coolant leek

[grom 0]

Ive noticed my coolant level has gone from just over max to just under min in just over a week. Is it safe to presume it needs a new radiator, or could it be something else?

[VR6Pete 1,455]

could be your thermostat housing / head gasket? Look under your engine bay, see if you can see any pink coolant leaking anywhere? perhaps leave some card under the car to track where its leaking?

[grom 0]

dont think its head gasket, heaters work and theres no sign of water or oil where it shouldnt be. might be wrong but it seems to loose more when I rag it which would suggest radiator or pipes wouldnt it?

[VR6Pete 1,455]

the system will be under more pressure when hot, which is why your loosing coolant.... get it upto temperate and pop your bonnet... as its bright pink, it shouldnt be too hard to spot where the leak is

[Ben Seabrook 4]

as Pete says a big bit of card underneath will give you a clue as to where its leaking from otherwise at that rate I would say pipe or thermo housing are the most likely

[grom 0]

the system will be under more pressure when hot' date=' which is why your loosing coolant.... get it upto temperate and pop your bonnet... as its bright pink, it shouldnt be too hard to spot where the leak is

[/quote']

thats what I thought. the coolants blue not pink

[VR6Pete 1,455]

It should be pink... if its blue it's the wrong type

[grom 0]

It should be pink... if its blue it's the wrong type

ok so if I drain the system I can't just put pink in, can I?

need some special chemical to flush it first?

also if its therm housing what part do I need to buy ?

cheers

[grom 0]

ok. after doing abit of research I am now worried about my headgasket.

but if its lost a pint or so wouldnt I find evidence of this in my coolant or oil?

[smiffy 0]

if its smoking heavily under load i.e blue or white smoke then most likely head gasket. check for a white gunk under your oil filler cap, also another early sign for head gasket.

as for coolant, a full system flush doesnt require any chemicals, just drain the coolant (ideally from bottom rad hose) refill with water, get car up to temp, drain system again, repeat this a few times then top up with correct coolan, G12, which is pink. hope this helps

[23345matt 0]

check the aux water pump at the rear of the engine these pipes sometimes have a habbit of leaking if the clamps are not tight enough

[Apollo 0]

Check around the front right hand side of the engine block for item number 1 in the picture below. You can easily see it as it has 3 coloured wiring plugs going into it, As you can see this has the thermostat housing bolted to it and also a few other pipes connect to it, check none of these are leaking. If they are its quite an easy job to remove and fit a new housing. Price all in for the new housing, gasket and coolant £35. As said in previous posts make sure you get G12 coolant and don't mix it with other coloured coolants.

[grom 0]

thanks all for advice. ive taken it a run today, got it stinking red hot and parked it up, put a piece of card under it and had another inspection of the engine. There was just one solitary drip front right hand side of the engine bay. it tasted sweet so presume that it is coolant.

now I have seen that handy diagram (thanks apollo) I shall go and check if its the thermostat housing.

[grom 0]

if its smoking heavily under load i.e blue or white smoke then most likely head gasket. check for a white gunk under your oil filler cap' date=' also another early sign for head gasket.

as for coolant, a full system flush doesnt require any chemicals, just drain the coolant (ideally from bottom rad hose) refill with water, get car up to temp, drain system again, repeat this a few times then top up with correct coolan, G12, which is pink. hope this helps

[/quote']

thanks

theres no smoke or white gunk

[grom 0]

the drip was directly below the thermostat housing.

[Apollo 0]

the drip was directly below the thermostat housing.

Easiest is to take the block off as I described then check it for cracks and signs of leaks. To be honest of its the thermo housing change the whole block and seal for the sake of £35 quid its worth it.

[grom 0]

what parts do I need then? thermostat housing and seal and new coolant?

is that it? should I do the water pipe too?

is it worth putting a new thermostat in?

Ive noticed the needle on my temp gauge takes ages to move and when it does just sits at 70, until I sit in traffic and it goes up to about half way.

is that normal?

[Gazbarber1982 3]

Yeah do the water pipe too. They're VERY brittle and will probably break when you look at it. Think the pipe was 15 quid from TPS and it comes with the 2 rubber O rings.