Drinking engine coolant

[fattony]

there wasnt loads just a small drizzle, that might be worth a cheap try?

[Baffler]

Not very common on diesels but the turbocharged petrol variants can suffer from cracked expansion/header tanks as they run somewhat hotter. Due to the location of the tank you can't see if coolant is escaping but if you pull the tank up and out from its position you may see hairline cracks where it tapers down into the rubber hose. You may also see furring where coolant has run down the back of the suspension strut tower.

Incidentally, after replacing the coolant and thermostat, my '98 TD is loosing a cupful of coolant every 500 miles or so and I have yet to trace the source. After various checks I've put it down the three suspects - head gasket, water pump or leaky radiator - the later being most likely as it's probably been in the car since new plus I think I've seen steam coming from it at some point.

[mikeyskona]

As baffler knows i had a similar problem with mine.... the expansion tank had a slight leak in it so that got sorted, but it was still losing coolant, no idea WTH the leak was, but it'd go from max to min in about 500 miles so it wasn't a small leak.

Anyways i bought some clever stuff (i think it was called k-weld, or k-seal something like that.. got the bottle in the boot). Cost me a tenner and said "just add to coolant, up to 20 litre tank supported, seals most leaks in 1-3 mins at normal operating temp". It apparently seals leaking water pumps, radiators, cylinder heads and head gaskets.

Dont know what my problem was but it's not lost a drop in the 600 miles i have just done (over 2 days, plym-gainsboro & back)... so that kinda stuff might be worth a shot (not radweld, i've nevr had any joy with that stuff).

[fattony]

Thanks for the advice guys, I will try and have another look this weekend, water pump wouldn't exactly be cheap would it,

On the top right of the radiator the hose clip does have some corrosion (blue / green tinge) and it's furred up a little, I assumed this could have been down to a previous leak as it wasn't wet, but could be another place to try


Bit of update, left engine running at idle again, revved engine and there was no smoke from exhaust, I put my hand down to the exhaust and there was no moisture. In daylight i can see the cortosion better the jubilee clip has a rusty screw and the pipe seems firmly attached

May have to take it to a garage or use the stuff previously mentioned as no coolant is leaking below the car

[stevo48]

Jubilee clip furring would indicate seepage as the anti freeze causes the furring, I would replace the jubilee clip and check the hose where the jubilee clip fits for cracking.

[fattony]

I have now found water leaking, I tghink its dripping onto the gearbox then onto the floor but not certain it is the gearbox please see photo attached?

Do the coolant pipes run near the gearbox? I cant get the engine cover off as the some **** has rounded off the screws!

At least its not internal leak but no idea where its coming from as yet and it looks like its lost a fair bit in a short space of time


The first pic is taken from me looking in between the battery and the air intake pipe, the corner of the battery is in the top of the pic and the 2nd pic is me laying underneath the car, the ground is on the right of the pic

[Baffler]

That first pic looks like it could be coming from the thermostat housing area. You'll need to get the engine cover off for a better look in there.

[stevo48]

fattony, the engine cover screws are torx screws, you will need a torx screwdriver of the relevant size to remove the cover.

[DWM]

Originally Posted by stevo48

fattony, the engine cover screws are torx screws, you will need a torx screwdriver of the relevant size to remove the cover.

Yep it's a T30 size on mine at least.

[fattony]

Well I took the car into kwik fit where I know the manager and spent a couple of hours looking, the thermostat housing seems dry, although there is air in the system. We did notice a small amount of steam coming from just below the pipe which feeds the thermostat housing, the exhaust pipe is just below this so a small hole could create steam but I never found it.

The fact that there is air in there I guess means there is a hole somewhere?