COOLANT CONSUMPTION

[Bigoink]

Im running a 3 cyl 660 carry pickup which is consuming about a litre of coolant per week. Is this normal ? There are no apparent leaks and there is no oil in the coolant. Ambient temp here in the philippines is about 30deg.

[keefe]

Hi,

I would say absolutely not!
I ran a Smart car (similer motor) for two summers in Cyprus and it didn't use any coolant at all. Cyprus summers are hot as well.

Check that you haven't got a tiny leak on any pipework that could be spraying coolant out when hot and up to pressure.
This type of leak cannot been seen when engine is cold and not pressurised, any coolant that has 'sprayed' will have evaporated leaving no sign when you look for it.
This happened on my Delica, a small pipe at the back of the engine had the tiniest of pin prick holes in it that only opened up when hot, under pressure.

Hope that helps. Good luck with it.

Keith

[alanbirt]

As 'keefe' indicates, you must have a leak somewhere. It may well be only a 'pinhole' but when pressurised, it will lose coolant as a spray or fine mist. The leak will not necessarily be apparent when the engine is cool.

The only time my coolant is topped-up is when the vehicle is serviced, and that is only once per year. I suspect that even then, there is no need to add any more coolant but it is just an excuse for the garage to put an extra charge on my bill !

[Bigoink]

ok thanks guys ......ill wander down that path, with a magnifying glass.

[alanbirt]

Here is one way of sealing a small leak in a car's cooling system which was commonly used many years ago. I did utilise it satisfactorily in the early 1960s. The cooling systems were not pressurised as they are now so I don't know from personal experience if this will work satisfactorily in a pressurised system but I don't see why not. Today's systems just work at a higher temperature because of the pressure, that's all.

Separate the white portion of several eggs from the yolks. The white albumen is then mixed and well-stirred in several pints of cold water. It is important the albumen is really well-mixed into the water. The radiator system is drained by the same amount as the water used to dilute the albumen. The albumen solution is then added to the car's cooling system which must be quite COLD ! The engine is then started and the cooling liquid will be circulated by the pump. As the water heats up the albumen, now in a very finely mixed state, gradually gets cooked and coagulates into very tiny, minute particles which then block-up any small holes through which the cooling liquid is leaking. The cooking effect continues and so further coagulates at the leaking point, so sealing it. The rest of the tiny albumen pieces merely circulate with the remainder of the coolant-water. Later, when the leak has been well-plugged, the system is drained and refilled with fresh coolant.

I have heard of a tablespoonful of flour, especially oat-flour, being used in much the same way. It cooks to form a very fine porridge and coagulates to block any small holes but I have not used this method. There used to be a commercial product marketed for this purpose which was reputed to be just a small packet of oat-flour.

The egg-white method worked for me with an ancient 1933 Morris Minor in the early 1960s. Incidentally. the car had the clutch-pedal left, the brake-pedal right and the accelerator-pedal centrally below them: a different triangular-shape layout for the pedals then. The floor was wooden boards and one could see the road-surface below, between the edges of the short planks, as one drove along !

PS Make an omelette from the yolks left over - don't waste them !

[Peterp1per]

I remember working with an old chap who did his courting in a similar vehicle. He said that by lifting the floorboards after parking the car he was able to stand on the road surface and exploit the additional working space.

[alanbirt]

Yes, I can visualise the situation although it had not occurred to me there was that advantage in having a removable floor.