Dacia Duster coolant leak

[jamesson]

Hello all,

I have a four year old Dacia Duster with the 1.0 turbo 3 cylinder engine. It also has factory fitted LPG.

Recently I noticed the coolant level dropping slowly but could see no visible leaks.

I took it to a mate who's a mechanic and he can't find an external leak either. Pressure test held solid.

However, with the engine running the not boiling coolant was bubbling in the expansion tank suggesting pressure coming from somewhere.

The mechanic thinks that because the LPG causes engines to run hot, maybe the head gasket has gone but he can't tell for sure from the outside.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[paul_c123]

Worth testing for head gasket failure, its a simple test after all. Did the mechanic just give an opinion without actually looking at the car??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/405402775430

I'm sure there are lots of other/better kits out there. In a pro garage you'd just wave the gas sniffer over the coolant bottle.

Edited by paul_c123 on Thursday 2nd October 17:04

[jamesson]

He did that, which was what led to the coolant bubbling.

My understanding is that it's not a foolproof test - but it certainly indicates a problem somewhere!

[paul_c123]

May I ask, politely, what kind of answer would you like from the Pistonheads Forum?

You have taken the car to a mechanic, who has eyes on the car, and has the opportunity to do diagnostic tests etc and gain a much clearer overall picture of what's going on, where do answers from the internet fit in with this?

[jamesson]

Well, you never know, someone on here might have had the same problem and be able to outline what they did and if it fixed the problem.

There are lots of helpful people on PistonHeads and it doesn't cost me anything to ask the question.

[E-bmw]

jamesson said:

He did that, which was what led to the coolant bubbling.

My understanding is that it's not a foolproof test - but it certainly indicates a problem somewhere!

The test is actually pretty foolproof, if there are combustion gases getting into the coolant then you have either a blown head gasket, cracked block or cracked cylinder head.

[jamesson]

E-bmw said:

jamesson said:

He did that, which was what led to the coolant bubbling.

My understanding is that it's not a foolproof test - but it certainly indicates a problem somewhere!

The test is actually pretty foolproof, if there are combustion gases getting into the coolant then you have either a blown head gasket, cracked block or cracked cylinder head.

Thank you, what I meant was, it's not foolproof in the sense that it doesn't mean it's 100% the headgasket. It could be, as you rightly point out, other far more serious issues!