Slow Coolant Leak; Clio MK1

Mycroft H

I've a slow coolant leak on my Clio, the expansion bottle drops between the highest mark and the lowest mark (~300ml) over about 2-3days.

There is no apparent leak beneath the car, well I cant see anything with axle stands and there is nothing on the ground after I move the car. All the hoses seem and the radiator seem to be dry with no visible crystallizing or pooling on escaping coolant. I don't think its the heater matrix, the interior of the car is quite dry.

And before anyone says head gasket - the coolant has nothing mixing in it, its very clean. The engine is performing great, no apparent loss of performance. There is no white smoke from the exhaust and the oil does not look like water has been mixing in it. I honestly don't think there is a HG issue.

Where else could it be escaping? Water pump? If it is, is there anything I can do about this? The timing belt was done (apparently, I have a garage receipt to say it was) 5000 miles ago. If its anything like that, I'm going to keep topping it up

Any other ideas?

Engine is the 1.4 energy petrol btw.

Esel

Put some Novastop into it?

heathersonline

We had a similar problem a while back and it was so simple it was stupid, not sure if yours is the same issue. The cap on our coolant was screwed back on but wasn't as tight as it could have been, so when the car heated the coolant was leaking out through the top of the coolant bottle. Took a mechanic an our to figure out, we had no idea!!!

Muckie

Possible a crack in Heater matrix inside the car.

Had this on a Volvo, misting up of the winscreen every now and then.

Used Nova stop, did the trick. That or replace the heater unit.

Thats my guess

piston

Put an airline into the header tank and wrap an old rag around it to seal it and pressurise the system and see where the coolant is coming out.

Esel

Esel wrote: »

Put some Novastop into it?

I wouldn't.

piston wrote: »

Put an airline into the header tank and wrap an old rag around it to seal it and pressurise the system and see where the coolant is coming out.

A rag won't make a seal.

BrianD3

The usual suspects would be slight leaks from the water pump, rad or heater matrix. 300 mls in 3 days is not a very big leak so it may not be too obvious. I would have thought you'd see a damp patch under the car if the pump is leaking though. If the timing belt was done recently and not correctly tensioned that could possibly affect the pump whether the pump was changed at the same time or not.

One common source of coolant leaks on that engine is a metal pipe approx 1 foot long that runs across the front of the engine near the exhaust manifold. This pipe can develop pinholes from corrosion. Again I would have thought that a leak would be fairly obvious but it's something to consider.

piston

RoverJames wrote: »

I wouldn't.


A rag won't make a seal.

Not a complete seal but if it's wrapped tightly enough, this still works. I've done it a few times.

I couldn't imagine that highlighting a source of a 300 ml leak over 3 days

Mycroft H

BrianD3 wrote: »

The usual suspects would be slight leaks from the water pump, rad or heater matrix. 300 mls in 3 days is not a very big leak so it may not be too obvious. I would have thought you'd see a damp patch under the car if the pump is leaking though. If the timing belt was done recently and not correctly tensioned that could possibly affect the pump whether the pump was changed at the same time or not.

One common source of coolant leaks on that engine is a metal pipe approx 1 foot long that runs across the front of the engine near the exhaust manifold. This pipe can develop pinholes from corrosion. Again I would have thought that a leak would be fairly obvious but it's something to consider.

Cheers brian. If its the water pump, I'll leave it be, its too much hassle getting a tiny leak fixed. I'll keep an eye on it, and see if it gets worse. I'll have a look for that metal pipe too, though that should be obvious enough.

Why not use Novastop RJ? I've used radweld before and it works, and given that Novastop is generally thought to be better, why not give it a go for a small leak like this.

BX 19

BX 19 wrote: »

............

Why not use Novastop RJ? I've used radweld before and it works, and given that Novastop is generally thought to be better, why not give it a go for a small leak like this.

I'd prefer to find the leak than use stuff like Novastop
Just me admittedly.

Mycroft H

RoverJames wrote: »

I'd prefer to find the leak than use stuff like Novastop
Just me admittedly.

Yea, If I can find it, I'll fix it. If I can't, Novastop. And if that doesn't work, I'll dig deeper.

Esel

RoverJames wrote: »

I wouldn't [use Novastop]

Not a good enough response, tbh. You should give a reason.* Novastop rules for slow, non-critical leaks.



*I know you have answered the OP's question on this in the meantime, but my point stands.

Esel

Esel wrote: »

Put some Novastop into it?

RoverJames wrote: »

I wouldn't.


..............

Esel wrote: »

Not a good enough response, tbh. You should give a reason.* Novastop rules for slow, non-critical leaks.



*I know you have answered the OP's question on this in the meantime, but my point stands.

Why should I give a reason for not using it when you gave no reason for using it and also stuck a question mark after your suggestion?

Your later point about it being good for non critical leaks further strengthens the argument for not using it as the OP has no idea where the coolant loss is occurring

Apply your "point" to your own posts going forward if you expect others to listen to that tripe.

Esel

RoverJames wrote: »

Apply your "point" to your own posts going forward if you expect others to listen to that tripe.

I believe tripe means something else in Cork. However, I don't think my posts normally contain any. Up to this, in my experience, yours didn't either.

Esel

Esel wrote: »

........ I don't think my posts normally contain any......

I considered......

Esel wrote: »

Not a good enough response, tbh. You should give a reason..............

.......that post tripe

We're not doing the leaving cert, we don't have to provide quotes from the poem to back up points imo.

Posting that after you suggested using Novastop, without elaborating on how excellent (apparently) it is for non critical leaks is extremely ironic. A classic case of pot kettle black.

Esel

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.

Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote:

Oh, the mind, mind has mountains,
Cliffs of fall, frightful sheer,
No man fathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne'er hung there.

Mycroft H

Just a wee update.

Novestop in since may. Leak gone. 50ml of novastop fixed the system.

Pottler

Novastop is goood. After an 8 hour strip-down on an industrial engine and a 12 hour re-build, the fecker still had an internal coolant leak. AAARGH. Novastop in, leak gone. 12 months later, all's still good. It is a very good product.:)

Esel

Yeah, Novastop rules!

HAMMERCURRENT

The Novastop bottle contains 25ml and this can treat 25 litres of liquid, so how to you determine the coolant capacity of say "a 96 A4 diesel!" would it do any harm to put the whole 25ml in?

http://www.novatio.com/en/product/novastop-radiator

Chuck_Norris

HAMMERCURRENT wrote: »

The Novastop bottle contains 25ml and this can treat 25 litres of liquid, so how to you determine the coolant capacity of say "a 96 A4 diesel!" would it do any harm to put the whole 25ml in?

http://www.novatio.com/en/product/novastop-radiator

As someone who worked for the distributors I the range for a long time, I can say that 1 250ml bottle of Novastop will treat 25 litres of coolant.

Some people put in half a bottle for your average car, which is grand. Just make sure to give the can a serious shake before you out it in. And make sure the car is up to operating temperature first.

Edit: to answer your initial question, putting the whole can in won't do any harm.

Esel

HAMMERCURRENT wrote: »

The Novastop bottle contains 25ml and this can treat 25 litres of liquid, so how to you determine the coolant capacity of say "a 96 A4 diesel!" would it do any harm to put the whole 25ml in?

http://www.novatio.com/en/product/novastop-radiator

I know Chuck_Norris has effectively pointed this out in his post above, but the bottle contains 250ml, not 25ml.