Losing Coolant

Gray

Gray

New Member
Every three weeks or so I am having to top up the coolant resevoir tank as it keeps dropping from the max down to the min mark

I used to think maybe the coolant mix was effected as I was just putting in water to top it up so thought it might be evaporating but i had new coolant put in and its still happening

So its losing around a pint of water every 2 -3 weeks, I can't really see any coolant leaks when its left parked up and I move the car, it looks a bit wet on the drivers side plactic guard near the rad maybe it is leaking that slowly that I am not noticing the leak as its 1 pint over about 3 weeks which isnt a lot and its a long time, i do have a few spots under the car but I think thats oil.

Ive worried about head gasket but the exhaust only smokes when its first started an its cold, once its warmed up it doesnt smoke on idle or driving, unless its particularly cold

Do I have reason to be concerned, what else should I check. I'm thinking about getting some radweld and putting in more coolant rather than water this time?
 
B

buffalobilla

New Member
mite be the same problem as i have. i used to loose water slowly over a period of time, then all of a sudden its just started pouring out from underneath the R. :shock:
id check the hoses at the back of your block
 
P

paz

Active Member
Could also be the large water pipe going into your thermastat - I had a problem where my hose clip had become loose over time, and water was leaking out underneath where I couldn't see. It wasn't leaking so much it was dripping on the drive, but it was loosing quite a lot of coolant.

I'd suggest removing this hose, cleaning underneath it to make sure no shite has build up over time, and re-attaching - with a new clip if you wanted to be on the safe side, you can get them from anywhere including halfrauds.

If this doesn't work I'm afraid I'm out of ideas!

Paz
 
A

AJ4

Guest
Are you filling it up with water when the engine is hot or cold ?

The 'max' mark is for when the engine is hot, if you fill it up to the max mark when the engine is cold, the water expands and runs out the overflow. You should fill it to the 'low' level or just above when the engine is cold.

Also, don't use Radweld unless its an emergency. It all right on shitty old cars with minor leaks, but it will decrease the efficiency of your radiator by coating the inside of it.
 
Gray

Gray

New Member
AJ4 said:
Are you filling it up with water when the engine is hot or cold ?

The 'max' mark is for when the engine is hot, if you fill it up to the max mark when the engine is cold, the water expands and runs out the overflow. You should fill it to the 'low' level or just above when the engine is cold.
Click to expand...
I've just been topping it up with water, I usually top it up when ive just driven and the engine is warm. I checked this morning when the car was running after driving to work and it was just at the low level. The cars never overheated or even come close, it usually takes a good while to warm up too.

Where is the overflow?
 
P

paz

Active Member
Gray said:
Where abouts on the engine does this pipe goto Paz?
Click to expand...
Its right at the front of the block as you look into the bay, about half way up on the right hand front side - you can't really miss it pal, its the biggest coolant pipe going into it IIRC.

On this pic, its the yellow one to the right hand side (or third one up at the bottom depending on how your mind works) unless my eyes deceive me, couldn't really find a useful pic in time...

http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/march03/gtir/images/james_gtir26.jpg

Paz
 
Gray

Gray

New Member
paz said:
Gray said:
Where abouts on the engine does this pipe goto Paz?
Click to expand...
Its right at the front of the block as you look into the bay, about half way up on the right hand front side - you can't really miss it pal, its the biggest coolant pipe going into it IIRC.

On this pic, its the yellow one to the right hand side (or third one up at the bottom depending on how your mind works) unless my eyes deceive me, couldn't really find a useful pic in time...

http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/march03/gtir/images/james_gtir26.jpg

Paz
Click to expand...
I'll have a looksee, not sure about it though as the engines been in and out since and the coolant was being lost before and after the engine coming out.
 
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paz

Active Member
Doesn't mean much mate if they didn't clean the connection before the removed the pipe OR didn't remove the pipe at that end OR reused the old and knackered hose clip :lol:

There's a good chance its not this, but its what happened on mine so its worth a check ;)

Paz
 
Gray

Gray

New Member
I topped up the coolant with coolant instead of water this time and put some radweld in. Did this Tuesday night so will see how it goes.
 
Gray

Gray

New Member
Well its been 9 days since I put the coolant in and I'm estimating I've lost about 3cm in height of coolant out the expansion bottle
but it was about 2 cm above the max mark so now its about 1cm below the max mark.

It's really starting to annoy me an I don't have the money to find out what the problem is at the moment and I really don't want to find out it's the head gasket.

What things should I look for if it's the head gasket?

1. Mayonaise type sludge in oil?
2. Mayonaise type sludge in coolant?
3. White smoke out the exhaust?
4. Sweet smelling exhaust?

Anything else?

I can't say I can see any sludge in the expansion tank or in the rocker cover
when my car is idling an its warm theres no smoke whatsoever
my exhaust just stinks of petrol not sure of it smellign sweet
 
N

nismoboy

New Member
Gray said:
Well its been 9 days since I put the coolant in and I'm estimating I've lost about 3cm in height of coolant out the expansion bottle
but it was about 2 cm above the max mark so now its about 1cm below the max mark.

It's really starting to annoy me an I don't have the money to find out what the problem is at the moment and I really don't want to find out it's the head gasket.

What things should I look for if it's the head gasket?

1. Mayonaise type sludge in oil?
2. Mayonaise type sludge in coolant?
3. White smoke out the exhaust?
4. Sweet smelling exhaust?

Anything else?

I can't say I can see any sludge in the expansion tank or in the rocker cover
when my car is idling an its warm theres no smoke whatsoever
my exhaust just stinks of petrol not sure of it smellign sweet
Click to expand...
high water temps and
loss of power

also try bleeding the cooling system, as airlocks are quite common
 
Gray

Gray

New Member
Temp Needle never goes above around 1/3 of the way up! Even when the Expansion bottle goes down to Min.
Haven't got any loss of power either!

Not head gasket related then? Like I said I don't see any coolant on the drive, only thing I have on the drive is a few drops of oil from an oil leak from the oil pan.

With regards to air locks, would I keep having the air locks if I kept topping up the coolant though? The coolant has been bled and refilled by Hiteq and the problem was there before and after the bleeding.
 
GTIR-LOZ

GTIR-LOZ

New Member
mine is the same i did find a leak from the bottom of the hose that goes to the thermostat where it joins the radiator it was only apparant when i left the car idling for some time or turned it off then it started to leak, i just repositioned hose and tightened
 
J

justin666

Guest
Ive had this same problem for a month or so now and ive only just managed to track down the culprit.!!!! Like you I never seemed to have any obvious leaks as nothing was being left on the drive... until the other day.!!!

Turns out Ive been loosing coolant from the waterpump and it looks like i was only iniially loosing fluid out of it while the engine was running. Was just topping up the expansion bottle every couple of weeks while i tried to figure out where the coolant was going. Then when i parked up after a blast the other day i noticed the water pump had started to rattle very slighty followed by it deciding to dump the contents of my cooling system all over the road :evil:

New one ordered from nissan for 40 quid :)

Looks like the pump has been on the way out for a while hence why ive only been loosing small amounts of coolant with no obvious leaks. Def worth checkin out mate.

J.
 
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