Loosing Coolant
Discussion
Morning all
In the lovely sunny weather I decided to clean, wax & polish my new beasty.
Checked all the levels - all ok, except the coolant. In one week, it's dropped quite considerably. The radiator is one of the newer aluminium types (replacement at some point).
I'm going to top up, and will closely monitor, however, if this isn't a leak, what else could this be an indication of? Could it be a head gasket (ouch) issue, or is that very unusual on the 4.5?
Mike
In the lovely sunny weather I decided to clean, wax & polish my new beasty.
Checked all the levels - all ok, except the coolant. In one week, it's dropped quite considerably. The radiator is one of the newer aluminium types (replacement at some point).
I'm going to top up, and will closely monitor, however, if this isn't a leak, what else could this be an indication of? Could it be a head gasket (ouch) issue, or is that very unusual on the 4.5?
Mike
Ok, so I've topped up with water for now - there was a small amount left in the header tank, but below recommended levels obviously. Also went to Halfwits & bought some coolant of the pink variety.
Will monitor closely, and it's in for service next weekend anyway, so I'll get them to check for leaks.
Engine sounds fine to me opened her up a little bit this afternoon having refilled, and no loss of power in the mid-range, although didn't get the opportunity to get the revs above 4500 and really test her. I suspect like you say it's hose or radiator related. I did notice on the passenger side of the rad, seems to be a small rubber plug there, and it had a few drops of water on it. Could easily amount to around a litre over a week of short but frequent drives.
Have put a large tub of premix coolant in the boot just in case.
Will monitor closely, and it's in for service next weekend anyway, so I'll get them to check for leaks.
Engine sounds fine to me opened her up a little bit this afternoon having refilled, and no loss of power in the mid-range, although didn't get the opportunity to get the revs above 4500 and really test her. I suspect like you say it's hose or radiator related. I did notice on the passenger side of the rad, seems to be a small rubber plug there, and it had a few drops of water on it. Could easily amount to around a litre over a week of short but frequent drives.
Have put a large tub of premix coolant in the boot just in case.
Head gasket issues are not a common problem unlike the K series engines. Obviously they will rot as anything does but it's not a fault it's just grandfather time.
The problem with PH is two or three will post up they have problems and newbies think every Cerbera has the same fault. Treat the car with respect and it will treat you with years and years of smiles.
It was not so long ago we had comments about iffy clutches and that they kept on going.....all clutches go eventually.
As for the loss of water...sometimes cerberas can be a bugger to get the air out if not re filled properly and my guess is your just replacing air with water as the system gets its head in gear.
The problem with PH is two or three will post up they have problems and newbies think every Cerbera has the same fault. Treat the car with respect and it will treat you with years and years of smiles.
It was not so long ago we had comments about iffy clutches and that they kept on going.....all clutches go eventually.
As for the loss of water...sometimes cerberas can be a bugger to get the air out if not re filled properly and my guess is your just replacing air with water as the system gets its head in gear.
Coolant often found to be a little low in the Cerb, mine run with an almost empty expansion bottle but it never over heats, I would just let it find its own level.
Expansion bottle is of a Golf or Audi 100 or something, needless to say it was designed for a 2Ltr or there about. The amount os coolant in the VW/Audi was almost certainly smaller than in the Cerb so when they get hot and the water expands they often blow some out and find their own level.
Just run it for a bit, keep an eye on the temp gauge and expect to see it range betwwen 80 and 105, all perfectly normal.
Head gaskets are not a common weak point.
Expansion bottle is of a Golf or Audi 100 or something, needless to say it was designed for a 2Ltr or there about. The amount os coolant in the VW/Audi was almost certainly smaller than in the Cerb so when they get hot and the water expands they often blow some out and find their own level.
Just run it for a bit, keep an eye on the temp gauge and expect to see it range betwwen 80 and 105, all perfectly normal.
Head gaskets are not a common weak point.
C3BER said:
Head gasket issues are not a common problem unlike the K series engines. Obviously they will rot as anything does but it's not a fault it's just grandfather time.
The problem with PH is two or three will post up they have problems and newbies think every Cerbera has the same fault. Treat the car with respect and it will treat you with years and years of smiles.
It was not so long ago we had comments about iffy clutches and that they kept on going.....all clutches go eventually.
As for the loss of water...sometimes cerberas can be a bugger to get the air out if not re filled properly and my guess is your just replacing air with water as the system gets its head in gear.
This very much so. Always look over the simple things first. The problem with PH is two or three will post up they have problems and newbies think every Cerbera has the same fault. Treat the car with respect and it will treat you with years and years of smiles.
It was not so long ago we had comments about iffy clutches and that they kept on going.....all clutches go eventually.
As for the loss of water...sometimes cerberas can be a bugger to get the air out if not re filled properly and my guess is your just replacing air with water as the system gets its head in gear.
Phew. That is reassuring. I think I'll dona complete drain of te system next weekend, flush and refill with some new decent coolant. I think you maybe right about the trapped air. The manual has a somewhat proscribed method for refilling so I'll follow that to the letter before it goes for a service else I know I'll get stung for a coolant refill.
Mike
Mike
mickydoo said:
Phew. That is reassuring. I think I'll dona complete drain of te system next weekend, flush and refill with some new decent coolant. I think you maybe right about the trapped air. The manual has a somewhat proscribed method for refilling so I'll follow that to the letter before it goes for a service else I know I'll get stung for a coolant refill.
Mike
Having the car jacked up/tilted at the front is needed to bleed all the air out as well.Mike
In the end I didn't flush the coolant, as I noticed the coolant pipes are rather rusty, and want to minimise the chance of causing new leaks until I get around replacing them.
What I did do though was find a small amount of air in the top of the radiator, and bled it until I had water being expelled, then topped up the header tank, and now all seems fine.
Mike
What I did do though was find a small amount of air in the top of the radiator, and bled it until I had water being expelled, then topped up the header tank, and now all seems fine.
Mike
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