Expansion tank level problem?

LEGNUMFST

LEGNUMFST

Hesitantly Boosting
Location
Perth
First Name
Neville
Drive
1999 Legnum vr4 type s
Having an issue thats starting to worry me.

Noticed the level in the expansion tank was low 2 weeks ago below minimum. I tightened the clamps i could get , changed the radiator cap then topped up to max.

Done about 300kms and level is now below minimum again.

No obvious leaks but have ordered replacement hoses that havent already been replaced and new thermostat, the heater has never worked which i suspected the heater core but have left it for now.

* Radiator is less than 12 months old
* car has not overheated in the 5 months i have owned it
* Top And Bottom radiator hose are new silicone hoses.
* radiator cap replaced
* expansion bottle is new
* radiator always full and no bubbles/froth
* car drives and boosts at 16psi perfectly.
* oil is clean no sign of contamination / coolant.
* no white smoke from exhaust

Unless its a leak from one of these small hoses or its normal to magically lose most of the expansion tank regularly i am pretty much stumped..
 
I wouldn't be concerned, they tend to find their own level regardless of what you do. Mine doesn't like any in the expansion tank but the water level in the radiator never changes
 
Thanks for the response that makes me feel alot better (y)

The motor is meant to only have 70,000kms on it was a half cut installed by the last owner in december 2013 ( have receipts) was at 50k when installed.

Will do the small hoses and thermostat anyway at least i know its done then. Have a new silicone elbow pipe to replace the hard plastic one off the throttle body coming as well from ivan , will do it all and once .
 
Could be a leak anywhere. Turbo lines heater hoses. Even heater core could be leaking. Keep an
Eye on the ground when u park up and watch the tank. All u can really do
 
Yeah been keeping and eye no leaks on the ground... always dry.

Havent taken the cooler pipes and airbox out yet to have a proper look will have turbo line, throttle body, heater hoses to replace the existing ones this weekend.

Is it normal for the top hose to be hot and bottom to be cold?
 
its normal for the top to be hot and the bottom to be warm (not cold) if the bottom one is barely warm then maybe your thermostat is nackered (?)
 
Yeah and heater does not work ... could be wrong but from all the searching i have done common signs of thermostat. Either way going to replace it this weekend.
 
Couple of things to consider:

1. A small leak should be smelt before it is seen. I had one the throttle body hoses have a small leak I could smell it but couldn't see anything water level barely changed. Wasn't until the thing actually split that I found the issue.

2. Heater not working doesn't mean thermostat could mean the heater door inside the cabin is not working, fairly common problem with these cars. I've had that issue too.
 
Its a hard one Jungle , but then again if your saying yours has nothing in the overflow might be nothing wrong.

Going to replace all the hoses and thermostat anyway and hopefully it will resolve its self and may find a split hose or something whilst i'm doing it.

Air does come through the vents on heat but its just cold.
 
My Legnum had the same issue. No smell of coolant, no coolant on the ground. I finally found it by discovering the stains that boiled off coolant leaves behind (a pink chalky residue usually). In my case it was coming from one of the small hoses coming out of the thermostat housing area. Tightened the hose clamp at the source of the leak and it's never dropped the level in the overflow since.

You do need to remove the airbox assembly to see this though.
 
jungle said:
I wouldn't be concerned, they tend to find their own level regardless of what you do. Mine doesn't like any in the expansion tank but the water level in the radiator never changes
Click to expand...

Yay Im not the only one haha
 
Overflows pretty much down to empty now.

Interested to see if the radiator does go down as i have never let it get that low before.

Its not losing enough to overheat so will take it for a short drive and check it once its cooled down.

I suspect it will hopefully just be one of the small hoses.

So jungle and badger your expansion tanks are always bone dry , but radiator is full?
 
LEGNUMFST said:
Overflows pretty much down to empty now.

Interested to see if the radiator does go down as i have never let it get that low before.

Its not losing enough to overheat so will take it for a short drive and check it once its cooled down.

I suspect it will hopefully just be one of the small hoses.

So jungle and badger your expansion tanks are always bone dry , but radiator is full?
Click to expand...
Full no, something less than that, probably half way from top, to the radiator core being exposed?
 
LEGNUMFST said:
Air does come through the vents on heat but its just cold.
Click to expand...

The gears that drive the hot/cold air blend door get stripped over time. A few of us have fixed ours by pulling the motor box apart and re-seating the gears so that the stripped teeth don't get used anymore. Search for "blend door" to find the relevant posts - there doesn't seem to be a dedicated thread yet (if you fix yours, why not make a thread? :) )

Before you go through all that trouble however, you might want to check that the inlet hose hasn't simply fallen off the back of the climate control head unit. This happened to me once.
 
Cheers for all the help everyone appreciate it.

Mookers will make a guide when i get time to fix the heater (y)
 
Found the leak was the top radiator hose (pic attatched), pushed hose on a tiny bit more and tightened clamp properly.

Filled overflow to half way between minimum and full .

After a 40kms drive overflow is just below full (y)
 

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Surprised u couldn't smell it.
 
Yeah seems to be a fair bit pooled. Just glad its a leak and not my headgasket.

Is that the gearbox external filter in the pic, thought they were only on prefacelift ?
 
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