Kia Picanto coolant loss

Kia Picanto coolant loss

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Collectingbrass

2,198 posts

194 months

Friday 9th July 2021
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I might get shot for this, but I come from the shed end of mechanicing... Given the cars age and mileage I would throw some Rad Weld in it and keep an eye on it. I did this on a 1.8 Mondeo of similar age & mileage and it both stopped the coolant loss and didn't seem to suffer any adverse consequences.

Going a bit further I might have changed the expansion bottle and the pump, but you say you haven't seen any signs so that might be spending money for no reason

GreenV8S

30,150 posts

283 months

Sunday 11th July 2021
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Given that it is not pressurised and is well above the coolant level I don't see how that can be relevant to a leak that shows up on the cold engine.

Given that you seem to have ruled out any likely external leaks, an internal leak seems the next most likely cause. You could do a block / sniff test on the coolant to see whether you have an internal leak in the engine.

Can you get a sense of how fast the leak is by leaving the cold system pressurised overnight and seeing how much coolant is needed to top it back up? If you're only looking for a trace amount per day, it's pretty unlikely that you would spot that since it would evaporate as fast as it's leaking so you would need to be looking right at the leak to see any witness of it.

GreenV8S

30,150 posts

283 months

Monday 2nd August 2021
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jamesson said:
He did a pressure test which showed a slow drop and his best guess is the head gasket is faulty.
If there is a leak, it should be possible to prove it by a block test aka sniff test. You definitely wouldn't be planning major work without a definitive diagnosis but I'm surprised the mechanic didn't do the test as a matter of course under the circumstances. It is quick and cheap to do.

SRAutoSolutions

5 posts

31 months

Monday 2nd August 2021
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GreenV8S said:
If there is a leak, it should be possible to prove it by a block test aka sniff test. You definitely wouldn't be planning major work without a definitive diagnosis but I'm surprised the mechanic didn't do the test as a matter of course under the circumstances. It is quick and cheap to do.
This exactly.

There are a load of other tests that can be done before you start throwing parts/money at the car. A sniff test can be done for an hours labour and will give you a better idea of whats happening and an idea of which way to go from here.

out of curiosity, what pressure was the system tested to?

Maxdecel

1,177 posts

32 months

Wednesday 11th August 2021
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jamesson said:
Hello all,
The only thing which I think is a bit weird is the neck of the expansion tank. I know it's not a pressurised system so what I'm about to explain shouldn't be an issue particularly, but there's a gouge out of the top of the neck which is something I've never seen before in other cars.
Think that cut out maybe an overflow should the expansion tank be overfilled ?

Maxdecel

1,177 posts

32 months

Wednesday 11th August 2021
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As these things do idea tend to wander in to my brain cell given due time - Water Pump ? Inaccessible to diagnose ? (guess) slight leak that dries up with eng. heat so no trace from front cover area or underneath ?
Just a thought, it'll have done some rotations during those miles.