Coolant problems return again...

[McLamont]

So some of you might remember about two months ago I put a thread up saying that my coolant had vanished after 7k miles. After lots of worrying about the possibility of a head gasket failure, the dealership essentially checked it and told me it was my fault for not screwing the cap on tight enough. Me being less than well informed with cars, believed it and carried on driving it, slightly relieved that it was probably down to my own error.

So getting to the point, I was sitting in my car on my break at work tonight when I noticed the heaters had stopped blowing warm air. Instantly thought "oh no, not again". So when I checked my coolant level, its pretty much empty again.

Checked my oil cap and coolant bottle and both appear to be fine so my only other thought is that there's a leak somewhere along the line letting all my coolant out. I'm no mechanic, but I'm pretty sure a car shouldnt go through a whole bottle of coolant in about 2 months (and around 3k miles).

Anyone else have any input on this? I know I need to take it to the dealers but it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence knowing that they'll probably just tell me it was my fault and not listen to a word I say! :mad:

[cyclone]

It's a closed system so it must have a leak somewhere. As to the cap was there any residue from the coolent on the bonnet padding and around the bottle? You would notice it. When my water pump blew up the coolent left a whitish residue around that whole area. Can they pressurize the system artificially and look for leaks?

[gar074]

Is the coolant level still low when the engine is cold?

If so, there's a leak somewhere, as Cyclone says.

Can't believe they didn't check it out properly the first time. Muppets.

[Mark]

I have the same problem. Every 7000 kms I have to fill it from below minimum to maximum. They took the engine out, checked everything, new headgasket, ... But the problem is still there. No leaks in the circuit

[gar074]

No leaks in the circuit...

... that they can find!

That's just not right.

[Mark]

But that's not my only poblem. Every 6500 km I have to fill 1,5l oil

[McLamont]

Seeing as I'm working all this week, I'm gonna get it booked in on Monday. Hopefully they won't just fob me off this time! I may not be a mechanic but I have just about enough sense to know that my coolant shouldn't be going walkies after 3k miles!