car seems to be drinking coolant in the heat

[TeZ]

Well the heat is now here (summer) and my coolant seems to be drunk fast.

Is this ok?, car never seems to over heat tho , as the sensor when upto normal running temp dosnt go over but i am still worried about the coolant being drunk rather fast?.


please help

TeZ

(Car is a clio 1.4 16v 2001)

 

[TeZ]

:bump::bump::bump:

 

[TeZ]

:bump::bump::bump::bump:

 

[TeZ]

please

 

[A18XHO]

mines just started doing this too, think either i have a tiny hole in the rad or in a pipe?

 

[TeZ]

yea i think so 2 dont no what to do

 

[DougClio16v]

I doubt it has a fault. The hot weather always makes the car use up more coolant in the engine.

 

[TeZ]

FEWWW , well ill keep topping her up till the end of hot weather then ill see what happens, bit worried tho my cars done 50K and is 02 i cant afford a cam belt change if thats what it may be

 

[DougClio16v]

It's like a human mate. We drink plenty of water in hot weather to keep cool and so that we can still perform well and be healthy. We lose alot of water more in hot weather, so we need replacement water to remain balanced.

The car does the same as it gets hotter quicker in hotter weather (suprisingly!), it needs more coolant to be pumped around the engine so that it remains in working order and to cool the metal parts down so that it doesn't overheat. If it uses less coolant in the hot weather, the car will simply overheat and breakdown because it can't function properly.

It's not rocket science lol.

Only start to worry if it drinks alot of coolant in cold or cooler weather.

 

[The Super A!]

Shouldn't be using that much coolant, use some radweld anyway, can't do any harm.

 

[TeZ]

Radwel where can i get this from?

 

[Fred@BTM]

don't put radweld anywhere near a car!

get your coolant system pressure checked

 

[TeZ]

kl wont touch that radweld from what i just read of another forum lol,

where abouts can that be done Fred? just any good mechanic? or at reno?

 

[Fred@BTM]

any garage should be able to do it, if its a mk1 clio its quite common for them to have cracked expansion tanks

 

[TeZ]

na its a MK2 PH2 51 plate its really bizarre tho it fills to max then after a while its at min stys at min ? weird never drinks dry but yeah ill have that pressure checked is there any stats i ned to know on the pressure of the system?

 

[Fred@BTM]

1.2 16V?? have a look round the water pump, mine started leaking through the bearing

 

[TeZ]

1.4 16v

 

[Fred@BTM]

hum.............

 

[TeZ]

Lol scratch ya noggin buddy

 

[MrMark]

smell your exhaust gasses. Do they smell quite sweet?

you could have a slight head gasket problem, allowing coolant to be burnt and sent out the exhaust.

 

[TeZ]

right, i topped it up with diluted anti freeze to just over min and now its under (withnin 2 weeks ) how do i find a leak? and can i just top up a lil with water?

 

[TeZ]

:bump:

 

[Jay_clio]

duno if this would help but, when i had my 306 TD it drinkin water like hell, i had to carry water in the boot.. in a week i had to fill about 6-7 times duno why tho, but i took it to the garage to have it serviced and MOT'd and apparantly the brakes had summin to do with the water gong fast.. do your brakes feel spongy ?

 

[TeZ]

Also where can i get it pressure tested to find the problem , in the oxfordshire area .... please help

 

[TomTom]

Could be a few things as mentioned Tez, get it to a garage, get your cambelt changed as you say, when the belts off they can see the water pump so can eliminate that straight away. Could be a split in a pipe or maybe a stone through the rad.

How much are you topping it up by? how frequently

 

[TeZ]

yea lil bit spongy y?

 

[TeZ]

um a lil bit every few weeks , cam belt Oh s**t souds expensive mate