Avensis 54 Plate - Coolant Leak

[Nas Khan]

hi all,

Couple of weeks ago I noticed coolant level is quite low, almost near to min level. Topped it up and continued monitoring it and withing 2-3 days I noticed it is gone little under the max level. Topped it up again and in almost 6-7 days it went down till halfway between max and min level. Did a visual check to spot any obvious leak or liquid puddle but found nothing, checked the level in the radiator it looked fine. Did some googling, and checked different things but nothing I noticed to make any conclusions. Checked oil for any sign of milky colour, checked both passenger and driver side for any dampness but again nothing there. No sweet smell either or at least not strong enough I can smell. There is some white smoke coming out from the tail pipe but it usually comes in the morning and goes away when temperature goes up during the afternoon, I think it is expected in winter, noticed white smoke coming out from tail pipe for other cars as well. After some research decided to give a try to 'holts radweld plus', it is a coolant system leak sealer. Topped it today, will keep checking everyday, I expect little leak before it stops (if the product works) but not much. Will update you all but feel free to suggest or advice anything, if it doesn't work then only thing I can think of is, might be the water pump, which is not expensive but not sure how difficult it is to replace. Surely, I will not be replacing it myself:), thanks for reading.

[gazza1286]

Not a fan of radweld. It just delays the inevitable. With coolant leaks you really want to find the problem and sort it. They are rarely catastrophic and develop slowly making the source sometimes difficult to locate. Radweld will not help identify the problem. Putting anything in the system which will solidify is not wise as internal galleries could silt up.

Hopefully you'll find the problem soon - the water pump is a good candidate.

[avensisd4d786]

I am not a fan of these 'quick fixes' rather find the real problem,

have you checked all pipes and clamps, sometimes the clamps go rusty and don't give the seal you want.

check around water pump it shouldn't be hard to change as its ran by aux belt not cam belt.

look at the diagrams attached it will give you a idea where the pipes are.

[Nas Khan]

thanks guys, I will check again, and if no luck then will go to my usual mechanic.

[Konrad C]

I had a similar issue to you last year. The coolant level kept dropping but there was no visible sign of leaks. I changed my coolant and it was getting worse after that.

Eventually I did get a drip and it was a hairline crack in the plastic part of the radiator.

Within a few of hours of discovering the cause of the problem, I had fitted a new radiator and no more leaks.

Like you, I did look at other parts of the cooling system but found nothing.

Since the radiator replacement, the level has been just above the MAX mark with no top up needed.

Konrad

[Nas Khan]

hi all,

the leak is fixed now, it was radiator, got it replaced early April and went to Scotland over the Easter break, did 1500miles and no leaks, coolant level remained to max. Thanks everyone, Nas

[avensisd4d786]