Losing water but where?
Discussion
Ive got a 1.6t corsa d and about a month or so ago i had cold air coming through on hot setting which i thought the heating matrix went but it wasnt when i checked under the bonnet it was low on water. Having topped up the coolant the heating came back on but everytime i started the car i hear some sort of flushing (like when a sink empties the last bit of water) which i hadnt heard before but had stopped this week.
I done my monthly check on the oil today and noticed the water in the coolant bottle was near enough empty which aint normal. I filled it up to the maximum point, drove roughly 8 miles to the inlaws and let the car settle for half hour, checked it, waters gone down by half. Ive checked under the rad for water but dont see anything or feel wetness on the inside bumper.
Anyone had this problem with a corsa or another car?
I done my monthly check on the oil today and noticed the water in the coolant bottle was near enough empty which aint normal. I filled it up to the maximum point, drove roughly 8 miles to the inlaws and let the car settle for half hour, checked it, waters gone down by half. Ive checked under the rad for water but dont see anything or feel wetness on the inside bumper.
Anyone had this problem with a corsa or another car?
JDR33 said:
Ive got a 1.6t corsa d and about a month or so ago i had cold air coming through on hot setting which i thought the heating matrix went but it wasnt when i checked under the bonnet it was low on water. Having topped up the coolant the heating came back on but everytime i started the car i hear some sort of flushing (like when a sink empties the last bit of water) which i hadnt heard before but had stopped this week.
I done my monthly check on the oil today and noticed the water in the coolant bottle was near enough empty which aint normal. I filled it up to the maximum point, drove roughly 8 miles to the inlaws and let the car settle for half hour, checked it, waters gone down by half. Ive checked under the rad for water but dont see anything or feel wetness on the inside bumper.
Anyone had this problem with a corsa or another car?
Whatever the original problem was, after running the level down (which is why the heater went cold - just air in it...), you'll very likely have killed the head gasket.I done my monthly check on the oil today and noticed the water in the coolant bottle was near enough empty which aint normal. I filled it up to the maximum point, drove roughly 8 miles to the inlaws and let the car settle for half hour, checked it, waters gone down by half. Ive checked under the rad for water but dont see anything or feel wetness on the inside bumper.
Anyone had this problem with a corsa or another car?
It's possible that when you filled it, there was air somewhere, which worked its way out while you were driving - that might have been what you could hear. Fill it, run it up to full temp (so the fan comes on), and see what happens with the level. You may also see a pinhole leak somewhere that's spraying coolant out. While you're figuring it out, it's not the end of the world to run on neat or near-neat water, but you definitely want to make sure it's the right mix at the end of it all - coolant is not just "antifreeze", it's corrosion inhibitor, too.
You might like to increase the frequency of those fluid level checks...
TooMany2cvs said:
Whatever the original problem was, after running the level down (which is why the heater went cold - just air in it...), you'll very likely have killed the head gasket.
It's possible that when you filled it, there was air somewhere, which worked its way out while you were driving - that might have been what you could hear. Fill it, run it up to full temp (so the fan comes on), and see what happens with the level. You may also see a pinhole leak somewhere that's spraying coolant out. While you're figuring it out, it's not the end of the world to run on neat or near-neat water, but you definitely want to make sure it's the right mix at the end of it all - coolant is not just "antifreeze", it's corrosion inhibitor, too.
You might like to increase the frequency of those fluid level checks...
I have filled up the coolant and watched the water level with the engine running, everything was normal level until the fan came on and it dropped at a steady pace until the fan stopped. The water slowly went back to normal level and repeated itself when the fan come on again.It's possible that when you filled it, there was air somewhere, which worked its way out while you were driving - that might have been what you could hear. Fill it, run it up to full temp (so the fan comes on), and see what happens with the level. You may also see a pinhole leak somewhere that's spraying coolant out. While you're figuring it out, it's not the end of the world to run on neat or near-neat water, but you definitely want to make sure it's the right mix at the end of it all - coolant is not just "antifreeze", it's corrosion inhibitor, too.
You might like to increase the frequency of those fluid level checks...
From this point i turned off the engine and a few air bubbles came up in the bottle to which the level now is sitting at 3/4. I will let the engine cool for an hour and check again.
Running that low on coolant may well have damaged the heads - especially the shock if you fill it with cold water before it had the chance to cool down. Perhaps you have got away with it. The noises suggest you had an air lock. This is pretty common when the engine has been [re]filled and some engines need particular steps taken to get rid of it. Even on engines that self bleed, it can often take weeks or months for all the air to come out. Quite possibly this is what has happened to yours, and the apparent coolant loss is just the system taking in water to replace the air that it has bled out. In the best case, it will eventually expel all the air, the funny gurgling noises will stop and it will settle at a steady coolant level. In that case you got away with it. If the coolant loss continues, you may need to pressure test the cooling system and give it a sniff test to see whether it has a head gasket failure.
JDR33 said:
I have lost a little more coolant since engine switch off an hour ago.
Something's definitely not happy.Carpets wet?
You certainly want to get it pressure-tested.
JDR33 said:
Is this normal though for an 08 plate at 41k?
It's damn near a decade old. Problems are to be expected. Perhaps if it had had more use...JDR33 said:
everything was normal level until the fan came on and it dropped at a steady pace until the fan stopped. The water slowly went back to normal level and repeated itself when the fan come on again.
It COULD just be that this rise & fall of level is due to the rise & fall of temperature in the coolant & is therefore quite normal.I suspect your original fault was just caused by the water being low and the gurgling (as was mentioned above) was caused by an airlock working its way out after you filled up.
"I have lost a little more coolant since engine switch off an hour ago."
Once again this COULD just be corresponding to the temperature drop.
What you need to do is to let the car fully cool down, top up the water to a specific level such as "MAX" then run it fully up to temperature & see where it goes up to, allow it to fully cool down again & see if it comes down to the same level.
If it does try again over longer time/distance & see what happens again.
Thanks for your comments guys it all makes a lot of sense. I have just drove another 12 miles roughly and the coolant bottle seems to be the same level (3/4) and a few air bubbles have rose at engine switch off.
I have had water on my carpet but only because its been sat on my door sill from the rain which i got to spend £30 for a new sill... i only bought the car february to have something decent from a crappy golf i had and still problems occur... i must have bad luck with cars even though i look after them.
I have had water on my carpet but only because its been sat on my door sill from the rain which i got to spend £30 for a new sill... i only bought the car february to have something decent from a crappy golf i had and still problems occur... i must have bad luck with cars even though i look after them.
This is really interesting. I have bought a 65 plat 1.4 Turbo limited edition 2 weeks ago and after 1 1/2 weeks the engine temperature light came on. I have found that the coolant was pretty much empty and have a gurgle that sounds like it coming for the glove box area. I have topped the coolant up and ran the engine for half an hour - appears to be OK. Now waiting for it to cool down before I check again. I hope this is not a head gasket job!
AngusChumbley said:
This is really interesting. I have bought a 65 plat 1.4 Turbo limited edition 2 weeks ago and after 1 1/2 weeks the engine temperature light came on. I have found that the coolant was pretty much empty and have a gurgle that sounds like it coming for the glove box area. I have topped the coolant up and ran the engine for half an hour - appears to be OK. Now waiting for it to cool down before I check again. I hope this is not a head gasket job!
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