Checking Coolent Levels

[Embrolium]

Hi All,

I've been noticing a few problems with cooling in my new toy. It seems to be fine for short town journeys i.e. 30-40 mph and no more than 3000 revs but if I boot it for even a few minutes I end up with steam coming out of the coolant overflow pipe when I stop.

As the car was recently serviced (by previous owner) it didn't really cross my mind to check the oil level before this problem occured but thank f*** i did as I had to put in 3 litres of the stuff to bring the level back to normal!

Hopefully this will be enough to solve the problem but I want to check the coolant level too - where do I do this? I've found the overflow bottle at the bottom of the engine with "Full" and "Low" marked on it but it's opaque so I can't see what the level in it actually is.

On another note, the fan heaters only blow hot air intermittently - could this be an airlock/water pump problem?

Sorry for rambling a bit and thanks in advance for any help :)

Andy

[Jinxed]

Hope you get all this sorted out to a state where u can trust the 2...

really not sure about the steam out of coolant overflow.... doesnt sound 'normal' tho

blowing hot n cold might be an airlock..... think the only way to sort that would be to fill from the little erm rad cap thats on the left on top of the pipe thats near to the front of the engine bay... but might not be that easy... someone will I have no doubt more useful info than me ....

but as for coolant levels.... Ive been told by Mr T that as long as the rubber hose that pulls out of the reservoir is wet about 10 inches along the hose then its about right and should be fine... incidentally when i check my coolant i top up from the little cap on the hose i mentioned and make sure thats almost brimming and then i add to the reservoir if needs be....

if youve already done these are your probs still there?

regards

[MissMR2]

ahhhhhhhh, now that answers many questions for my own knowledge, and also, many other ppl, as they cant believe that theres nothing to say how much collant you have in the car....

[Roytoner]

Sounds like you have a air lock , you will need the bleed the sys, also the steam could be ether the water pump (but don't think so ) or the wax stat which as gone west.

[Jinxed]

you will need the bleed the sys

which reminded me of the little tap things under the front bonnet... think theres 2 there one of which is (facing the front of the car)to theright near the headlight in the bonnet bay and one i thin further forwards near the back. think theres 2 more but i only ever found the 2... and they need to be bled ac mr T in order...

if in doubt take it to T or a trusted independant an get them to do it.... at least youll be fairly certain its gonna be right... p.s I look regularly at the temp guage to catch it fast if its gonna overheat, perhaps u should do similarly save an EXPENSIVE repair bill

hope all turns out well

[Roytoner]

Lookie here How the bleed the cooling sys. doing ours tomorrow

[Jinxed]

gotta love all these peeps

[Embrolium]

Thanks all, I topped up and bled the coolant over the weekend and the car is running sweet now :)

[Jinxed]

the car is running sweet now :)

YAY :D