coolant loss

[SteveBarton]

Hi recently purchased 99 400 chim.Expansion tank empty,topped up to half ran 200 miles empty again.Pressure checked system,found a couple of minor leaks from hoses,tightened up.Water in swirl tank and expansion tank seems ok,no oil contamination.Car quite difficult to drive in 1st gear immediately after start up(jerky) runs brilliantly after a couple of minutes.Did notice water tended to froth under pressure(is this the swirl tank?) but pressure did not back off which might have indicated head gasket.Suspect head gasket?? Temperature guage sits under 90c when moving creeping up to 90c in town in warm weather when the fans cut in.

>> Edited by SteveBarton on Saturday 17th September 13:31

>> Edited by SteveBarton on Saturday 17th September 13:32

[Wildfire]

Mine does use water, not at a great rate, but some. But sounds like everything is normal. you could always try a compression test.

[.Mark]

Mine uses more water than oil!
But not as much as yours over 200 miles. I've had mine pressure tested and no leaks found that way but I am aware of 1 tiny little leak that I am keeping a close eye on.
Look the the radiator from behind, i.e. from under the bonnet, at the bottom left corner as you look at it. I've had 2 rads before and they all showed weakeness there and so does the one I have now. Sometimes after a run - if I remember - I look under the bonnet after 5 - 10 mins and can see a small pool of water in the tray.

The car behaves perfectly, nevers gets anywhere near to over heating, on the hottest day this year only reached 95 on the guage and it's been like it for about 2 years.

[harrow_chim]

My rad had a crack in the solder at the bottom right (drivers side) which didn't show up when cold. It used to collect coolant occasionally under the rad so I knew it was thereabouts somewhere. Been excellant since it was fixed.
Got the chap to strengthen the rad with some cross bracing as well to stop it flexing and cracking again.
Nick

[chim666]

You say the water in the swirl pot looks ok. It should be right up to the top.

To make sure there's no air in the system, try bleeding the system:
Fill expansion tank to half-way point and replace cap.
Fill Swirl Pot to top - leave cap off.
Release rad bleed valve - right-hand side of radiator - until water starts escaping (swirl level will drop). Shut rad valve, top up swirl pot and check expansion tank level - I have mine at the half-way point.

You say the water is frothy - that does sound like the head gasket to me, which could explain the poor running at start-up. Have a look at the plugs after the engine has been standing for a while to see if they're wet.

[.Mark]

chim666 said:

Shut rad valve, top up swirl pot and check expansion tank level - I have mine at the half-way point.

When topping up the swirl pot, squeeze in and out the hose going in to the top. Sometimes you'll find this pushes more air out thus allowing more water in

[parrot of doom]

IIRC Steve Heath does a simple adaptor that allows you to pressure test the system with a bicycle pump and no engine running.

In 10000 miles of running, my Chim hasn't lost a single drop of water.