Radiator drinking the coolant?

[pauly]

I just replaced cracked radiator with one of those beafy 40ml/all alloy ones off eBay.... All good no leaks/ no over heating .. The only problem is that my car is drinking the coolant?? The colant container is on the second refill in 2 weeks.. I know this isn't normal.. I've check / double / triple checked there are no leaks..

Any idea where this coolant is going??

And by the way I'm at Werk ... I keep spare coolant in the boot.. I've just relised it's a concentrate and I didn't diluted the coolant, would that have anything to do with it??

 

[frozen]

i'd probably flush it out and start over, and what do you mean the container? Dont you just fill the radiator to the mark, and the container is an overflow?

 

[smohekey]

You've probably got some air locks in the coolant system.

 

[matchtheclown]

Car's don't eat coolant when they are not leaking. Unless you have a huge hole in your water jacket and it's somehow getting into your fuel system and being pushed out your exhaust.. but I think you might notice that performance wise..

 

[AUSVR4]

+1 for airlocks. Did you fill it correctly?

 

[godzilla]

They eat coolant if you have a blown head gasket, don't they?

You should fill the radiator, run the car till hot, fill the top up to full, allow to cool - the rad will draw in a bit out of the o/flow if there is a shortage in there. Then after it is gone through another cycle, top the bottle back up and you are done.

 

[cyber_scriber]

Are you able to run a pressure test on the cooling system to absolutely rule out any leaks?

It might not show any leaks at idle or in the garage but you may be losing some coolant on the move when there's extra pressure on the cooling system.

 

[pauly]

Correct me if I'm wrong..
Bonnet open, on the left is a white container with hose going into it that's from radiator .. Should that be full all the time?? It says coolant on it..

 

[fieldy107]

I have the same problem basically, only not as bad. Have to top mine up every 3-4 weeks. I couldn't see a leak anywhere, could not find a drop of coolant on my driveway. Took it to the mechanics and was told there is a leak at the rear of my engine where you can't see and the leaked coolant is just being burnt by whatever it is landing on. Perhaps you have a leak in the same spot.

 

[pauly]

I might flush it all out on weekend and start from scratch ...

 

[Guest]

Correct me if I'm wrong..
Bonnet open, on the left is a white container with hose going into it that's from radiator .. Should that be full all the time?? It says coolant on it..

No it should not be full all the time. The level varies depending on whether the coolant is hot or cold, hence why it's called an overflow tank aka expansion tank/bottle.

 

[pauly]

No it should not be full all the time. The level varies depending on whether the coolant is hot or cold, hence why it's called an overflow tank aka expansion tank/bottle.

Roger that..

 

[bradc]

And the cars normally empty it out. On all VR-4's I've had the level naturally stabilises at about the 30% mark between low and high. My purple VR-4 will empty it all out when I take it to a track day

 

[pauly]

Ok thanks guys ..

 

[Slinz]

I had a similar issue when I got the car.. Coolant was practically gone. Refilled with a pricey coolant and it seemed to stay stable for about 3 months. Then out of nowhere it emptied itself out again and I have no idea where it could be coming out from! Doesn't seem to be affecting anything provided I keep an eye on the levels every week or two though.

 

[Fred]

About one week after i replaced my radiator, mine started to lose coolant, no leaks, no performance loss, turned out to be a blown headgasket...

 

[naughtika]

About one week after i replaced my radiator, mine started to lose coolant, no leaks, no performance loss, turned out to be a blown headgasket...

ouch.. how much $$$ did it bite you with? and how long did you have it off the road for?

 

[pauly]

ouch.. how much $$$ did it bite you with? and how long did you have it off the road for?

X2

 

[jungle]

Have you stressed thw engine, by that i mean has it been too hot? Mine was stressed when the heater core failed and i lost a lot of coolant. Did a leak down test is it's not the best. This may be something to consider. Mine uses a bit of water now until i rebuild the engine

 

[naughtika]

I'm just glad that I didnt drive my car when I noticed that hairline crack along the top radiator tank..