Coolant loss

[Matty71]

Noticed over the last couple of weeks my 57 Reg D5 is using coolant. Just topped it up and started it up and once warm noticed water coming out of the tail pipes. No water mixing in with the oil, gets up to temperature and doesn’t overheat. Any thoughts would be appreciated

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Matty71

Noticed over the last couple of weeks my 57 Reg D5 is using coolant. Just topped it up and started it up and once warm noticed water coming out of the tail pipes. No water mixing in with the oil, gets up to temperature and doesn’t overheat. Any thoughts would be appreciated

That's quite normal , you only notice it when cold, for every gallon of fuel burned a gallon of water goes out the exhaust .
The first place i would look is the bottom of the radiator side tanks .look for drips or white coolant stains .

[Matty71]

Hi all, used the car twice in the last week and checked the car this morning and the coolant level has dropped again. I’ve checked hoses, radiator and anything else visible for leaks and nothing. No puddles under the car or any moisture around joints from the cooling system. I did notice that when starting the car the cooling fan cut in for a few minutes then stopped? I left the car running up to temperature and the gauge sits on half way. I’m wondering if it’s getting too hot and could be a problem with the fan? But it would surely show on the temperature gauge if it was overheating? Any thoughts?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Matty71

Hi all, used the car twice in the last week and checked the car this morning and the coolant level has dropped again. I’ve checked hoses, radiator and anything else visible for leaks and nothing. No puddles under the car or any moisture around joints from the cooling system. I did notice that when starting the car the cooling fan cut in for a few minutes then stopped? I left the car running up to temperature and the gauge sits on half way. I’m wondering if it’s getting too hot and could be a problem with the fan? But it would surely show on the temperature gauge if it was overheating? Any thoughts?

you need to pressurise the system and leave it for a while then look for leaks

[john langrick]

Good check for me when I had the same problem and a response with suggestions by many forum members to me, is as follows.

But note mine is a much older car (my 03). Yours will most likely be a simple lose pipe clip.

Unscrew the pressure cap on the header tank, the morning after usethere should still be some pressure.

Check for leaks on the water outlet under the pressure tank. If it is leaking there will be residue of drying antifreeze. This tank just unclips by pulling upwards.

You could also get an ultra violet adaptive complete with small torch. After driving with this, inspect in the dark with the torch and hopefully you may see a leakage stain.

Check the nearside (uk) carpet for damp (heaterstric leak) and also the pipes that pass through the bulkhead nearside under bonnet.

The nearside of the rad also acts as an oil cooler so there are pipes to that from the gearbox to pass the oil through the coolant. It has been known that water can leak into the gearbox oil via a faulty rad, but you will be having gearbox of torque converter problems if this were the case.

One check, (and this was my problem), was another device which fits in the header tank where the cap is a small tube with a 'u' bend. You pour a small amount of fluid into the 'u' bend and run the engine. The liquid should remain a pale yellow, but if the colour changes to blue ( if I remember) then you have exhaust gasses leaking into the fluid. Let's hope this is not the case.

Also run the car with Bonnet up and rad cap off (engine cold at start!) And check for air bubbles in rad water, mine had bubbles!


Hope this helps and an easy fix. Mine was at the state that 'coolant low' would happen about every two days and was having to carry water. Of course you need to wait for the engine to cool before topping up and of course you are diluting the antifreeze.

[Danielpsmith]

I had a leak on the heater matrix pipes, you can check by pulling the cover on the passenger side centre console and you can see where the pipes go into the matrix.

A seal had gone on mine and had a small leak but only under pressure.

[mr tickle]

I had a mystery internal coolant loss, in my case it was the EGR cooler that was leaking into the exhaust.
Apparently its very rare.
Cost me £945 to have it replaced

[Clan]

Originally Posted by mr tickle

I had a mystery internal coolant loss, in my case it was the EGR cooler that was leaking into the exhaust.
Apparently its very rare.
Cost me £945 to have it replaced

it must have had a manufacturing fault they are robust stainless steel .

[mr tickle]

Originally Posted by Clan

it must have had a manufacturing fault they are robust stainless steel .

Tell me about it!
I never heard of another failing.
Mine was from the final batch of Mk1's 2014. They probably used the final parts at the bottom of the bins to make mine.

[Matty71]

Turns out it was a split hose from the EGR to the engine. £18 for the part, two hours to fit and nearly every knuckle skinned! Bastard of a job but so glad I found the problem. Thanks everyone for all your help and advice. I’ll try and post some pictures 👍