golf drops its water

[jezzabell]

any suggestions about this problem wud be gratefully recieved.......if i have to drive the car slowly ...i.e. stuck in traffic after about 5-10 mins of slow driving she just drops her water, othertimes when i turn the engine off i can hear the water bubbling in the header tank.......it recently had a head gasket change, then the oil pump went and i had oil in the header tank which was all flushed thru but it does still have a slight residue, i changed the thermostat on the weekend took it for a drive and it dropped all its water again......i really dont want to have to spend loads of money in the garage............

[xenon]

Does the engine cooling fan ever kick in? Is the temperature gauge reading normal at all times?

[jezzabell]

ive not heard the fan kick in and the temp gauge stays exactly in the middle where it is supposed to be

[xenon]

The fan could be the problem then. Have you checked the fuse for the cooling fan? My only other suggestion at this point is that the fan was disconnected when you had the head gasket changed?

[jezzabell]

i will check the fuses and see if any of the leads are not connected tomorrow ...thanks for the hints........

i was going to remove the thermostat all together because i have been told you can run a car without one just to see if that made any difference

[xenon]

It is possible to run an engine without a thermostat but personally I wouldn't recommend it. Also check that the thermostat has been inserted the right way round.
Another check you could do is to see if the radiator gets hot. If it doesn't then you have a circulation problem (thermostat inserted wrong way round?).
I'm no expert but I hope it give you some ideas where to look.

[jezzabell]

i changed the thermostat and i put it back exactly the same way the old one came out so im pretty sure it is the right way around.....

thanks for all your suggestions tho im just off out to check them

[xenon]

Did you do the head gasket? I was wondering if it had been put back in the wrong way round then? I'm guessing it would have been taken out so that the system could be flushed through. Just a thought.

[jezzabell]

i'd had enough of screaming everytime i lost all my water so i put it into the dreaded garage and it was such a simple problem i cud have kicked myself for not checking it myself, the seal on the expansion tank lid was leaking causing the water to blow out thru the lid, so changed the expansion tank and fingers crossed it has solved my problem.