Coolant Loss

[thepickles]

I know this has been discussed a lot

But Mrs P went for a spin today, coolant alarm went off

Temp remained normal
But all coolant in header tank gone

whats the next step

Cheers
Steve

[dave_aber]

Stop driving.

[francophile1947]

You need to check all the hoses for leaks and don't drive it until you have bled the system - if the header tank is empty, you will almost certainly have got air in the system.
If you can't find any leaks, you'll need to check if the system is over-pressurising due to a head gasket gone Is there steam coming from the exhaust?

[mikeonb4c]

If you stopped as soon as the coolant alarm went off, then you'd think it must be a substantial leak for header tank to have emptied, as the LCA should go off while there is still fair bit left in it. Did you spot any coolant anywhere underneath the vehicle? Do you have a Mason or TM2 alram fitted? How far are you from home, in terms of recovering the vehicle (I'm thinking that a v. short trip with header tank topped up might just be possible, though I suspect I'll get shouted at for suggesting that)

PS - thank heavens for the LCA though eh? Well done Haydn

[thepickles]

As Mrs P was driving close to home the low coolant alarm went off

the temp reading was at 88

slight steam from under bonnet

header tank bone dry

as for which coolant alarm the one with the temp gauge and low coolant alarm

'ANY EXPERTS IN MY AREA WANNA TAKE A LOOK' I don't know of any bongo friendly garages near me

cheers
Steve

[haydn callow]

The alarm would have gone off when the coolant in the tank was just below the FULL line.(above the LOW).....If SWMBO stopped at once, the tank should still be reasonably full ..unless it was a massive leak which should have been obvious.
As already said......providing the temp stayed much the same as normal and your Bongo gauge didn't swing over, you have probably got away with it...Don't drive it untill the faults is repaired and whatever you do....GET IT BLED ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS........

[thepickles]

The alarm would have gone off when the coolant in the tank was just below the FULL line.(above the LOW).....If SWMBO stopped at once, the tank should still be reasonably full ..unless it was a massive leak which should have been obvious.
As already said......providing the temp stayed much the same as normal and your Bongo gauge didn't swing over, you have probably got away with it...Don't drive it untill the faults is repaired and whatever you do....GET IT BLED ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS........

Yes have your TM-2 combined fitted

Hope fully a burst hose, SWMBO could not give me accurate info, but did say temp at 88 and needle did not swing

slight steaming from bonnet when she got home

I can't look in the daylight until Saturday so I will have to wait

what coolant do you guys and gals recommend ??

Don't need this right now but that's Bongo ownership for you

cheers
Steve

[thepickles]

Just had a quick squint under the bonnet

water every where , took the rad cap off, rad full ,rubber seal to cap a bit out of line put this right

water around top of rad could the cap have been the prob ??

but what caused this???

cheers
Steve

[thepickles]

Hi,
I got to flush and bleed the system

What Anti Freeze to you use ??????????? and do use tap water or distilled water

I always use this in my bike with distilled water



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_229902

cheers
steve

[mikeonb4c]

Hi,
I got to flush and bleed the system

What Anti Freeze to you use ??????????? and do use tap water or distilled water

I always use this in my bike with distilled water



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_229902

cheers
steve

I just used tap water when I refilled mine (though I am in a non-hard water area, not sure what best practice is either).

While establishing where the leak is, could you not just use tap water (don't even bother with wasting antifreeze, esp. as it should still have a decent amount in it). Bleed it properly of course (and or give up because while running engine to do the bleed, it becomes obvious where the leak is coming from). If the leak is slow/mysterious, then include some u/v dye if you have it (and a u/v torch to later spot the spillage areas) and keep the Bongo on local driving until problem resolved.

Others care to comment?

[thepickles]

Hi,
I got to flush and bleed the system

What Anti Freeze to you use ??????????? and do use tap water or distilled water

I always use this in my bike with distilled water



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_229902

cheers
steve

I just used tap water when I refilled mine (though I am in a non-hard water area, not sure what best practice is either).

While establishing where the leak is, could you not just use tap water (don't even bother with wasting antifreeze, esp. as it should still have a decent amount in it). Bleed it properly of course (and or give up because while running engine to do the bleed, it becomes obvious where the leak is coming from). If the leak is slow/mysterious, then include some u/v dye if you have it (and a u/v torch to later spot the spillage areas) and keep the Bongo on local driving until problem resolved.

Others care to comment?

Yes I am planning to top the system up with tap water and then gently run the bongo whilst leak checking
if I solve the problem I will fix it and then flush and fill with fresh antifreeze

At first look I feel the top of the rad may have burst

[mikeonb4c]

At first look I feel the top of the rad may have burst

I seem to recall there have been a few incidents of that - something to do with it being plastic and splitting ( I await my turn for it to happen ). Have a search if you get a moment.

Good luck

[thepickles]

I have found the source of the leak

Engine and everything else all OK


Bottom right side of the radiator is leaking near the bottom pipe

can this be fixed


VID


Cheers
Steve

[mikeonb4c]

Vid too dark for my PC - Is it all metal around there? Does anyone still braze radiators? I wonder if isn't best just to get a replacement though as brazing would cost, car would be out of action, long lasting result might be uncertain.

[mobilecat]

Pull the rubber quite hard on the seal on the filler tank cap - Inn the end, mine was that - and we tried everything else first. It could of course be that in conjunction with something else. Tiny holes in that rubber seal do a whole lot of leaking under pressure. We didn't find it in time - new radiator too