Loosing coolant somewhere??

[tentonhammer 10]

I have to fill up the coolant tank every 3-4 weeks or it'll run dry and warning light on dash comes on etc. Getting on my f*cking nerves

 

No evident leaks, no spillage on the floor, seals look good, rad looks good, coolant tank / tank gasket looks good. Every time I look for any leaks there either isn't any or if there is it's probably evaporated.

 

I'm thinking it could be the cylinder head gasket - Anyone got any ideas?

 

Cheers,

 

Ten Ton

Edited April 27, 2012 by tentonhammer

[floppyman 0]

Do you fill up with antifreeze or just water?

Antifreeze ussualy leaves marks from where its leaking.

Is engine oil ok?

If everything is ok, then it can only be the head.

What engine is it?

Auto or manual?

[tentonhammer 10]

Been filling her up with anti freeze over the winter / spring.

 

She drinks engine oil too come to think of it - oil gets topped up every 3-4 weeks, standard. I've always done this to keep the car running smooth.

 

Corrado 2.0 16V Manual

Edited April 27, 2012 by tentonhammer

[davidwort 0]

any signs of condensation on the screen or anti-freeze smell inside the car?

if it is the headgasket then you'll either get mayonnaise in the sump or clouds of white smoke(water vapour) out of the exhaust.

Look carefully around the hoses, rad and flanges to the head though, they're the usual places to leak and often the heat evaporates it before you see any drips.

[anne t 10]

My 9a engine done this and sadly it was the head gasket

[captainredeye 0]

Had a leak on my radiator couldn't find it at first, discovered running the engine and building up pressure in the coolant tank created a fountain out of the radiator. I did have coolant on the underside of the bonnet to narrow it down but it might help find it.

[seanl82 23]

Check around the stat housing too. Its not easy to see when your havin a quick poke around, but get it up on axle stands or a ramp and get your head underneath. You should see the snail trail where its leaking from if you have a decent level of antifreeze in there anyway. They really do leak from crazy places, and if your loosing that amount and having no ill effects when driving don't panic yet! :thumbleft:

[Stonejag 10]

If it's only a small leak then a bottle of K-Seal will sort it. Doesn't clog your heater matrix up but it's very effective - stopped a fairly large leak I had dead in its tracks :D

 

It helps if you know where it's coming from so you're confident it's nothing too serious, but I went hundreds of miles before fixing the part that was leaking on mine and it held fine. Just whatever you do, for pity's sake don't spill it on the threads for your expansion tank cap or you won't be able to get the bugger off afterwards :lol:

 

Stone

[carrots 1]

i had a small leak on mine it turned out a hose clip had cut into a samco hose on the oil cooler

[Stonejag 10]

Also, check your fans are working properly - mine overheats when stuck in traffic and the pressure (and water) escapes through the safety value on the expansion tank.

[craigowl 0]

Check around the stat housing too. Its not easy to see when your havin a quick poke around, but get it up on axle stands or a ramp and get your head underneath. You should see the snail trail where its leaking from if you have a decent level of antifreeze in there anyway. They really do leak from crazy places, and if your loosing that amount and having no ill effects when driving don't panic yet! :thumbleft:

 

Snail trail- new to me, but love that one, sean!

[tentonhammer 10]

Also, check your fans are working properly - mine overheats when stuck in traffic and the pressure (and water) escapes through the safety value on the expansion tank.

 

Will def check this. Sensor (temp sensor I think associated with rad and located left of manifold and left and below throttle body) looks pretty dodgy I must say. The sensor terminal is really loose. Wonder whether this is anything to do with it? Trying to find a replacement but I don't know part no. or proper name for the sensor - Anyone know?

 

Thanks for your replies guys.

Edited July 5, 2012 by tentonhammer

[iamsilverfox 10]

you either want to pressure test it and see/hear it ****ing out. id imagine however if you cant see it externally, and youre also loosing oil that you cant see externally its probably the headgasket. people saying about kseal though, ive heard good stuff about it!

[OllieVR6 0]

I'll be trying some of these ideas myself as I have a similar problem on the VR. Something I don't understand regarding head gaskets....this always makes people worry and I've heard of lesser cars ending up in a scrap yard if this is the problem, but isn't it a gasket than can be replaced like any other? What's the big deal with the head gasket?

 

Sent from my HTC One X

[iamsilverfox 10]

Most people are put off because it involves taking the head off which is too much for most diy mechanics. But it's just like any other gaskets like you said. Aslong as loosing coolant hasn't caused it to overheat, just Wang a new gasket on.

[davidwort 0]

What's the big deal with the head gasket?

Invariably the car has been run overheating, so the head can be warped and if badly it may not be possible to skim and resurface, plus damage to the head or block that can occur when a gasket burns between two cylinders. But caught soon enough it may require nothing more than a clean of the mating surface and a new gasket, bolts, coolant, oil etc, plus all the labour.

If you have a modern car with a very small coolant capacity, or something like a rover k-series engine, then you have less margin for loss and so a greater chance of serious heat damage.