Connor, in light of your other probs with the Sport make sure that you get a good mixture of anti-freeze in there.

Did the garage put anti-freeze or 'forlife' coolant in (or whatever it is called these days)?

 

Glad to hear every thing turned out for the better, instead of the not so nice head gasket problem.

 

The headlight bottle is just expansion will fill empty as required but a full and overflowing expansion tank is often tanken to be a sign of HG failure.

Is the rad hot on both top and bottom hoses or left and right sides ? mind your hand on the fans when checking the bottom.

 

Yes basically you fill it until its all in the system and no longer needs filling. When you are done doing that often people put a smidge in the expansion tank too to be drawn in if required.

 

I could take a few miles and a litre of added coolant to get all the air out of the system. It may be that a hose or joint has a slight leak as well so check the system over, park the car on flat and dry concrete or tarmac and let it run for 30 mins (warm) and see what is deposited and where from in relation to the car engine bay.

It could be the heater matrix is leaking or kaput or you have a small leak orr the cooling system is 'settling'.

However;
Connor - i am really suprised the garage did not do a sniff test before installing the rad or even after. If the HG has gone this will tell you 100% and instantly, it takes some 30 seconds to perform the test and is very easy to do!

Your rad going could be caused by the HG failure or vise versa. the sniff test will tel you and give you an instant diagnoosis.

You can buy the kits from a decent motor factor for £20-30 (from memory)

 

I also mentioned this earlier Paul. Little sucker syringe (for want of a batter word), uses fluid which changes colour if CO2 is present in the cooling system. I recently had it checked on my Pug (being 20 odd years old) and it was just the fact I had a slightly different temp thermostat running and a bit of mayo in the oil filler cap filter. Simply been put down to the fact my car hates the cold and hasn't caused me issues since.

Connor, I would suggest going to another garage and getting the test done for piece of mind.

 

Also known as a combustion test mate...

combustion, Hand Tools, Diagnostic Tools Equipment items at low prices on eBay.co.uk

Not cheap, hense why I would get a garage to do it mate.

 

OK,

To put this simply and you can pass this onto the garage.

The HG on my pug has gone, it puts a small amount of gas into the coolant and occasionallly blows out of the overflow and uses some coolant, more if the weather is hot.
It does not really overheat!

You have not had the car that long, what say it overheated BIFORE you owned it?!?

Look mate this is your car and up to you but me, i would get a sniff test done, it could not be easier.

If you have a Parrs motor factors near by then go ask them for the kit, buy one and do it yourself or get this or another garage to do so.

I am really suprised that the garage did not do or offer this when fitting the rad. pointless going on about it, get it done and know for sure, simple!

 

+1

 

Spot on CoB, thats the boy.
Agree with your comments re gunge in the rad cap BTW, things not always what they seem

 

Please re read my previous post re where the water might be going. you might also want to get a new rad cap. It ether leaks or it could be being consumed with a HG failure or it does not use water. as said it could just be settling.

 

Breaking news!!!!

Dole dosser makes useful post on Scoobynet


Connor, if you think about it, the cylinder head and block are only seperated by the head gasket, so if this is leaking the coolant that runs through the channels in the block/head has somehwere to escape. This could be the loosing water, it may not. Also if the head gasket has gone, ie corroded, the gases created in the pistons after combustion can leak into the channels which the coolant is pumped through. Thats generally my understanding of why a sniffer/combustion test is a brilliant gadget and usually very accurate.

Genuinely hope its nothing serious mate, but if I were you, I'd be driving to a reputable garage now and finding out. At worst its a couple ££ for piece of mind.

 

any garage or a rad replacement company, even the likes of quickfit or get one yourself, once you have the kit you can used it on any more potential purchases

It is a quiet day for me so did la little digging
http://ww.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=60736
have a look here

 

for my two penneth

earier on in a post on this thread I mentioned I had to replace my bottom rad hose (like the OP losing coolant, heater cold) my first thoughts were HG

however I replaced the hose (mindfull that it could have split due to pressurising)

I then topped (obviously lost quite a bit of coolant) up the system from the ali header tank (by the turbo), whilst I was toppping it up i was squeezing both rad hoses top and bottom -- had the engine running and heater full on and blowing, when it could take no more let it cool and repeated a few hours later.

I then drove the next 200 odd miles with my eye on the temp guage and my hand on the hot blower (summer so quite uncomfortable) over the next few days which equated to about 500 odd miles I checked and topped up the ali header tank (by the turbo), maybe 500 mil

since done 12000 mile no probs

I occasionally put some in the plastic one (every 5000 miles)

just to be very clear the Ali header tank is ontop of the engine (for non turbos) plastic behind the headlight

 

I agree, its worth having the leak test done for peace of mind.

Having said that, like I posted earlier in the thread, I had similar issues to what you had. Radiator had a tiny little hole spraying water out. I took it to Scoobyclinic because I could smell the leak but couldn't see it. James inspected it and found the leak within 20 seconds. I collected the car next day all fixed with a new rad but I dont know weather they did a leak test. A few weeks later the top header tank started leaking and I was worried that I may have a head gaskett failure pressurising the system. Back to Scoobyclinic for a new header tank and they reckond it was just the age of the car and it was common for them both to go a similar times. The header tank was leaking on the seam and one of the hose connectors disintegrated when they pulled one of the hoses off.

Anyway, that was over 12 months ago and the car has been fine ever since.

 

Let the car sit idling and see if you can see any visible leaks bung a sheet of cardboard or do int on a clean, dry surface.

The garage should have got most of the air out when fitting the rad. It could be they disturbed another hose or joint which in turn is leaking.

If you keep using a few litres of water per 100 miles then chances are there is a problem, could be split expansion tank, dodgly cap, spring/seal worn, water hose/joint/jubilee clip, heater matrix (small rad) or head gasket.

Do not get mad get looking mate

 

dont lose faith mate, you will get there in the end. ok maybe a few coins lighter though.

 

Connor; Ring the AA/RAC they have sniffer tests on board

 

No worries fella. I will nevere profess to be a mechanic or anything, I was merely going by what I did when I had concerns over my car mate.

Speaking to a specialists was the best thing for you to do imo. Maybe this was part of the reason you got the Scoob cheap? Pretty much impossible to take everything into account when checking one over, been there myself. Hopefully wont be an expensive fix regardless. Just keep us upto date.

 

Depending on the quality of the rad may still be settling. How much water are you putting in ?