Expansion Tank Problems!

[Gryle]

Ok please bear with this... so I bought my celica a couple of months ago and noticed not long after that the coolant level was low in the expansion tank. Tipped it up to Max line and drove it a couple of miles checked again (always when cold) and it was low. Topped up again until it remained full, didn't check again for a while and my needle was flashing after a 20 min drive. I stopped straight away and let it cool a bit checked expansion tank and it was empty again. Drove on regardless and never had another incident that day, temp stayed at normal for 20 miles. Now the car is overheating all the time after a two minute drive earlier and the expansion tank always is below low. Filled it to Max again today and drove it til warm waited an hour and topped it off when low again then did a 15 mile drive and stopped to check-in leveled low and the coolant had exploded from the expansion tank. Drove the 15 miles home and temp stayed normal and checked level again and it had exploded everywhere again but the level was above Max! The temp is fluctuating quite a bit heating and cooling again. I notice steam from exhaust but it's always cold when I see it and it doesn't smell sweet like people say it should I even tasted a bit and it's just water. Does anyone else have this where the coolant always ends up low in expansion tank?

Martin.

[RUToyota]

Hi Martin,...welcome

Sounds very much like a typical Celica failed radiator....(bottom corner corrosion and leak).

Get the undertrays off and check it out. The loss of coolant isn't always that obvious because it drips on to the undertrays rather than immediately on to the floor.

You need the long life pink coolant...

A new rad can be had for £30/40 tops (eBay)....it's a bit of a pain to bleed and get rid of the airlocks but follow the instructions on the label you'll find on the underside of the bonnet.

Neil

ps...the coolant level usually sits on the low mark when cold...and on the high mark when up to temp.!

[Scarlett Arrow]

Martin, if you continue to drive the car, you could do some serious damage, like blow the head gasket for example. On a 14 year old car, it could then be uneconomical to repair.

As Neil says, the radiator is the red hot favourite for causing the loss of coolant, and subsequent overheating.

I can recommend an excellent mechanic on the Derbys/Notts border, if you need help. He did a coolant change on my Gen 7 recently.

I personally use Toyota LongLife "Red", but as Neil says, you can also use their "Pink" coolant. You can use another brand of OAT coolant if you wish, but it must be OAT, and not blue.

[Gryle]

Ok thanks for the replies I didn't know the leaky radiator problem existed! Makes sense as to why I don't see coolant on the floor. It's just failed mot on handbrake cable and shoes (quoted 250 quid to replace!) I am doing that tomorrow so I will check the radiator while it's on ramps. I did stop driving it when the overheating happened the second time I pulled up to let it cool then headed home I was actually on my way to get the handbrake parts and turned back half way. Been using the Mrs c3 (embarrassing) since :-( thanks

Martin

[Gryle]

Well it's been a long weekend repairing the hand brake cable and shoes and I forgot to check the radiator while I had the ramps... I changed the thermostat just in case it was that and biked the old one and that worked fine so it's not that.

I refilled the coolant And on attempting to bleed the coolant it was behaving strangely. It overflowed then disappeared altogether from the tank so I topped a bit up then it disappeared again then reappeared and overflowed ALOT so much that when I tried to refill again I ran out of coolant. 6pm on a Sunday too so I'm stuck. It never overheated at all though stayed at a lower temp than normal but still got no heat from heaters. I am getting the ramps back to check radiator tomorrow but can that cause these symptoms x

[Gryle]

The X was an accident LOL