Tsport Coolant issues

[Peter B001]

Hi there, having coolant issues with my Corolla tsport, my expansion bottle seems to lose a lot of coolant once the car is left cool down after use (not losing when running/driving). Can’t see any obvious leaks but it only loses coolant when car is coming back down in temperature and it doesn’t even need to be driven for it to lose coolant could be sitting running and it loses once it’s cooled. Can anyone point me in the right direction ?

[APS]

It is completely normal that the level of coolant in the expansion tank goes up when the engine warms up and then goes back down as it cools off. You have a leak somewhere that means that coolant disappears while the engine is running. However, you don't notice any change in the level in the expansion tank until the engine has cooled off and pulled more coolant back than it has pushed out to the expansion tank.

You need to look for wet patches, drops, or white residue around hoses and connections. Could be anywhere the coolant circulates, hoses, the radiator, water pump, or - less likely - the heater matrix inside the car. The 2zz engine has also been known to blow head gaskets if it gets too warm. You would normally see some white smoke from the exhaust, but not always. It depends on the severity.

Check the oil in the car. Is there any grey goo in the oil filler cap? Look at the spark plugs. Does any of them look significantly cleaner or different to the others? 

[Cyker]

Two things to check are the oil filler cap for mayonnaise-like sludge, and if there are any pinkish crystal residues around anywhere in the engine bay.

If it's never been changed, I'd suspect the water pump is the source of the leak, as that was common with certain engines in the Corolla as they went over a decade.

 

[Derek.w]

Check water pump it may be coming out along the shaft then in the center of the casting you have what looks like a oil hole on the top but it only purpose it a indicator of pump failure.

[peter0111]

hi there, oil cap looks perfect and oil colour is normal no milkyness. Ran car with rad cap off no bubbling or air in system as ive just replaced the radiator (in last two weeks). Car has wee bit of smoke when start up (very little) but none when warmed up. Honestly cant find any coolant dripping from anywhere, and if it is leaking i cant see it. no overheating whatsoever always holds in the middle of the gauge

[Derek.w]

What hapens if you dont top it every time but dont let it go below the lower limit.

IE will it just settal down somewere inbetween min & max.

[peter0111]

On 9/14/2022 at 9:37 PM, Cyker said:

Two things to check are the oil filler cap for mayonnaise-like sludge, and if there are any pinkish crystal residues around anywhere in the engine bay.

If it's never been changed, I'd suspect the water pump is the source of the leak, as that was common with certain engines in the Corolla as they went over a decade.

 

 

1 hour ago, Derek.w said:

What hapens if you dont top it every time but dont let it go below the lower limit.

IE will it just settal down somewere inbetween min & max.

it just runs out, once radiator was changed within one week of topping up radiator and expansion tank to full mark there wasnt any coolant in expansion tank. 

[Derek.w]

Was it loosing fluid before you changed the radiator?.

If not then with the radiator cap off when it heating up squeeze lower pipe to assist air removal.