Advice - Coolant Loss

[Heidfirst]

how short a run? these engines are known to be slow to reach operating temp & it's just possible that the thermostat never opens at all whereas on long runs it does . If you are doing over 5 miles , particularly at this time of year with high ambient, that's unlikely though.

[Aqualung666]

Longest I've done since being here is a 10 mile round trip ...I'm starting to wonder if I've lost any at all...if I had you would expect it to show in the reservoir after being stood overnight, yet it's on almost full now !

[firemac]

Longest I've done since being here is a 10 mile round trip ...I'm starting to wonder if I've lost any at all...if I had you would expect it to show in the reservoir after being stood overnight, yet it's on almost full now !

It's worth having a routine that includes checking the coolant level.

I do all our cars every Sunday: tyre pressures, quick look for sharp objects in the tread, condition of wipers, check Battery cons are secure, all engine bay levels - oil, coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, ATF, washer bottle. It only takes 10/15 minutes.

By doing it on a regular, religious basis (and with the cars cold) you will eliminate any rogue levels/readings that can occur if you've only checked occasionally.

It sounds as if there may be nothing fundamentally wrong re your coolant other than maybe having filled it when hot leading to coolant "loss" back into the cooling engine.

[Aqualung666]

THought I'd report back as it always annoys me when I read threads and there is no 'ending' so to speak. Well, I did the 300 mile drive to Devon and drove around for two weeks and came back..From the start I checked the coolant level all the way down and nearly every day whilst down there and even now it hasn't dropped even a centimeter.

It drove well on the Motorway averaging about 47-50 MPG (according to the read out) and no signs of any cross contamination into either the oil or coolant...no sign of any leaks anywhere. All of which is great news, but still doesn't explain why it was almost at the low level when I checked it two days prior to going on holiday. Clearly since it was topped up none has leaked, so it's a bit of a mystery - anyway for the moment alls well that ends well and thank you to all of you who posted your ideas and thoughts as it helped me make the decision to take the risk and drive it down there rather than hire a car for two weeks.

I must admit though whilst driving on some of those lanes where the hedges were scraping each side of the car, I did think it would be an absolute nightmare to breakdown in such places...as it was, it behaved exemplary and gave us a great holiday.

You watch, I'll check it tomorrow and it will have dropped again!

[BJB]

Glad all seems ok. Hope you all had a good holiday.

Cars, don't you just love them ????

Bryan