Losing Coolant

[Clare]

I have just noticed the coolant level in the bottle is down to the mid-way marker.. last time i checked it was significantly higher than this. It does not appear to be leaking anywhere..

I rang my local dealer (Whitehouse Renault, Tunbridge Wells), spoke to the Service department, who told me that the coolant can eveporate, and that I need to purchase a ready made mixture from Renault (£6) in order to top it up.

Is this correct, or do I have a problem?

 

[Clare]

The car was cold when I noticed the above.

 

[Barryd]

Clare,

If you are just using normal water then it could just boil away gradually. Best thing to do would be to flush the cooling system and fill up with the Premix coolant that Renault sell. Is about £12 for 5 litres (I think the £6 one is for a 2 litre bottle or something).

You could also have a slight leak, maybe a loost or hairline split in one of the hoses. Have a look round the engine bay for signs of water stains on parts of the engine bay, that will give away the location if its a leak. Also, remove your oil filler cap and look inside the cap to see what colour the oil is thats around the top. If it looks like mayonasse (sp!) then you either have a leaking head gasket or might also mean you only do short journeys. You can double check this by taking out the dip-stick and checking again for the mayonasse coloured oil. If its normal oil colour, all is normal.

Could also just be an airlock in the system, but this is genreally caused by an air leak somewhere, but could be a very tiny leak.!

But to start with just top up and see what happens. Id advise a complete flush and new coolant tho.

 

[Clare]

Ill go take another look to see if I can see any signs of a leak. How would I go about doing a complete flush, or would it be best for a garage to do this.

 

[Clare]

The proper Renault mixture is in it at the moment, not just water..

 

[Barryd]

Ok, just top up then if its already got the Renault stuff in it. Im not sure where the coolant drain plug is on the DCi (is that what you have?), but its not a hard job.

Also check the cap is done up firm, but not too tight and definately not too loose.

See how it goes over the next week or so, just keep an eye on it, check it every morning before you start the engine.

 

[Clare]

Yes, I have a DCi. It all seems fine, cant see any signs of leakage, or any sign of the "mayonnaise" around the filler cap or dipstick. Ill try topping it up later on, but I dont want to be doing it every 5 minutes!

Thanks for the advice.

 

[JAY172]

you will lose a certain amount of coolant through evaporation so topping up now and again is ok.

 

[Mike Wright]

Or it may be a leak in the Heater Matrix..............Pressure test it to help ID a leak.