water consumption??

[v8greg]

Sounds a bit mad - or maybe bad ? ( lets hope not!) My 94' 3.0 T.d auto diesel seems to need a radiator top up (about 1 and a half kettles as a guide) every 3 months or so - I drive approx 1000 miles a month -so approx 3000 miles I can see no leaks -no white smoke etc- also doesnt run hot - always mid way on the temp gauge - heater hot / cold as selected ... is this normal 'consumption' ?

Any info gratefully received/ comparisons etc

Many thanks

G.

[Hawaii]

greg

from the brief info given I don't think it's anything too serious.

If there are no leaks and teh thermostat & rad are in good nick sounds like the rad cap is on the way out & needs replacing


hope this helps

hawaii

[v8greg]

many thanks

Cheers for the reply and info mate - it seems a bit odd as it never runs hot - in traffic etc but gets thirsty every 3 months or so. Only thing i could think of was airlock.... apparently its had the head done before I bought it ( havent they all? lol) - maybe a hose pipe and let her run for an hour may solve it... who knows!

Cheers again ..

G.

[v8greg]

thermostat

hmm.. just a thought - thermostat opens real early - heater warms up very quickly less than a mile and its already warm.... good point...may replace!

[yorta2]

Leaking heater hose to rear heater???

[v8greg]

cheers

Cheers for the reply - I have to say I havent checked that rear heater pipe - Ib dont know where it runs -internally under the floor/carpet/console of the cab?..or under the body externally?... excellent point though ....defo have a looksy later

Cheers again

G.

[Tallyman]

A good sound cooling system should not leak that much coolant. I rarely need to top mine up (OK, I don't do the mileage you do) since I renewed the radiator and cap on mine.

It sounds like you have a serious leak somewhere and, as suggested, first thing would be to change the rad cap. Also check around the sides of the expansion bottle for water marks, as if it's not a loose jubilee clip or a split hose, then that would be the main point of loss if the rad cap is weak and not allowing the system to pull fluid back into the rad when it cools down. Hopefully you are also refilling with 50% coolant, not just water.

[silva surfa]

i was loosing coolant recently and it was the rear heater pipes,there under the driers side,the two pipes had corroded,traced them to the engine and bypassed the rear heater

[Calos]

I have a full cooling system of toyota red in mine, never needed topping up since it was renewed 20,00km/18months ago, probabley due a refresh by now though.

peace
cal

[v8greg]

**Thanks to all **

Thanks to all who have replied - Most grateful for the info and tips etc. Im off work this weekend so its off for a new rad cap ..... and to get down n dirty with the heater pipes ha ha !

Whats strange is that doesnt appear to be any water under the truck - still we'll have a poke at the old girl this weekend and see whats happening..

Thanks again.

[Smego2]

I have a 3rd gen rad sitting in the shed was replaced as I was going to do the landy rally and wanted to be sure, if you need to replace

[NiftyNev]

Whats strange is that doesnt appear to be any water under the truck -

Not so strange. Leaks can be hard to find sometimes. I have one somewhere after I did the timing belt a Christmas time. Try a pressure test. I have pressure tested mine a couple of times and only lose about one or two PSI over about a half hour, but still can't find the leak. Nothing drips on the ground.

Nev

[Ploddit]

Not wanting to be a portent of doom, but isn't that water going in to the cylinders via the headgasket when no other leak can be found?

[TonyN]

Not always, Like Nev said, you won't always see coolant on the floor.

I only found a small leak on a hose on mine after getting it all covered in mud, then when dry was a damp patch around one hose where the mud never dried out, but wasn't enough to drip, it would evaporate before running off.

This was enough to need topping up twice on a trip to Cornwall, but never lost noticable amounts when driving locally.

[Hazzo]

my rear heater pipes were the cause of some water loss after doing the head, you couldn't see anything at all but if you rubbed your fingers around where the pipework goes up to the rear heater they came out wet, so I'd feel around there. H