Coolant loss

[B0ff]

Driving to work today I had a low coolant warning (scared the life out of me.. STOP!). I found that it had indeed fallen below the Min level but there was still coolant visible in the reservoir. I put enough water in to bring it back up to Min (took roughly a couple of pints) and will top it up to Max with G12 when I can get some. The question is, when I took the cap off the expansion tank it felt like it had been cross-threaded, would that have been enough to have caused it? Presumably it wouldn't have been a sealed system with the cap like that, or would it? I can't really tell how long it took to drop to that level as I've only had the car a few weeks..

[JustinM3]

One of works lorries had an awkward cap, half the time would cross thread, yet do up tight.
Would **** litres out in just a day - so hopefully that's all your problem is.

[caldirun]

Driving to work today I had a low coolant warning (scared the life out of me.. STOP!). I found that it had indeed fallen below the Min level but there was still coolant visible in the reservoir. I put enough water in to bring it back up to Min (took roughly a couple of pints) and will top it up to Max with G12 when I can get some. The question is, when I took the cap off the expansion tank it felt like it had been cross-threaded, would that have been enough to have caused it? Presumably it wouldn't have been a sealed system with the cap like that, or would it? I can't really tell how long it took to drop to that level as I've only had the car a few weeks..

Could be the water pump impellor problem they have a habbit of splitting on the shaft.

[smokey0123]

Could be the water pump impellor problem they have a habbit of splitting on the shaft.

That is very unlikely as its not overheating. may be leaking from the water pump tho.

[caldirun]

That is very unlikely as its not overheating. may be leaking from the water pump tho.

If the system is not pressurised (cross-threaded cap) the coolant will boil off from the hot areas without the temp sensor seeing it, with a non-working pump there will be a big temp gradient!

[B0ff]

The temperature gauge was showing a steady 90 degrees. I'll keep an eye on the coolant level for the next few days and my fingers crossed!

[smokey0123]

If the system is not pressurised (cross-threaded cap) the coolant will boil off from the hot areas without the temp sensor seeing it, with a non-working pump there will be a big temp gradient!

The temp sensors are always placed where the water is hottest (the top of the head or the thermostat) They are put there so you get an early warning if something goes wrong so you dont cook your engine.

[cbi004]

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR OIL COLOUR UNDER THE CAP


if JUST STARTED HAPPENNING STICK IN £10 K- SEAL INTO COOLANT JUST IN CASE RAIDIATOR OR HEADGASKET HAVE BLOWN


HAVE YOU HEARD ANY POPS LATELY _ IF SO ITS HEADGASKET!

MY OLD FRONTERA HAD THIS - MASSIVE GASKET PROBLEM

COOLANT LOSS ETC

OTHERWISE ITS A EXPENSIVE GASKET JOB

IF YOU KEEP RUNNING IT YOUL RUST THE CAM ROD AND THEN EVEN IF YOU CHANGE THE GASKET THE CAM BELT CAM ROD EVERYTHIGN WILL SEIZE UP AFTERWARDS

FIT IT NOW!