Van leaking coolant???

[Spade]

Right, I'm in a bit of bother
Van was parked up for a week and suddenly leaked coolant.
Checked coolant tank and it was empty.filled coolant tank and still leaked.
Next day filled coolant tank again and drove to my mechanic. Coolant tank stayed full.
Mechanic kept it for 3 days driving it and checking coolant level and tank stayed full.

Said to me to take it home and keep an eye on it.
Coolant tank has stayed full for the last 2 days.
Decided to head away for a planned trip.
Have driven over 100 miles checking engine temp and coolant tank level numerous times.
Tank full and temperature fine.
I'm stumped.
2000 fiat ducato 2.8idtd

 

[cmcardle75]

Had similar on wife's Polo. Would be fine and then dump the coolant, but never any clue where from, as it was intermittent. Finally, the low coolant level light came on driving down the M4 (had been avoiding motorways, but forgot this time). Topped up with water I'd been carrying for this eventuality and could finally see where it was coming from. It turned out to be the coolant drain tap! A quick twist and it's not lost coolant since.

On a tangentially related point, I'm even more in favour of All Lane Running smart motorways now. For the vast majority of breakdowns, where you can reach the refuge point, it feels way safer than being on the hard shoulder. You are basically protected by barriers. I wouldn't have dreamt of lying underneath a car on a hard shoulder (I've been on motorway hard shoulders maybe four times), but felt pretty safe in the refuge. For the few times you can't make the refuge, the obvious danger means immediately baling out over the barrier, which is way safer than sitting in the car waiting for the inevitable drunk/tired truck driver to smash into you.

 

[daveandsan]

How long have you had the motorhome for, has someone done a coolant change and it’s had an air lock?

 

[Razamataz]

Why not just add K Seal radiator sealant.
I have same engine and had a very small leak …. Only dripping when engine was cold.
All better now

 

[Simon Meadwell]

I have a leak on my citroen relay van nobody can find it. I just top up every week or so and and a bit of antifreeze in winter.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Martin How]

I had an intermittent leak on my G reg Citroen BX19 Gti from nearly new. The main dealers in West London were at the time expensive and useless and could not find it. The first sign of being low on coolant was the heater ran cold.

After much detective work with a torch and mirrors it turned out to be a defective hose which had a small split under the crimped on clip. I think it only leaked on the new moon.

 

[Clivefog]

In the dark get engine hot lift bonnet/engine cover and with a good torch have a look around the engine bay for a fine spray that may evaporate and leave no clue. Also anyny drips on the ground will give a lead to the source.

 

[Lenny HB]

When it's leaked has there been any coolant on the ground under the van, if so it should be traceable. If not and it only loses it when driving could be the head gasket. I had a car that only lost coolant occasionally it turned out to be a cracked head.

 

[Badknee]

It could also be that the coolant is burnt off while driving if the leak is onto something hot, I had a heater hose with a pinhole in it and I only found it by the staining on the pipe.

 

[Ingwe]

We had a coolant loss problem en route to Portugal. Nursed it to Armacao (by topping up coolant every day) when a garage discovered that a stone had pierced the radiator. The garage, let me say, was brilliant. They let us stay on their forecourt for two nights, with hookup, whilst they ordered and fitted the new radiator and water pump. They even dropped off bottles of water for us and allowed access to their toilet.

The other upside was that BreweryDave made contact and arranged for us to spend a few nights at the site where he was staying at the time. So we made some new friends.

Downside was the €1300 bill for the works. But, touch wood, no further sealant loss, although I do carry a bottle of coolant in the van as a precaution.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Spade]

Thanks for the replies.
The van had dripping coolant and a large puddle underneath.
I just can't understand why it started leaking when the van hadn't been driven for a week and then just stopped still not having been driven

 

[Lenny HB]

Doesn't sound too serious unless it's the water pump. Should be fairly easy to trace where it's coming from.

 

[Clivefog]

Don't confuse coolant leak with A/C drain, just saying.

 

[airwave]

Thanks for the replies.
The van had dripping coolant and a large puddle underneath.
I just can't understand why it started leaking when the van hadn't been driven for a week and then just stopped still not having been driven

You've been having a few record temperature recently ent ya ? .

 

[mitzimad]

My work van was loosing water witout a trace and it was the egr cooler if your van has an egr pull it out if its clean that will be where it leaks

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TheBig1]

intermittent coolant loss is usually linked to the heater matrix behind the dashboard. Heating off and no coolant flows through the matrix. Put it on and leave it on and it slowly leaks down the firewall to the footwell. Try some sealant first, get the engine hot and turn the heating on full before adding it. Then the thermostatic valve will be open and the whole system gets a dose

 

[Spanner]

Did your garage use a “coolant system pressure tester” the normal pressure in the system is around 13 psi but when under test at say 20 psi any leak is easier to locate.
Spade

 

[Spanner]

intermittent coolant loss is usually linked to the heater matrix behind the dashboard. Heating off and no coolant flows through the matrix. Put it on and leave it on and it slowly leaks down the firewall to the footwell. Try some sealant first, get the engine hot and turn the heating on full before adding it. Then the thermostatic valve will be open and the whole system gets a dose

I think you’ll find that modern vehicles have hot water circulating through the heater all the time, the heater controls move a flap to divert air over the heater matrix or not depending on the user settings.

 

[Landy Andy]

It is having the same pressure as the rest of the system.

 

[TheBig1]

Some still are valved, not all constantly pump through the heater matrix

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TOAD on Tour]

I’ve had a coolant leak after new hoses were fitted and the jubilee clip wasn’t tight enough. Took a while to figure it out as there was no leak when driving, but would drip when parked up. Turned out the hose would expand and seal itself when driving/hot, then start to drip when cooled down and relaxed!! Took a while to figure it out. In the end I put some cardboard under the engine to capture where the drips were from and then traced back from there.

 

[tonyidle]

Pressure test when cold. Usually finds minor leaks that dry quickly when hot. All you need for DIY is a spare rad cap & a Schraeder valve (standard tyre valve).