Coolant levels

[dubsey]

If the elise has hardly been run throughout the yr and the coolant levels have dropped down below min is this a sign of a problem? No gunk around oil cap etc. 05 car.

Just wondered weather it is something that will run down that much over a yr if not used too much (2k miles)

Cheers

[dubsey]

Does anyone have any ideas on this?

[jondude]

I'm not sure how official this is, but I did read once that the coolant chamber for the Elise was taken from a ( French? ) car and only when fitted did it become apparent the min line was a tad inaccurate. Rather than replace huge orders, Lotus simply advise us ( and this IS official ) to ' check the coolant level is close to the min line when cold'.

My S1 has always run levels which are about ....below the min, approx 1cm.( If I top up above the line, it throws the excess out and settles again as above - all Elises do this )

So on that basis, your sounds fine.


As for the level going down when the car is not used, this is normal - so long as the loss is slow and over time. I have water cooled bikes with small rads and they 'lose' quite a lot when parked up for months on end.

[dubsey]

Thank you mate, that is great.

[cej]

I have the same experience as jondude with my Elise. It sits just below minimum and if I try to add some it'' just drop down again. Been like this for the 2.5 years I've had the car.

[TIPPER]

Generally on K series engined cars the coolant sits just below the min level when the engine is cold.
When I first got my car I used to top it up and get worried about it but my car is fine and I think the excess coolant just gets vented out of the system. They all seem to find their own level and then sit there.
You'll probably notice that the level will rise a bit when the car is started and the engine warm.
Basically keep your eye on on the coolant level over a period of time and find the level that your car is happy with then keep a regular eye to make sure that's where it stays.

[stevo96]

Excellent thread - i was just about to sell my car due to the coolant level constantly falling to the min line after id filled it up to the max! Thought i had the deaded HGF. Phew!

[hueandcry71]

stevo96 said:

Excellent thread - i was just about to sell my car due to the coolant level constantly falling to the min line after id filled it up to the max! Thought i had the deaded HGF. Phew!

Now you can come out for a drive you miserable git.

[andy_s]

MY02, vvc, sits at just below the minimum also - kept thinking I should top it up but then noticed it didn't actually move and was left like that after two services, mind at rest, all normal.