coolant loss issue

[fivepointnine]

2004 Leon Cupra R
coolant issue: Got a coolant warning light yesterday when I started my car, low obviously. Car runs at 90 dead on all the time, I think I can see some coolant pooled on top of the control arm on the drivers side, I can see no obvious leaks anywhere. Gurgling sound coming from the expansion tank when the car is shut off...ideas?

Also I noticed my fans are not kicking on at all, could this cause it? I am ordering resistors to do the mod now. (fuses on top of the battery are fine)

 

[s1 evoloution]

sounds as though your water pump has gone that or headgasket. get the engine pressure tested.a friend had the same fault because he had a reciept saying the water pump was changed everything was checked the internals of the water pump failed and overheated his engine soo bad the cylinder block bores had a crack. so the engine was scrap. all because he believed the photo copied reciept the seller left in the car. get the fans fixed if theyre not working as they will also make the headgasket fail with constant overheating. if you think its them then put your in car heaters on the hotest setting and blowers on full while your using it until its fixed.

 

[fivepointnine]

Don't really think it's either, It's an external leak, and it's not overheating at all, which is what would happen if the water pump impeller failed.

 

[sockpuppet]

I had something similar for several months where the coolant would intermittently disappear. The cooolant would stay on the low mark for weeks then I would check and there would be nothing in the header tank. It was like I had an air lock in the system. After about 7 or 8 months the temperature gauge was dropping to 70 so I changed the thermostat and the coolant level has been fine ever since.
I think my thermostat was on the way out for months, but the temperature gauge is really inaccurate (mine is anyway) After 5 or 10 minutes of driving it will read 90 degrees as if the car is fully warmed up, (blowers are hot as well) but when I check the torque app the temperature reading will only be at 70 degrees.

 

[mty12345]

Don't really think it's either, It's an external leak, and it's not overheating at all, which is what would happen if the water pump impeller failed.

Hi mate, first of all i agree with the above, it's neither the water pump or headgasket, as it would overheat massively.

Are you sure you have a leak at all? Is the level low in the tank?

The sensor often gives a false warning in the mornings on these cars. It's simpily a build up of crap on the two prongs in the tank.....Just scrape with a small screwdriver or similar to remove it.

 

[fivepointnine]

Yeah it was low and I can see a small small puddle of coolant on top of the control arm directly below the expansion tank, thermostat and coolant temp sensor were changed, and it is warming up properly, as it is going into the warm map like it should (35mpg and allows full boost)

 

[mty12345]

Ah right, in that case it's probably just a expansion tank hose thats leaking. I'd probably just replace them and see what happens. The cooling system is trouble free usually.

 

[fivepointnine]

I ordered a new tank and fan relay to cover both sides. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this.

 

[mty12345]

Sorry yeah i forgot about the fans. I think that's probably unrelated tbh. There is a thermostatic switch screwed into the radiator that switches the fans on and off, number 15 in the pic below

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[s1 evoloution]

sounds as though your water pump has gone that or headgasket. get the engine pressure tested.a friend had the same fault because he had a reciept saying the water pump was changed everything was checked the internals of the water pump failed and overheated his engine soo bad the cylinder block bores had a crack. so the engine was scrap. all because he believed the photo copied reciept the seller left in the car. get the fans fixed if theyre not working as they will also make the headgasket fail with constant overheating. if you think its them then put your in car heaters on the hotest setting and blowers on full while your using it until its fixed.

get it to a garage and they will fix it.

 

[s1 evoloution]

take it to a garage and get it fixed its that easy.

 

[mty12345]

take it to a garage and get it fixed its that easy.

Wish i'd thought of that.

First you're telling him a small leak from the expansion tank is his waterpump or headgasket! And now you're just talking bollocks and wasting both my time and the OP's time. If he wanted to take it to a garage he wouldn't be on a forum asking how to fix it himself!

 

[fivepointnine]

I like to save £££ and try and fix things myself at first. If the expansion tank does not fix the problem I am going to take it to an indy to have it looked at. The only other thing that is on that side of the engine that it could be is the waterpump, but not a broken impeller, probably a bad o-ring or at worst a bearing. But I do not know how coolant from a leaky waterpump would end up as far back as the control arm. All the coolant lines on the top of the engine are dry, but we know coolant runs very free so it is hard to pinpoint the exact leak, it is just not obvious (on our BMW it was very obvious where the leak was at the thermostat housing).

It looks like something is leaking highish on the belt side of the motor and running down and puddling on the back area, I can see coolant drops on the axle also I think.

 

[dholdi]

get it to a garage and they will fix it.

take it to a garage and get it fixed its that easy.

Do you work for these by any chance https://www.clickmechanic.com/?utm_...ic-MITT-find&gclid=CK-c4bDq59ACFccy0wodyWUKyg

 

[ibizacupra]

2004 Leon Cupra R
coolant issue: Got a coolant warning light yesterday when I started my car, low obviously. Car runs at 90 dead on all the time, I think I can see some coolant pooled on top of the control arm on the drivers side, I can see no obvious leaks anywhere. Gurgling sound coming from the expansion tank when the car is shut off...ideas?

Also I noticed my fans are not kicking on at all, could this cause it? I am ordering resistors to do the mod now. (fuses on top of the battery are fine)

if overheated the expansion cap will vent off excess pressure and drip coolant above that area you describe.
look for the tell tale "pink" stains from the coolant to identify leak.
if fans not working, get that sorted asap.. it might be that simple

 

[andycupra]

i'm confused..
you say its never overheated, but also that the fans don't come on... why would they? have you left it running to drive the temperature up to test the rads?

coolant level is aften lower this time of year, the level drops slightly with ambient temperatures.
having said that seeing coolant in the expansion tank area does seem to indicate either a leak or overheating. but if you then look at the pattern of the coolant spill, if its all directly below then more likely a leak, if its more spread out and even on items level with the expansion tank then this could be the tank expelling. however as you say its not been overheating...

probably not the case here, but another area to look out on cars getting older now is the coolant manifold, this is the plastic part bolted to the near side of the engine block with 4 hoses connected to it. when older these can crack.

if you do have a small leak, one tip would be to get the engine up to temperature when its a cold day, bonnet up and if there is any significant leak you could see evidence via a 'steam' effect.

 

[fivepointnine]

It sits bang on 90 and does not move above it. Warms up quickly. Like I said there is no dried coolant at the top area of the expansion tank, passenger side of the engine is bone dry with no signs of dried coolant. Coolant has puddles on the drivers side control arm and it looks like the bottom of the engine on the back area, almost like coolant sprayed down there. A few drops on the drivers side axle.

 

[ibizacupra]

turbo water feed on rear of block. lines to and from turbo snake around the side of the engine drivers side

 

[fivepointnine]

turbo water feed on rear of block. lines to and from turbo snake around the side of the engine drivers side

I was thinking about this in the back of my mind, I just could see around that area good enough

 

[fivepointnine]

Shop just called- Waterpump is gushing coolant when running. New cambelt and waterpump getting sorted today.