Coolant loss

[bflare]

I had the water pump changed & cam belt on my 2007 FR around 3 months ago & everything seemed fine. 8 days ago I had the warning light come on for the coolant level. I filled it up & it came on again yesterday so after 8 days & around 1k miles. Apart from the coolant loss I cannot see any other problems. It smokes a bit when cold but this soon disappears, no leaks that I can see, no creamy oil or water, temp stays at around 90°.

Any ideas what I could look for or check? Hope it's not the HG on its way out.

 

[Legojon]

Have you had a look under the car? If it's the waterpump / seal or external head gasket leak, it'll look like this underneath:

 

[bflare]

Have you had a look under the car? If it's the waterpump / seal or external head gasket leak, it'll look like this underneath:

I had a quick look last night but I am not sure where I need to be looking. There's a plastic cover under the front end. I guess I need to pop this off to see the water pump?

 

[Legojon]

There's a plastic undershield. But the undershield is open at the back, so you should be able to see the oil sump (pictured on the left) by looking through the back of the shield to save you having to remove it. If you were looking down on my picture, that area is between the expansion tank and the cambelt.

 

[bflare]

There's a plastic undershield. But the undershield is open at the back, so you should be able to see the oil sump (pictured on the left) by looking through the back of the shield to save you having to remove it. If you were looking down on my picture, that area is between the expansion tank and the cambelt.

Right ok I shall see if I can see anything obvious. I assume your pic is looking from the ground up & that's the sump you can see? Is the water pump at the lowest point of the car? I know the alternator is at the top looking down. Should the car be running to look for any leaks around the pump gasket?

 

[Legojon]

Yup, that's ground up looking at the sump. The water pump is higher up I believe, hopefully this pic will make it a bit clearer. Notice the pink which is coolant, but also notice the white trails which is previous coolant I've cleaned up. Mine wasn't running at the time. I just followed the pink trails backwards. You will need a good torch though!

 

[bflare]

Yup, that's ground up looking at the sump. The water pump is higher up I believe, hopefully this pic will make it a bit clearer. Notice the pink which is coolant, but also notice the white trails which is previous coolant I've cleaned up. Mine wasn't running at the time. I just followed the pink trails backwards. You will need a good torch though!

 

[bflare]

Cheers thanks for that I will take a look tonight & see if I can see anything obvious.

 

[DanDiesel]

May also be EGR cooler leaking? Fairly common in BKD 140 engine so could be a similar problem i guess.