Fiat Bravo losing coolant only when I use heating

steirishrover

Hi all

The last 3 months I am losing water in the coolant.. every morning I am having to top it up with up to 2 litres of water. I asked around what the problem could be and I got a load of different answers to it being the head gasket to another saying leaking somewhere to another saying water pump or radiator etc

Another guy told me if it was head gasket it would be well have blown long by now.

Now lately I've only kopped that's it's only losing water is when I use the heater inside the car. One of the mild days we got last week I topped it up as per usual that morning but never used the heating as it was warm that day.. when I went to top up again it was still full this time. So I thought it must be something because I had never used the heater at all previously..

Can anyone here have an idea what it could be? Sick of it now everyday having to do it and also the thought of the engine eventually seizing up on me with it losing water..

Cheers in advance for any help

Alanstrainor

Topping up by 2 litres a day is outrageous! You risk destroying the engine if you keep going like that without getting it checked!

Presumably the cooling system is tied into the heater matrix, which could be leaking. It's very hard to say though... but get it checked sooner rather than later as you'll be down an engine if you leave it go as is. Be careful with just topping up with water... given how cold it is out, it could simply freeze and burst something else in the process. You need coolant, the type will depend on the car.

steirishrover

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Topping up by 2 litres a day is outrageous! You risk destroying the engine if you keep going like that without getting it checked!

Presumably the cooling system is tied into the heater matrix, which could be leaking. It's very hard to say though... but get it checked sooner rather than later as you'll be down an engine if you leave it go as is. Be careful with just topping up with water... given how cold it is out, it could simply freeze and burst something else in the process. You need coolant, the type will depend on the car.

I can't see any leaks visible on the ground or the tray..

keithg89

Is the carpet wet on the passenger side? Also check your oil level.

biko

If it was the head gasket the car would have a cloud behind it, which I assume it does not.
The engine only holds about 3.5L and for it to lose more than 50% every day it has to be a leak, probably in a hose.

Leave car running with heat full blast and crawl around and check for leaks, inside and outside.

Alanstrainor

Yes you'll need to investigate this while the car is stationary and running with the heater on. Coolant leaks can be notoriously hard to diagnose.

What year/engine bravo is this?

biko

Indeed, the hot water might spray out of a hose and evaporate immediately before it will leave any tracks.
You would notice it inside the car so my guess is that it happens close to the firewall in the engine bay. - but do check inside car too (particularly if you have foggy windows each morning).

steirishrover

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Yes you'll need to investigate this while the car is stationary and running with the heater on. Coolant leaks can be notoriously hard to diagnose.

What year/engine bravo is this?

It's a 2011 1.6 diesel

Great lads will check out all the above advice thanks again

toyotafan

steirishrover wrote: »

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Yes you'll need to investigate this while the car is stationary and running with the heater on. Coolant leaks can be notoriously hard to diagnose.

What year/engine bravo is this?

It's a 2011 1.6 diesel

Great lads will check out all the above advice thanks again

Did ye find the issue?

PukkaStukka

Those 1.6 multijets are a good engine and not known for head gasket issues. Ideally you should get the cooling system pressure tested and that will expose any leaks fairly quickly

steirishrover

I just dropped it I to the local garage there to get it pressure tested

It's the water pump in the end so getting sorted now

steirishrover

steirishrover wrote: »

I just dropped it I to the local garage there to get it pressure tested

It's the water pump in the end so getting sorted now

oh oh scratch that.. just got a call from throw saying as they worked on it it's not that.. turns out is the inlet manifold or something along them lines.. €700 to get from fiat and €500 labour

PukkaStukka

steirishrover wrote: »

oh oh scratch that.. just got a call from throw saying as they worked on it it's not that.. turns out is the inlet manifold or something along them lines.. €700 to get from fiat and €500 labour

:eek:

Never heard of that one before. Can you order the parts yourself on the net? Would be cheaper than main dealer ...

Edit: is it the EGR cooler?

steirishrover

PukkaStukka wrote: »

:eek:

Never heard of that one before. Can you order the parts yourself on the net? Would be cheaper than main dealer ...

Edit: is it the EGR cooler?

he just basically telling me it's a leak from that inlet manifold.. that he's never seen anything like it before while working there over 10 years..

he can't say how it happened that he can only know how to fix it

I've priced a few places and euro car parts in santry have which I think is the same one for roughly €450.. he said it would take 10 hours labour

PukkaStukka

That's a shame. I've no idea how big a job it is to pull the manifold off. If it's on the back of the engine then obviously it's a messy job but 10 hours does seem a lot.