The Camaro Club (UK)

So this was weird. I was driving to work and steam was coming through the right vent of the bonnet when i was coming to a stop. Checked the temp gauge and it was normal temp, about 70C. Decided to pull into a service station, opened the bonnet and steam was coming off of the rear of the engine, the majority from a small puddle of water on the exhaust header. I waited for a few minutes with the engine off while the water evaporated. Started the engine, ran it at idle for a few minutes and everythinig seemed ok - no leaking pipes or anything like that. I noticed that the sound deadening material thing on the underside of the bonnet was wet in the area that would be sitting over this part of the engine. The best explanation i can think of is that mositure / frost or whatever accumulated overnight in the material and was dripping down over that part of the engine, mainly on the header. Not had this before - has anyone ever come across this before?

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Last time I had the vapours it was blown headgaskets.......but once they're blown they're blown.

You must have something else, if it goes away and stays away........yer dun....

Probably the ghost of christmas past playing tricks on you....

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Right, we've got a problem.

Driving to my mates, M4 came to a standstill so pulled off at the junction before the traffic slowed down. Went onto A roads and at traffic lights, saw a bit of steam again. Pulled into sainsbury car park, opened the bonnet, seemed ok, looked at the back of the engine and saw water start to drip onto the exhaust. F###. What i noticed was that this time and the time i stopped in the morning, the car was higher at the front (due to the ground level being raised at the edge of the car park at each spot i was in) - hope that makes sense, in other words, imagine the car was jacked up by half a foot form the front. It seemed that this must have been pushing water to the back of the block? Hope that made sense. I also noticed the water level in the water coolant bottle was quite a bit low in the morning. I have noticed that i've had to fill it up quite a bit before. Maybe it has always been leaking a bit but just not enough to be this noticable and now it is noticable. I'll post some pics up, didn't get any when i got home as by then, as the roads were flat, no water dripped down, so i only have pics of the area affected. Will try in the morning to jack it up, start the car and replicate the issue, maybe post a video.

The water seemed to be coming from the edge between the valve cover and where it meets the engine block. Silly question and i'm a bit shaken (got work tomorrow, no second car etc.) so not thinking too straight and a bit rushed, but how could water be leaking from that part, it would be oil wouldn't it? I'm thinking head gasket at this stage? Would that leak in such an area? Couldn't could it, as the gasket sits under the exhaust, whereas in this case the water is falling onto the exhaust. It was dark so a bit hard to see, used the light on my phone to see, and it seemed to be dripping from there. What do i do

Near that stupid air pipe that plumbs into the exhaust, follow that down and back, there's the header bolt into the block and a flat part ontop of the exhaust - that flat part is where the water is falling onto. Don't know if it's coincidence but note the moisture on the bottom of the tubes above, and also on the side of the wiring plastic wrap thing.

See on the corner, the block appears to be in black paint, then there is like rust on the middle, thats where the water appears to be running down and then onto the exhaust.

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I reckon it's most likely to be coming out of the pipes to the heater matrix. They run along there and down to the bulkhead.

If you put the heater controls on cool it shuts off the flow of water to these pipes via a vacuum to the valve, try that and see if the steam / leak stops. Not ideal at this time of year, but may be the issue

Can't imagine it's a blown head gasket, the valve cover is above that. Open the oil filler and check the dip stick, any white goo in the oil?

I'd bet it's the heater hose / connection........

Sorry, meant to add. If it's that hose it'd be running off the heater hose, round the valve cover then off the lowest point at the rear onto the header. Makes sense, and cheaper / easier to diagnose and fix than the head gasket.

I just thought it might be the heater hoses to the matrix, either one is split or needs tightening.

I also thought the hot water feed was constant to the heater, just the airflow was
regulated.

Definitely water flow that's regulated. When my heater matrix split I could stop the water leaking by switching the heat from hot to cold, then start it leaking again by putting it back to hot.

The valve is controlled by vacuum / air but pretty sure it switches the valve to stop the water flow. That was the only conclusion I could come to when it stopped my matrix leaking.

Thanks for the fast and helpful replies!

I will be taking a look this luncthime, with fingers crossed for a loose / split hose.

It would make sense, as it only seems to happen when the car is elevated at the front. The country roads i go along on the way to work, there are a few steep inclines. That's when i first noticed the steam after having driven up the incline and coming to a stop (Whilst driving you couldn't see any steam). I guess that water is collecting under the hose, then it's dripping onto the valve cover (would maybe explain why the valve cover in the pic is getting a bit rusty and paint is flaking) but when elevated, it's dripping down further at the back and going to the exhaust, which is why it was noticable as steam. There are a few bits of water collected on the intake plenum (if that's the right word for it) which maybe where the water goes when the car is flat.

Will report back shortly...

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How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

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I thought you meant steamed up windows at a glance...
Just spotted this good 'cat litter in a sock' solution to condensation. http://twentytwowords.com/use-cat-litte ... -up-again/
I might try this, as I do get steamy windows as the seals are rubbish on these old cars..


Good luck with the leak, and hope it's just loose heater hoses...

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”