Possible coolant leak... or HGF...

[White Lightning]

Hi Guys,

I have a bit of a problem with the car. It's nothing major yet but want to get some advice...

The first morning after picking up the car (last Friday) I checked all the levels and noted that the coolant level was a bit low - I had to put in about a 1/3 of a litre to top it up to the FULL line. It's worth noting at this point that this was done with the car parked on a very slight downhill...

Continued to monitor the coolant and it seemed ok but yesterday morning I did put in a little more - maybe a egg cup full.

Now, last night after I got home from a 20 mile round trip I noticed that there was a puddle under the car. I popped the bonnet and saw that the expansion tank cap had come loose and that the coolant level was right at the top and was overflowing.

I parked the car on the level and left it overnight. Checked the coolant this morning and it was down to the LOW line (which admittedly is not a lot between FULL and LOW on these cars). I have topped it up to the bottom of the arrows below the FULL line and will monitor it again.

The coolant is a bit off colour but I have no idea when it was last changed.

The oil looks fine. A bit black as it's been in there for around 4500 miles now. I am planning to do an oil change at the weekend.

Should I be worried???

:5shots:

Oh, and just to add to the woes, the exhaust has just started to blow a little again. It has been patched up before and Mitsubishi commented that it was corroded when they did the AYC fluid change 2 days ago... now I don't know whether to replace the exhaust with a stainless jobbie or save the money in case I have a big bill coming up...

[BraindG]

what colour is the water?

[White Lightning]

what colour is the water?

It looks like it's a bit of a browny colour but the expansion bottle itself is quite discoloured so it's hard to tell. I guess I could get a syringe and suck some up...

[BraindG]

i tried looking for the thread, but cannea see it.

Theres a thread somewhere, and im sure Amsoil made it. However it discusses the do's and don'ts of mixing coolants. which made me really paranoid.

Now, im not saying it is, or anything like that so don't panic. However you may have a couple blockages? perhaps running a few flushes with fresh water will help. Im not sure what the cleaning method was for these cases, and as i cant find the thread i cant say for sure.

Im sure someone will be along shortly, to either shoot down my theory, or add to it. :)

[MPBVr4]

Doesn't sound like anything serious, an eggcupful is nothing really. If you had a leak or anything serious your levels would change quickly. As for the leak under the car this is probably only condensate from the A/C unit which is working hard in this heat - scared me the first time I noticed it.:2thumbsup

[White Lightning]

i tried looking for the thread, but cannea see it.

Theres a thread somewhere, and im sure Amsoil made it. However it discusses the do's and don'ts of mixing coolants. which made me really paranoid.

Now, im not saying it is, or anything like that so don't panic. However you may have a couple blockages? perhaps running a few flushes with fresh water will help. Im not sure what the cleaning method was for these cases, and as i cant find the thread i cant say for sure.

Im sure someone will be along shortly, to either shoot down my theory, or add to it. :)

I have not added any coolant myself, only water but obviously I cannot say what has been done before. I had a look at doing a coolant flush the other night but there appears to be two drain plugs (one on each cylinder back) that look like they may be tricky to get out and refit i.e. thread lock and stuff required. But I would like to get the system flushed and get the expansion bottle cleaned so I can at least start from fresh.

[White Lightning]

Doesn't sound like anything serious, an eggcupful is nothing really. If you had a leak or anything serious your levels would change quickly. As for the leak under the car this is probably only condensate from the A/C unit which is working hard in this heat - scared me the first time I noticed it.:2thumbsup

The puddle was definately coolant. The air conditioning was off at the time - trying to save some petrol /Handbag

Plus, the expansion tank was visibly overflowing.

[Kieran]

Well, I think the expansion tank overflowing is nowt to worry about.... simply because you topped up the tank. So as soon as the engine gets hot and the cooling system starts to vent, it's just over-filling the tank. To be honest, I would keep an eye on the pressure cap on the rad - take that off, make sure there's plenty of water there (obvbiously, do this when cold!!) and that there's no gunge or nastiness there.

[White Lightning]

Well, I think the expansion tank overflowing is nowt to worry about.... simply because you topped up the tank. So as soon as the engine gets hot and the cooling system starts to vent, it's just over-filling the tank. To be honest, I would keep an eye on the pressure cap on the rad - take that off, make sure there's plenty of water there (obvbiously, do this when cold!!) and that there's no gunge or nastiness there.

Thanks Kieran. I'll try not too worry too much - I am always paranoid with cars, I think that comes from having run two Rovers LOL

I've taken the rad cap off when the engine was cold and there was plenty of water there and no obvious nasty stuff.

I think I am going to change the coolant out this weekend when I do the engine oil. Is it possible to fully flush / change the coolant without touching the drain plugs on the cylinder banks? i.e. can I flush by taking the bottom rad pipe off, removing the top rad pipe and flush the engine?

[BraindG]

Thats how I would do it :) - but Master Kieran has another method from memory.

[Louis]

If the puddle is on the passenger side at the front, it could be your A/C, if you have had it on a ;ot it will cause condensation and drip, all perfectly natural.

[White Lightning]

If the puddle is on the passenger side at the front, it could be your A/C, if you have had it on a ;ot it will cause condensation and drip, all perfectly natural.

You are making me think now... it was the front passenger side...

I thought I had the A/C off. Basically, I set the climate to 17 deg C and then pressed the little A/C button twice to get rid of the snowflake AUTO and snowflake ECO - this is with the A/C off right? I had the windows all down - so I hope it was...

[BraindG]

You are making me think now... it was the front passenger side...

I thought I had the A/C off. Basically, I set the climate to 17 deg C and then pressed the little A/C button twice to get rid of the snowflake AUTO and snowflake ECO - this is with the A/C off right? I had the windows all down - so I hope it was...
recycling, or taking the air from outside?

[White Lightning]

recycling, or taking the air from outside?

Whatever is the default... :inquisiti

I think that's recycling :inquisiti

[BraindG]

Whatever is the default... :inquisiti

I think that's recycling :inquisiti
ill drive home like that tonight, when i finish work, see what happens.

[strangebat]

had this problem myself recently when I found tiny amounts of white gunk on my my oil dipstick. I panicked and assumed head gasket so marked the coolant level, which had dropped the next time I checked it/help /help .

It turns out the gunk was due to condensation due to too many short runs, the engine not getting up to temp before being parked up again (the wife drives it less than 3 miles to work).

The coolant level will be different depending on when you check it, someone will probably tell us why, something to do with if its hot/ cold/ac on or off but as long as its between nin and max its ok.

It sounds like youve overfilled now which is why the header is overflowing.

hope this helps


edit/ oh and welcome to the club

[White Lightning]

Thanks for the responses guys :2thumbsup

I checked the level again this morning. The level had dropped again and was midway between the FULL and LOW marks, and the expansion tank cap was loose again. Now, it's worth noting that I only did less than 20 miles yesterday - steady driving around town. I've put the cap back on and not topped it up for the moment.

Starting to get more worried again :speechles

[Spirit]

I think you should get it flushed first, make sure there's no air locks and then see what happens. Your symptons are virtually the same as I had in Germany if you recall. Since we cleared the air lock in the hose to the top of the rad I have not lost any coolant in local driving, and that includes two motorway trips too.

[White Lightning]

OK - I will crack on and do the coolant flush tomorrow. Can someone please advise the best way to flush the system and whether it's possible to do it properly without removing the drain plugs on the cylinder banks. I don't mind doing two or three flushes if that's what's needed.

Also, what's the best way to refill and avoid getting air locks. Is it just a case of filling the system very slowly? I have seen a bleed nut mentioned in the service manual. Any ideas where that is located?

[Spirit]

Might be worth calling Kev at AP Motors ? They should be open this evening after 8.30pm, or tomorrow morning.

[The Vee]

There is a bleed nut on top of the alloy housing where the top hose is connected to the block. This must be loosened while refilling the rad as it lets the air escape as water level rises. It is almost exactly uderneath the flexi turbo pipe which runs from the elbow off the throttle body. With a socket on an extesion you should just be able to get to it. 10 or 12 mm I think.

[White Lightning]

There is a bleed nut on top of the alloy housing where the top hose is connected to the block. This must be loosened while refilling the rad as it lets the air escape as water level rises. It is almost exactly uderneath the flexi turbo pipe which runs from the elbow off the throttle body. With a socket on an extesion you should just be able to get to it. 10 or 12 mm I think.

Thanks Andy :2thumbsup

[BraindG]

There is a bleed nut on top of the alloy housing where the top hose is connected to the block. This must be loosened while refilling the rad as it lets the air escape as water level rises. It is almost exactly uderneath the flexi turbo pipe which runs from the elbow off the throttle body. With a socket on an extesion you should just be able to get to it. 10 or 12 mm I think.
lol, is there? :D - didn't know that... /hangs-head-in-shame

[White Lightning]

Well - I have had a busy day on the car today. I have flushed the coolant system three times with fresh water. I really like the plastic tap on the bottom of the radiator - makes dumping the water out of the radiator a lot easier. Also, managed to locate the bleed bolt thanks to Andy's tip. To get to it easily you have to remove the intercooler-to-throttle elbow hose, the engine cover and remove a bolt to move a wiring loom out of the way. Basically, when emptying the radiator you only get about 3 1/2 litres out of the system - the system takes 6 litres according to the manual (I guess that's why there are drain plugs on the cylinder banks). So I just kept running the car with fresh water until what I dumped out of the radiator was clear. I have now put in a fresh mix of antifreeze/summer coolant and water - making sure I have no air in the system. Obviously, too early to say if's helped but at least I've got a peg in the ground now :2thumbsup

I also did an engine oil flush and replaced my oil with Amsoil - and the filter with a new EA20 Amsoil filter.

Also managed to redo the connections for the oil temp/pressure gauges and have re-routed them in a better location in the engine bay. They seem to be reading better now - need to keep an eye on them.

So - I've been pretty busy really :pimp2:

[Spirit]

Hey well done Wayne, seems like you have had a very productive day. Couldn't have done anything here today, been raining all the time.

Maybe you could do a "How To" guide on the flushing and post it in the members area, with some pix, and then it can go in the library ? Sure it will be worth some rep :2thumbsup

[Paul Beazer]

One thing might be worth considering is that you had quite a bit of water in the block, so check the coolant strength (it may get diluted by the clean water in the block) once its had a chance to mix.
Other than that, fingers crossed for you.

[White Lightning]

Well, I don't want to count my chickens but I think the issue *may* be resolved. Since flushing the system and putting a fresh mix of coolant in I don't seem to be losing much (if any) coolant.

I topped the level up yesterday morning (as it was a little low from doing the change on Saturday) and did around 30 miles yesterday with a little bit of boost now and then. I kept checking the coolant level when the engine was hot and it was siting more at a "normal" level and was never near overflowing. I checked the level again this morning and is was probably about 2mm down from yesterday but I'm putting that down to the fact it's slightly cooler here this morning.

So, I am quietly confident it may be ok. My theory is that last week it was very hot here (mid 30s) and the coolant was just not able to cope. Either because it was old and s**tty or because there was an airlock...

Keeping my fingers crossed ... :2thumbsup

[BraindG]

Good Job, fingers crossed. :2thumbsup - i need to do mine once my left hand has healed.

[Spirit]

Sounds good Wayne :2thumbsup Well done

[The Vee]

:2thumbsup