missing coolant, K-series

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ok, last night it had lost no coolant, and oil, etc levels are good. I am checking them constantly after i make journeys and before i make them.

I cant remember checking my coolant after having the gearbox reconditioned, do they need to disconnect any of the hoses, etc? because they may have not refilled it after if coolant was lost.

i have tried to check all the joints on the hoses for the coolant and they all feel dry, and secure.

thnx for all the help and advice.

Reply 21

gbduo

Yeh, on my Nova you had to disconect the bottom rad hose to get the gear box out. So it is very possible that a hose was disconnected and they simply did not fill it up to the top. Remember it is a closed cooling system, so if the system is dry, it takes quite a bit of water to fill it up again, the mechanics cannot really do this when they fix the car so they fill it mostly up, run the engine to get the water flowing and then fill it up again. However after running the car your coolant levels will go down because the whole system is filled with water (like the heater matrix, which could have been switched of when they filled up, and then when you used it filled up, using more coolant) and therefore your coolant levels fall. Nothing to worry about.

However, it should not go from maximum to minimum in one night. As you say park the car on level, dry ground and see if you can find any leaks after a journey...if you run the engine and then leave it to cool the water tends to escape quicker, if there is a problem.

Get back to us with any news!

Graham

Reply 22

samie

the levels havent gone down since i topped it up a few days ago so it look good, however, the colour of the coolant has been getting darker, ie pale green to a very dark green?? this normal??

Reply 23

stevoboy

samie

the levels havent gone down since i topped it up a few days ago so it look good, however, the colour of the coolant has been getting darker, ie pale green to a very dark green?? this normal??

Did you top it up with just water? This would dilute the coolant in the tank making it a lighter colour, but it will get mixed in with the rest of the system when the engine has run a while and go back to being darker.

Reply 24

samie

i checked the coolant yesterday, and looks like it gone down. I havent noticed any wet patches under the car, and it rained last night, so uch for a small wet patch......!!

how much is a HPI check roughly?? it test the pressure in the coolant system dosent it??

yeah just water.

Reply 25

AT82

An HPI check just tells you the cars history and the last recorded milleage, it will tell you if it has been accident repaired etc.

They cost around £35-£40.

Reply 26

gbduo

Is there anyway you can park the car in a dry/shaded place so that the ground does not get wet. Of course the other thing to do is to start the engine, let it get warm and see if you can see steam coming out anywhere...this will show you have a leak and where it is!

Graham