Discussion
Went to play with the car only to be greeted with a large puddle of water to the right drivers front wheel. checked that expansion tank on the right and its empty, is normal to keep toping this tank up ??, and if so how much do put in it ??, took it for spin and temperature was steady with the fans cutting in and out at the correct temperature, no further sign of water although i havnt topped it up yet.Sounds like you have a separate swirl pot and expansion tank? If so, same as mine. If I top up the coolant (through the swirl pot and some into the expansion tank), bleed air out, etc, and then run the car for a while, I find the cooling system stabilises with the expansion tank pretty nearly empty ... maybe a couple of inches depth. The swirl pot is full to within about an inch of the top and stays that way quite happily. Obviously that means there is a little air in the system but it doesn't seem to cause any problems and the cooling system works fine.
In case you need to know, here's the rad bleed procedure...
Fill system through swirl pot filler right to the top (to remove the brass filler cap, you will need something like a 1/8" thick steel bar. A screwdriver will simply chew up the filer cap).
Fill (if necessary) the expansion tank to about half-way up - replace the blue plastic cap.
Loosen the radiator bleed screw (top of rad, again, on the right) to allow the trapped air to escape - tighten it once coolant leaks out.
Top up swirl pot to the top again and replace the brass screw.
Check expansion tank level and top up as necessary, refit the blue cap.
Run engine for several minutes.
Allow to cool (important!) then check the level in expansion tank is still as it was.
Repeat until all airlocks are removed. (you should check the level a few more times during the following days as it can take a while to remove some stubborn airlocks)
Hope this helps.
Fill system through swirl pot filler right to the top (to remove the brass filler cap, you will need something like a 1/8" thick steel bar. A screwdriver will simply chew up the filer cap).
Fill (if necessary) the expansion tank to about half-way up - replace the blue plastic cap.
Loosen the radiator bleed screw (top of rad, again, on the right) to allow the trapped air to escape - tighten it once coolant leaks out.
Top up swirl pot to the top again and replace the brass screw.
Check expansion tank level and top up as necessary, refit the blue cap.
Run engine for several minutes.
Allow to cool (important!) then check the level in expansion tank is still as it was.
Repeat until all airlocks are removed. (you should check the level a few more times during the following days as it can take a while to remove some stubborn airlocks)
Hope this helps.
Good advice to bleed the rad, and you may have to do this more than once to get all the air out.
The coolant level in my car's expansion tank remains at the seam.
I previously had to top up the tank once in a while and eventually discovered that I had a weeping radiator - replaced this and no more probs.
The coolant level in my car's expansion tank remains at the seam.
I previously had to top up the tank once in a while and eventually discovered that I had a weeping radiator - replaced this and no more probs.
coetzeeh said:
Good advice to bleed the rad, and you may have to do this more than once to get all the air out.
The coolant level in my car's expansion tank remains at the seam.
I previously had to top up the tank once in a while and eventually discovered that I had a weeping radiator - replaced this and no more probs.
Me too! The coolant level in my car's expansion tank remains at the seam.
I previously had to top up the tank once in a while and eventually discovered that I had a weeping radiator - replaced this and no more probs.
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