Loosing Coolant (1 Viewer)

Feb 22, 2016
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Worst news we could have had for the van loosing coolant. Two leaks; one from the water pump, the other from the radiator.

We noticed the drop when doing the daily check after a night in Valladolid. The reservoir was almost empty. So filled it up half way between the min and max level. There was a pool of coolant near the offside front wheel. Looked into the engine bay and couldn't see any obvious source of leaking. Got under the van and looked up and again, nothing obvious. Felt all flexible pipes from the radiator feeling for splits and leaks but nothing.

So pressed on southwards, keeping an eye on the temperature guage. It was normal, the position being about half way up the "dial". When we stopped the evening at Belmonte, the level had dropped to the minimum level. So topped up with coolant to the midway point again. In the morning, again a small pool of coolant by the offside front wheel.

Kept topping up and keeping an eye on the temperature guage until we reached Armacao de Peres in Portugal and booked it into a recommended garage. They did a pressure check with me watching and the mechanic showed me the two leaks. The work will take 2 days (including waiting for parts ordered and fitting). They have offered us hookup and water and we have gratefully accepted. I'm only writing this boring account to get it out of my system and to warn others, if loosing coolant, to have it checked before setting off.

It's only money! There are far worse things happening as we overheard in Aldi. Some Brits have been taken ill and are having someone come out from the UK to drive the motorhome back whilst the ill one is in hospital. We're counting our blessings!
 
Last edited:

Silver-Fox

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Is the water pump driven by the cam belt?, if so I would be a good idea to change that along with tension pulley whilst they have it stripped down.

Thats what I thought reading the op ?

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Ingwe
Feb 22, 2016
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has a chain not a timing belt and mechanic said it didnt need changing
 
Feb 21, 2016
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Could have been a lot worse.
Good luck with the repair.:giggle::giggle:
 
Mar 30, 2019
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At least you’ve got it fixed before it blew and left you stranded somewhere remote and having to be recovered.
How many people actually check their vehicle everyday!
 
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Ingwe
Feb 22, 2016
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I hope it has been repaired. At 18:30 last evening, when the works were completed, the mechanic said that overnight, the coolant level would fall and that was due to the coolant purging air in the system when it cooled. His advice was to top it up in the morning using only water and then later if the level still dropped, to add antifreeze which he provided in a bottle.
We drove to ourr campsite (about 2 miles away) and parked up. This morning, I checked the level and it had dropped to below the minimum mark. I was a bit alarmed but topped it up with water only to the maximum mark. We're not going anywhere today and so far, at 13:15, the level is still at the maximum mark.

Do those in the know consider that the coolant should drop so much overnight? I accept that both the water pump and the radiator have been replaced so all the previous coolant had been drained. By the way, there is no evidence of any coolant in the engine or where it pooled before the repair and they did pressure test it yesterday and run the engine for 30 minutes or so, with dry cardboard placed underneath to spot any drops and they looked underneath with torches etc but there were no leaks then.
I hope I'm worrying unnecessarily! :confused:

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TerryL

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Mar 5, 2010
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Fingers crossed but that seems to have fixed it. I had a similar warning about coolant levels after a new cambelt etc. I'd still keep a close eye on it for a couple of trips though.
 

pappajohn

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A pressure test should have pressurise the system to the same as the filler cap pressure relief.... Around 14psi/15psi which is higher than the normal running pressure and would have shown any leaks plus running the engine for ½hr would do the same.
It may need a little water over the next day or two as the last of the air is purged.

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