Coolant always low

fasttalkerchat

Seat Toledo 2001 1.9 TDI SE

I drive around 800 miles per week and have noticed that my coolant needs topped up approx 250ml every week. I thought this was because the water concentration was too high but I have since added 5L of coolant and 4L of water to balance it out. I check regularly for leeks and there is never any. Also coolant level does not change when I'm not driving the car.

Does anyone have any idea why this would be?

Not sure if this is relevant: On cold mornings it takes an extra 2 seconds to start but with a lot of white exhaust smoke. (always starts first time)

Any suggestion welcome

mickdw

I know one of the versions of the 1.9 tdi made around 2001 did have head gasket problems. I think it was the 115bhp version.
Your problems certainly sound very much like this is the issue.

fasttalkerchat

mickdw wrote: »

I know one of the versions of the 1.9 tdi made around 2001 did have head gasket problems. I think it was the 115bhp version.
Your problems certainly sound very much like this is the issue.

Would a cracked head gasket not give black exhaust fumes?

mickdw

Can be various symptoms but given that you are losing water, your problem would be that the gasket has failed in a location that is allowing water to cross into the cylinders and then be burned off and and exit the exhaust as steam. The water could alternatively be escaping into the engine oil. If this was the case, your oil level would be 'magically' rising.

CJhaughey

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Would a cracked head gasket not give black exhaust fumes?

White exhaust in the morning? Best way to check is go back into the cloud of white smoke, if you choke its fuel, if you feel warm and wet its steam and you will know that your head has gone.
Usually its steam not smoke...

jimmyw

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Would a cracked head gasket not give black exhaust fumes?

Blue smoke is usually oil been burnt
Black is extra fuel
White is usually steam/condensation, i.e water.

RandomAccess

Be careful you don't over dilute the anti-freeze over winter.

George Dalton

If you don't top up the coolant will it keep dropping or will it reach a point where it maintains a certain level? I have seen a good few of these that for some reason refuse to maintain the coolant at the max level but once they drop near the min mark on the header tank will hold that level without dropping any more.

johndaman66

Them symptoms sound very similar to when the headgasket went in my petrol vectra. I was mistified as to why it was taking so much coolant with no visible leaks and the oil remaining perfectly intact. Then it was pointed out to me that the coolant was being drawn into one cylinder and eventually blown out the exhaust.

Likewise I did notice that the car ran particularly poorly for a short spell after being started if left for a few hours. I would assume that this was because quite a drop of coolant had seeped into the cylinder following last use of the car.

JoeySully

If you are topping it up by the exact same amount every-time then you may have a bad rad cap seal or a hole in the overflow pipe. When your car heats up the water expands and pushes the water out into the overflow container. If there is a poor seal in your radiator cap or a hole in the overflow hose then as the engine cools it will suck in air instead of the water from the overflow container.

alexlyons

just to reiterate, I've seen it a few times that they refuse to retain water at a certain level.

next time you check it and would normally top it up, don't. Leave it for another week and see what the level is like. Check it half way through the second week as well if you are worried about it going below minimum but it should be fine.

damo86

Might be EGR cooler leaking slightly, not very common on tdi engines but is a possibilty.
Simple job to check Fairly cheap to replace...before you start stripping the engine!