I've had my Cinq about 3 months now, and it's been running well, have noticed it needs a small amount of water every now and then but no sign of water in the oil or vice-versa and no overheating, the fan kicks in in warmer weather around 100.

Although I have never checked the antifreeze level 'properly' it tasted nice and sweet so I had not been concerned about freezing.

It rarely heats up to above 60-70 in the cold weather we are having at the moment, and usually takes a while for the heater to become warm.

Anyway, yesterday I had reason to have my lunch in the car when it was freezing and the car was cold, so I let it idle to warm up (me and the car!)

I thought it was odd that at 60 degrees there was no warm air from the heater, then when it reached 90 I panicked and shut it off and had a look under the bonnet.

I only had the light from a mobile phone, but when I opened the expansion tank cap (slowly) a small amount of pressure released as normal and then a gurgling of water sound, expansion tank empty. (I had been remis though and not checked it as recently as I should, but it was a surprise based on the previous rate of usage.)

I let it cool a bit then drove a few hundred yards to local garage where 1 and a bit litres of antifreeze was needed to bring the levels back, on the way back temp was normal and heater was hot, almost immediately.

Soooo I'm wondering whether this could have been purely down to the low coolant level as I have since discovered that the heater matrix is higher up than on previous motors I've owned, or whether the water pump could be weak.

Finally, would a weak water pump also be likely to leak, and therefore explain my coolant loss? I know that headgaskets don't always show cross contamination of oil and coolant in the early stages so I'm hoping it's not disappearing into the engine!

Thanks in advance for yor help before I brave this weather and start taking a spanner to her.

Make sure the system is bled.

Which engine do you have?

Cheers

PD

am more worried about this:

"Although I have never checked the antifreeze level 'properly' it tasted nice and sweet so I had not been concerned about freezing"

The **** is harmful!!!!

Ming

a little taste never does any harm tho, well it hasnt to me.

Sweet taste of death

In small quantities its OK, Makes you blind in larger quantities.

Cheers

PD

When I was young I used to suck petrol through a tube, and generally take a cavelier approach to life, always thought my gut to be invincible, this has left me pondering if this may have contributed to my recent diagnosis of cancer of the gut area, all I can say is be bloody careful guys as you can never tell.
One thing for sure, your mouth and stomach should play no host for toxic chemicals like antifreeze.

Why Is Antifreeze So Delicious?

http://www.slate.com/id/2103821/:Offtopic:

Re: Why Is Antifreeze So Delicious?

If it's methyl alcohol, then a small taste won't hurt, as someone said, a lot will make you blind, UNLESS you introduce ethyl alcohol (often found in beer ) as it competes with methyl alcohol in the body.

So, after you've tasted antifreeze, go for a few beers, just as a precaution

It is very true certain antifreeze products are less harmful to people and animals in very limited quantities while at the same time you can read the toxicity emergency details on the bottle.

The problem with putting spent antifreeze in your mouth is less straight cut, spent antifreeze can pick up lead and other heavy metals once they have been through the cooling system, you really don't want these cancer causing carcinogens in your body, possibly mixed with other products like radiator stop leak and traces of engine oil.

Not trying to put the wind up people, just be very mindful of what you are putting in your mouth.

spedo said:

When I was young I used to suck petrol through a tube, and generally take a cavelier approach to life, always thought my gut to be invincible, this has left me pondering if this may have contributed to my recent diagnosis of cancer of the gut area, all I can say is be bloody careful guys as you can never tell.
One thing for sure, your mouth and stomach should play no host for toxic chemicals like antifreeze.

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Mate wish you all the best, my cousin at 23 was disgnosis with cancer and luckily he is fully recovered now. Hope you will do too. It is one of the worst thing i fear of, as several of my family members have passed away cos of it.

Yes when it say is harmful then take it as it is, it doesn't say, "only harmful when u take x amount"

Ming

Ming
Sorry to hear of your losses, and thanks for your kind words.

Hello again to all,

Spedo, I wish you all the best, and Ming -my condolenses.

Yes, I was very irresponsible to write that so carelessly, let alone do it!
I wouldn't condone encouraging others to do the same, although I only ever literally dipped my finger in and touched the end of my tongue (then wiped it).

Anyways, I neglected to mention that it's the 899cc engine, and I believe I've found the leak, seems to be around the bottom hose of the rad, (looks like the rad itself actually but I'll need to check).

Having the heater matrix so high up is certainly a good 'early warning' system in these weathers!

No worries mate , the water pump on the 899 is actually a weak point on the engine .

None of it is a hard job , so don't worry!

Ming

If the water pump was leaking, the water would collect under the car. Have a look for a damp patch.

It woul;d be worth having a look at the radiator. My old Punto "Chunky" had a split rad' and that left a wet patch inside the corner of the bumper. It was never enough to drip.. but it dropped the level by a lot in a week.

Otherwise, pressure test the system to see if the gasket looks dodgy. Bleed the radiator too.. if you have a lot of gas in there, it could be the head gasket.

You could also just leave it, keep an eye on it and see what it does. But as soon as the heater goes "cool" then that'd be a bad sign. Carry some coolant (5 ltrs!) with you just in case you're caught somewhere with a low level.


Ralf S.

The "carry some coolant with you" tip is actually very good, regardless if you have a cooling system problem or not. You never know what you'll need water for.

I all ways carry water in my car

hmm if it really comes to it, i think i will pee into it

Ive resorted to using river water when the water rail fell off in the lakes, that was after usnig all me mates flavoured water

ycming said:

hmm if it really comes to it, i think i will pee into it

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