(T) Missing coolant?

Hi all, about a week ago I was showing a friend my engine bay & he pointed out that my coolant resevoir was empty, so on thursday I topped it up to just underneath the MAX line on the resevoir & looked at it yesterday & it's virtually all gone again yet there are no puddles under the car & no warning lights coming up on the dash! Does anyone have an idea what this could be? I'm hoping it was just almost empty in the first place & just needs more in it because the car doesn't run hot! Please don't tell me it is a blown headgasket!

Have you started it up on your drive yet? let it get up to temperature so the water is pressurised, you might see any leaks then.

Thanks mate but I've done all that already at work when I topped it up! I also bled it through so there are no air pockets in the system. The other idea I've come up with is that it could be a faulty thermostat which isn't closing off properly, but I'm really confused about it.

hi ben.
take the top of the header tank,fill up to mark,and run with cap off.if you see bubbles in the coolant,you have gasket problems.have you been running your aircon? could have a leak there.checked the oil for water spots?way forward i think is a pressure test at the header tank.this will for sure tell if you have a leak somewhere which obviously you do.needs sorting perhaps when you change cams eh?

It won't be a thermostat, that just regulates the water flow.

The water's going somewhere. If you haven't got a heater leak inside the car (wet mats) then there's a possibility that something like a water pump leak dribbling onto a hot engine surface can evaporate the water but that usually deteriorates fast into an easy to see steady trickle.

No signs of blue deposits around radiator or elsewhere?

Other than that I'd be thinking head gasket. They'll sometimes only leak when the engine gets really hot.

That's what I was thinking! I cant 'see any blue deposits anywhere. I'll get one of the technicians at work to have a look tomorrow. I am now seriousl ****ting a brick!

How quick is it going down? How many miles? Could try Radweld and hope for the best. Probably won't do any harm if the the next step is head off

It will when you haven't got the money mate!

Radweld costs about £5. I'd give it a try if you can't find any visible leak

Update! First it appears good news! the headgasket is fine & functioning. Bad news I think I need a new rad! which even at trade is about £130ish! Apparently although I don't get any puddles when the car is parked up it could be leaking whilst I'm driving when it pressurises at full chat!

Thats weird, my dads car is doing the same thing! I'll give him some advice from this thread Cheers!

Hope your car gets sorted soon Ben

Ben, try doing what I said earlier and rev the engine a bit when you up to temperature. Aslong as its not over heating, and you got some coolant in there it won't do any harm... Then you will see if it is a rad leak or not.

Good news about it not being HG though!

And still no warning lights coming up?

Useful

No not really! As it means I can't buy H's spare turbo now! Balls!

hey, i had this exact problem...every few days my coolant would be virtualy empty despite regular coolant top-ups it came to a head and my radiator gave up thus resulting in a new raditor being fitted. My car being in its last year of its warranty meant that the raditor was not covered (its only covered in first 2 years of m warranty). The radiator is around 130quid and thats before installation costs and anti-freeze. It cost me something like 270quid from a fiat dealership for the job unfortunatly i did not have time to shop around as i needed my car back, so may be repaced for a lesser cost elsewhere, assuming your problem follows the same path as mine.