Could be the copious amount of power steering fluid spilt down there too.

Good news is good

It lives ...

[QUOTE=Master D;781262]Could be the copious amount of power steering fluid spilt down there too.

Good news is good[/QUOTE]

Bingo & some old oil i think too! One thorough degrease later and a decent drive and no more smoke :)

OK so I'm bored and figured i may as well put something up here for where the car is up to.

When I first bought the car the PS pump was leaking and once it was off the road for a while, Craig (spektr) managed to find a list of the o-rings to rebuild the PS pump (I'll try to find it and post it up). Ordered and once they arrived (and the regular nudge from Craig to get the PS pump out) we finally got around to doing the rebuild. All the rubber in the pump was hard and were cracking/had cracked. Total parts cost us $32 from memory for a unserviceable pump, instead of another second hand/new one for a chunk more. A couple of hours later the pump was rebuilt and cleaned and ready to go back in, then it was just a matter of getting the rest of the car going...

Next thing was the over heating issue, which is still a [B]work in progress[/B]...
Whilst removing the PS pump I realised the top radiator hose was losing coolant once put under pressure. Just squeezing it was enough to make it loose coolant. New radiator hoses and clamps. I also threw a new thermostat in as well. The car temp wise has run fine since, no issues at all on the way down to collie or around Perth on the Friday.

Issues at Collie - have no idea yet. Suspicions were initially head gasket then after some reading maybe water pump, now not sure what. Basically, the car was just pushing coolant out the overflow and I'm not sure why. May be just as simple as i overfilled it but i didn't want to risk it so got it onto the trailer and back home. Fingers crossed its a simple fix but we all know how cars can be...

So I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone that has helped me with everything thing so far!! Cheers guys.

So was the radiator empty?

Im not asking this in a rude way of any sorts, but has it been to a Doug or ASG/MMS/Galvsport for diagnosis? - you've thrown a few bits at it to no fix - and I know how frustrating that is.

G'day Lachy,

How many times did it push coolant out the to the overflow bottle? Just once or repeatedly after each run?

[QUOTE=Jezza;782180]So was the radiator empty?[/QUOTE]

No still had plenty in it..

[QUOTE=teejay;782214]Im not asking this in a rude way of any sorts, but has it been to a Doug or ASG/MMS/Galvsport for diagnosis? - you've thrown a few bits at it to no fix - and I know how frustrating that is.[/QUOTE]

No it hasn't mate but I think I'm dealing with two different issues. One being over heating (which i believe is resolved, I drove the whole way there and around with no issues till Sunday morning..) The other being coolant being pushed out. It may even be that I simply over filled it. The plan is I'll do What I can/am comfortable to do then if I'm getting out of my comfort zone I'll take it to one of the above :)

[QUOTE=nick73;782216]G'day Lachy,

How many times did it push coolant out the to the overflow bottle? Just once or repeatedly after each run?[/QUOTE]

Hey mate, didn't get a run at all but it did it did put coolant out in the late arvo of Saturday and/or early Sunday morning (first found it out Sunday morning) then again when we went to test it about midday on Sunday. I was able to really baby it into town Sunday afternoon with out it pushing any more out, but i could smell burning coolant inside the car but that may have been residue too..

using the Perth-WRX mobile app

You shouldn't be filling the overflow...

Also, how much coolant is it going through?

And let the car idle for 10-15 min. Watch the exhaust - look for water vapour

Can also look for traces of radiator stop leak etc in the header tank and on rad cap. It's a fine copper like substance that people put in problematic cooling systems.

Probably unrelated but, last sprint race I drove to the track, did warm up run, no issues.

First race run I pull in and park up, five minutes later head out to see coolant running out from under my car. A lot of it yeah, so naturally being a cynical cunt I figure my day is over and Betty is going home on a towie.

Chris Beerens and another older gent with an akubra ( can't remember his name ) came over and had a chuckle at my expense, then told me to start her up and drain the overflow down.

After that the overflow settled at normal level and gave me no trouble for the rest of the race meet. Car's temp never went above normal.

My coolant has not been changed yet due to the age of the car - long life coolant etc so couldn't really blame over filling.

Sooooooooo the point of my story. The night before I was doing my pre-event checks and was twisting the radiator cap off ( let the vacuum and gurging settle as usual ) but my phone rang and distracted me so I secrewed the cap back down before vacuum was broken.

Did the partial air-lock cause my overflow? I have no idea but probably...