys,

Firstly I want to say hi. I only bought a used 2009 C5 2.0 Diesel yesterday and I am already looking for info as I found myself at th side of the road already. Hopefully this is something small. When I picked up the car last night I noticed the temperature gauge was changing every once in a while. It was hovering around the 4 bars but would rise and fall seemingly at will. I paid no mind to it as I though it was normal for this car. I was driving it today in traffic and noticed the temp again rising and falling. Untiil finally I smelled burning coolant and the temp rose to the point where the car told me to stop as it was getting too hot. I popped the bonnet and could see mist rather than water coming from the back of the air intake pipe close to the back of the engine. However when I looked at the coolant bottle it was empty. Being close to a shop I left the car cooling and went to get some water (yes I know I will replace it with coolant but it was all I could get). Anyway I dropped 1 1.5 litre bottle into the tank and it went straight in, emptied a second one in and was a tad worried as it showed no sign of being full and I looked under the car. At the back of the engine the water was dripping out, Not waterfall like but enough to be very worried. I tried to see from above where it was coming from but could see nothing at all. I was not in a position to get under the car so I could not get a good look at where it is coming from. It took another Litre before the tank filled to the max mark and the water leak slowed. I left it to cool for a while and started the engine. Came to life and the temp gauge read 4 bars. I then drove home in Dublin stop/start traffic for the next 10km and 30 mins. As I reached home the temp was starting to rise again. Now I am not sure if it is linked but I did notice the turbo seemed noiser than earlier. I am not too sure as I had owned the car for 18 hours at this point. So does anybody have a clue as to where the water could be coming from and have I bought a lemon? Thanks for any help you can give.

Andy
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Re: Water leaking

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Hi and welcome Andy.

Sorry your first post has to be about an issue like this!

As you can appreciate, it will be difficult to advise without having any idea where the leak is coming from. For all we know it could be the head gasket, or a coolant hose, water pump.... you get my drift.

As for the noise, are you sure that was the turbo? The turbo is usually very quiet, so I’m wondering if it was the cooling fans kicking in on high speed to help with the overheating problem...

If you can get some coolant in and run the car to temperature in a safe location, then try and locate the area of the leak or any steam (obviously with caution). Photos would be helpful too and can be uploaded directly to the forum when you open the full editor and post button at the bottom of the post.
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Re: Water leaking

Post by Simple76 »

You have the right to take it back.
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Re: Water leaking

Post by MikeT »

If water from back of engine, it might be coming from the EGR cooler? Question mark as your engine layout maybe different.
If you're not familiar, the EGR cooler is a metal cylinder jacket the EGR gasses are passed through and has two coolant hoses (in & out) attached to provide the cooling.
It may be visible from underneath the car (Don't venture under without chassis supported on axle stands!) otherwise to view it from above, you might have to remove the airbox (again, your engine layout may be different) and any attached pipework.
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Re: Water leaking

Post by Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur »

If you bought the car from a Dealer, there's probably some value in speaking to the previous owner on the Log Book to see if there's a 'story' with it.

With a fault that's occurred so soon, I'd be a bit inclined to leave it alone, check my legal rights and return it to the vendor, especially if its a Trader; where you'll have more rights than privately.

Who knows whether its just a simple water leak or a whole can of worms which someone was aware of (hence its sale in the first place) potentially involving Head Gaskets and all sorts
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Re: Water leaking

Post by picassodad »

If you got the car from a dealer its gauranteed by LAW
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Re: Water leaking

Post by Gibbo2286 »

picassodad wrote: 05 Oct 2018, 10:59 If you got the car from a dealer its gauranteed by LAW


Unless you yourself are a trader. :-D the law relates to retail purchases but not to trade, there are though a great many diy dealers posing as private sellers.
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Re: Water leaking

Post by xantia_v6 »

Before going too far down a rat hole here, remember that the OP is not located in the UK.
Gibbo2286
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Re: Water leaking

Post by Gibbo2286 »

xantia_v6 wrote: 05 Oct 2018, 15:20 Before going too far down a rat hole here, remember that the OP is not located in the UK.



Here we are then xanty. :)

http://www.fanningsolicitors.ie/motor-trade-law/
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andylane1
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Re: Water leaking

Post by andylane1 »

Hello and thank you to everyone. I did not get a chance to look at the car tonight as I was up to my eyes in work. To answer some of the questions. I bought privately so I am up the creek so to speak. I contacted the seller and he was very apologetic to that a plus I suppose. I am going to truck the car to his mechanic tomorrow and I shall what the issue is. And how he is going to handle it as I really like the car. One point to note and I was not clear in the original post. When I was putting the water into the tank the engine was not running. When I got home and it was empty I dropped more water into it. again when not running the engine and it was coming out from behind the engine. This leads me to believe that its a pipe of some sort and not a dreaded head gasket or worse. I just can't get under to see where it is coming from. Hopefully I will have more luck tomorrow when I get down there. What pipes carry coolant behind the engine. It seems to be coming from the passenger side so its not the water pump. I cannot find any diagrams as to what is behind it. I bought one of those pdf's from eBay in the hope I would at least be able to see what could be around that side but it was a total waste of money. Again thank you all for your help
andylane1
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Joined: 04 Oct 2018, 18:38
Location: Dublin Ireland
My Cars: 2009 Citroen C5 2.0 Diesel

Re: Water leaking

Post by andylane1 »

Oh and the noise is absolutely the turbo. It almost sounds like a bearing quickly followed by a wastegate when I lift off. It almost sounds like there is a pipe loose. Its especially loud when its cold, and you cannot hear it on tick over or when the car is stationary, only when it is moving and under load.
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