coolant leak

Steve Burnett · May 28, 2004, 06:56:07 PM

Trust this to happen when all you guys are at Rotorstock!!!

Anyway, I had a guy call at the door to let me know my car had a big leak coming from it. GREAT!
I had a look and there was about 0.5L dumped on the ground. The leak was coming from the drivers side. I removed the coolant filler cap and checked the level, it was okay. I put the lid back on and gave the coolant bottle neck a squeeze and I could see some liquid coming out of it. Does the bottle have some kind of pressure release to it??
I moved the car and left it for a few minutes, there was hardly any coolant on the ground. I started the car and it was fine. Had a wee drive in it and it was fine. Any idea what may have caused this?
Before shuting the car off when I originally got home I left the car to idle for about 5 minutes.
The car also had a rebuild last year from RX Motors and also a new water pump so I doubt im in for any real trouble (FINGERS AND EVERYTHING ELSE CROSSED!!)

Any thought or comments welcomed.

gsb876 · May 28, 2004, 07:12:18 PM

All i can think of is that if the water level was recently filled to the top, then when the car was idling the water temp rose resulting in some water escaping through expansion tank which has a small hole at the top to release coolant / water when it rises too much.

As you know when the water gets warmer it expands.

Might help, but easiest thing to consider??

Steve Burnett · May 28, 2004, 07:18:36 PM

The car has not been filled with coolant on over a year (since the rebuild) The AST has had water stains on it from obviously water leaking but I presume this is fine as there would have been as you said too much coolant in the system causing it to overflow a little, but this time the leak is from the coolant bottle.

gsb876 · May 28, 2004, 07:25:37 PM

I think you need to get under it to have a nose around and see what you can see. Might be loose hose or possibly small hole in the coolant bottle??

Had a leak myself a while ago but it was the radiator which had a cut in it by banging into the intercooler!!!

scooby_si · May 28, 2004, 09:09:09 PM

i vaguely recall (read dont believe every or often anything Si types

) talk of overflow tank often cracking or splitting at the bottom could be sumin like that i guess.....

Si

eatmyrx7dust · May 28, 2004, 11:34:17 PM

Very common for AST to crack - aluminium replacements are readily available. (Greenish bottle to right top of rad) as scooby correctly indicated !

Steve Burnett · May 28, 2004, 11:57:09 PM

Yeah thats the AST that commonly cracks. I had this replaced with the aluminum one from WGT last year. Is my cooland tank that was leaking, it has not let a drop go since.
Its a bit strange as this was the first time this happened and although it was a clammy day it was not the first clammy day the car has been driven in.

iaint · May 29, 2004, 11:29:57 AM

Quite possibly a really dumb question but are you sure it was coolant? I know the aircon unit can ice up on humid days and then melts although this is usually not ~0.5l of liquid.

Iain

Steve Burnett · May 29, 2004, 02:06:22 PM

Nope not the aircon, the coolant level is now below "Low".
I topped it up with battery water for the time being but I need to fluch the coolant and top it up again but I have no idea what coolant to use. It was suggested to use stuff from Texaco but the closest one to me is about an 80 miles away.

iaint · May 30, 2004, 06:05:55 PM

Advice I was given on coolant was to use non-Glycol based coolant as it may damage the seals, not sure how reliable that is though.

Have you tried running it without the pressure cap on (from cold) to see if there\'s bubbling coming up the filler neck?

Iain