Where has all my coolant gone ?

[philmcw]

I keep loosing coolant. I've replaced the rad (and bled it - it is a leven rad so you can ) and top hose, temp sensor and tightened just about every jubilee clip I can find - but it's still disappearing

Is there some sort of dye I can put in the system that'll "stain" where its leaking from or does this suggest something more serious ?

Thanks


Phil

[nelly1]

If there's no visible signs of a leak, it could be the head gasket.

Your garage should be able to do a compression test to identify this as the problem.

Are there any signs of coolant in the oil?

How much water are we talking about exactly?

[philmcw]

Hi

It's "lost" about 2 litres of water in approx 300 miles.

There is no sign of any water in the oil - no creaming or anything

Thanks

Phil

[nelly1]

Sounds like it could be going straight into a cylinder.

I would definitely get the headgasket checked........

Good luck.

Neill

[philmcw]

Ta

I'll post the diagnosis

[whitey]

when you say lost, do you mean you have been filling the coolant tank up to the brim, then going for a drive then checking it again? If so by doing that it will have expanded when hot and pissed out the non required excess water and settled at the correct level. When hot are the fans kicking in as normal and it's not overheating? You should just see a couple of ml of water at the bottom of the coolant expansion tank when cold.

If this is not the case then as Nelly1 says get it checked asap.

When at the correct level it should not ever need topped up, it is a sealed system.

Edited by whitey on Tuesday 20th March 14:25

[Tuska]

Mine has never needed topping up, although i did have a faulty cap that leaked.
It is quite possible for the head gasket to be leaking without contaminating the oil. As said above, it could be going straight into the cylinder.
Fingers crossed buddy, but i would deffo get it checked out.

[philmcw]

I'm filling it up so there is 'bout 1/4 inch visible when cold.
Fans kick in at about 92 - 94 C ( one then the other) and remain pretty stable even in a traffic jam.

I'll then drive a few hundred miles - no real measure as to how far - and then just leaving it idling while I open the garage doors the fans'll kick in but temp goes upto 100 - 102.

next day its nneds circa 1.5 - 2l of the wet stuff ..

I'm going try just letting it run in the garage (again) with bonnet off before I take it anywhere - just to see... - hence the question as to some dye I could put in.

here's hoping

[billynomates]

philmcw said:

I'm filling it up so there is 'bout 1/4 inch visible when cold.
Fans kick in at about 92 - 94 C ( one then the other) and remain pretty stable even in a traffic jam.

I'll then drive a few hundred miles - no real measure as to how far - and then just leaving it idling while I open the garage doors the fans'll kick in but temp goes upto 100 - 102.

next day its nneds circa 1.5 - 2l of the wet stuff ..

I'm going try just letting it run in the garage (again) with bonnet off before I take it anywhere - just to see... - hence the question as to some dye I could put in.

here's hoping

1/2ls is not that much when the cooling system holds about 11s IIRC .

My money is on a leaky rad ..

[philmcw]

Well finally got to the bottom of this.

Those good people at Automedom have diagnosed cylinder head gasket

More time off the road - at least it's raining

[cerb]

[quote=philmcw]Well finally got to the bottom of this.

Those good people at Automedom have diagnosed cylinder head gasket

More time off the road - at least it's raining


hope you back on the road soon, colour looks mint!!!!

[optimal noise]

If you dont mind me asking how much is it going to cost ?