Losing coolant, please help

[FD Type R]

Every day since I\'ve had my beloved FD I\'ve checked the coolant and have always had to add some even though I\'ve not driven it over long distances.
 
My method of topping up is to remove both caps, centre and the black expansion tank. I top up the centre one very slowly until the coolant is just above the horizontal flap in the expansion tank, at this point I replace the expansion tank cap and continue slowly filling the centre one until it\'s at the top.
 
Today I took the car for a four mile run and, when it was suitably warmed up, gave it a little bit of stick. When I returned and turned off the car and it had stood for a couple of minutes it started throwing water out of the overflow, a local mechanic suggested that maybe I\'d over filled it but I\'d filled it in exactly the way I\'ve said above which I believe is the recommended method.
 
Any ideas anyone?

[philiwily]

how much do you normaly have to put in and has it spewed out water before?
Phil.

[leon]

To my understanding you dont need to top up the overflow tank on the left of the engine its there to hold excess water when the engine runs hot then suck it back into the system after its cooled down.(mine once threw a load of steam out of the expansion tank and that was because i over filled it.)

Im not 100% where the level in the center cap should sit though, mine sits about half way down bellow that little hole.  You never know you might be over filling it constantly. or you may have a leak! obvious things to check can you see water underneth the car, ore are you getting excesive white smoke on startup etc?

[lockwood77]

When you say "black expansion tank", do you mean the expansion tank on the left behind the headlight (clear with a black cap on the dipstick), or the AST on the right hand side near the front of the car (all black)?

Not sure I know what you mean about the horizontal flap?

Where is the water level on the expansion tank dipstick? Could just be you\'ve over-filled and the level is dropping back down to the correct level by pushing coolant into the expansion tank. Over time, this could have got steadily more full until it reached its limit and spat out of the overflow hole.

I\'m new to all this, but have been reading up on the system, just my guess!?

[FD Type R]

Thanks for your replies they are VERY much appreciated, I\'m putting around half a litre in it a day but it\'s definately not blowing white steam out of the exhaust
 
It\'s a bit confusing because there are three points where water can go in the engine and I\'m probably using the wrong terminology which is confusing the issue so I\'ve uploaded a photogragh of the engine bay
 
Looking at the photo my understanding is that the process to follow is to remove the steel cap on the black AST (sorry I referred to it as the expansion tank in my earlier post) tank (I know it needs replacing with an alu one at some stage but it\'s not leaking at the moment) to the right just behind the headlight where, if I\'m understanding it right, there is a horizontal flap.
 
Then take off the steel centre cap and start adding water slowly until the water goes just above the horizontal flap in the AST, at which point I replace the cap on the AST tank and continue filling the centre tank until it reaches the top
 
I\'ve seen the plastic dipstick on the plastic tank on the left but to be honest I find it very difficult to read and someone said in another post that it didn\'t appear all that reliable anyway as his car definately needed water but the dipstick was showing that it was ok.
 
This is driving me up the wall, someone said to me yesterday after it had lost the water that it was probably the car finding its own level and that maybe I should just drive it around like that and keep my eye on the temp gauge. The worrying thing is that this morning when I\'ve checked the level in the centre cap its obviously dropped and needs another half litre of water and I don\'t really want to drive it like that when everyone recommends that this chamber should always be up to the top.
 
Fun & games eh!
 

[danrx7]

Im not sure to what extent this could affect the problem that you are experiencing, but as far as I am aware your AST and Filler caps seem to be the wrong way round...

[nikp]

When filling with coolant, you do not touch the AST cap at all. Fill from the filler neck by the alternator.

[lockwood77]

Im not sure to what extent this could affect the problem that you are experiencing, but as far as I am aware your AST and Filler caps seem to be the wrong way round...

Well spotted!

There was a recent post where somebody had advice from Pip at WGT saying that you take off the AST cap when filling through the proper filler neck, up to the point the AST is full, then replace the cap and continue to fill.

[leon]

Just to clarify, looking at the engine fron the front of the car: The black cap on the left hand side near the wing is the expansion tank. (not sure if thats the correct term but hey it fits.) In the center of the engine (litraly, near the alternator.) Is where you fill the coolant system. The one on the right near the front of the car usualy a greyish green plastic box is the AST.

I can say when i bled my coolant system i had the ast cap off (just to litraly let air flow out, also had the tb hose off) But back to general filling, you only need to be using the one in the center of the engine nexto the alternator.

Make sure that you have the caps the right way around the Center one near the  alternator is an UNSPURNG cap (if you look under it it will be flat) the one of the ast will have what looks to be a spring.

Back to your Water problem :Thumbs-up  have you had a look under the car when you top it up to see if any water is diping down onto the floor or can you see pools of fluid on the tray.

[FD Type R]

Yes I switched the caps around when I first experenced the problem but as it didn\'t solve anything I have since changed them back
 
You do hear different recommendations when topping up coolant, some like Pip at WGT say take off both caps which I\'ve always done, others, as in this post, say just the centre one which is the next thing that I\'m going to try.
 
Interestly though when I\'ve had both caps off and examined them they both have a hard plastic/rubber type washer underneath which is spring loaded, if you push it with your thumbs it springs back, now everyone keeps saying that the one in the centre shouldn\'t be sprung loaded which may be another part of the problem
 
The good thing is that the car doesn\'t appear to have any leaks, all of the water that it\'s thrown has come from the overflow on the AST

[FD Type R]

Update:- filled the centre chamber to the top without removing the AST cap, took it for an eight mile run, got back on the drive turned her off, turbo timer ran for three minutes and everything was ok but when the engine stopped there was initially a few drops then it started and looked like it was taking a leak, excuse the pun, this went on for a couple of minutes by which time I guess it\'ll have lost half a litre easily.
 
I can\'t get underneath the car on my drive but as I was laid down in front of the car the water seemed to be coming from an area to the left of the centre of the car.
 
Any ideas anyone please?

[peterwolds]

Im not sure to what extent this could affect the problem that you are experiencing, but as far as I am aware your AST and Filler caps seem to be the wrong way round...

sort of right but as mike says below both caps are spring loaded,took my cap round today for him to try out,hope it goes some way to solving it on sunday.went for a short run after topping up saturday maybe 4 miles fair bit leaked when stopped,left it to cool off retun trip pulled up small leak that stopped.

[peterwolds]

Im not sure to what extent this could affect the problem that you are experiencing, but as far as I am aware your AST and Filler caps seem to be the wrong way round...

sort of right but as mike says below both caps are spring loaded,took my cap round today for him to try out,hope it goes some way to solving it on sunday.went for a short run after topping up saturday maybe 4 miles fair bit leaked when stopped,left it to cool off return trip pulled up small leak that stopped.has intermitted stutter under acceleration but only sometimes,suggested new plugs & if still the same trip to pips - otherwise nice looker :Thumbsup! smoke free on start up hot or cold

[ro284]

Pete the only one thats spring loaded on mine is the AST! the other (engine filler) is more of just a cap! and i think that is how it should be!if the engine filler cap is spring loaded it may interfere with the hot coolant venting to the AST! hope that makes sense!
Bob

[FD Type R]

Don\'t think Pete was disagreeing with anyone Bob he was just stating a fact, mine HAD spring loaded caps on the AST AND in the centre so Pete has kindly let me borrow his centre non sprung loaded cap until tomorrow to see if it makes a difference.
 
I\'ve just been down the road in it and the throwing of water is exactly the same when the engine stops running, the only difference is that this time by using a torch I\'ve been able to see where it\'s coming from, there\'s a rubber hose about 15mm diameter behind the radiator, just to the left of centre as you look at the car from the front, that is just hanging loose and protruding past the bottom of the radiator, as soon as the engine is at rest you can see the water exiting from this hose, first of all it\'s just a few drops but after about 30 seconds it comes out like a slow running tap
 
Any ideas? Is this hose supposed to just hang loose or should it be connected to something?