Hi folks, this car is losing coolant gradually - need to top up the expansion tank every few weeks - there is no evidence of leaks from hoses, the inside of the oil filler cap is clean, the guy who serviced it a few months ago advised to "keep an eye on it" as he had done a number of checks and was uanble to make any firm diagnosis.
If it was the head gasket, might there not be some other symptoms? Appreciate any suggestions.
If it's gradual then exhaust gas in the coolant's a giveaway, snapon make a test kit, quite a few garages have one.
With that car id jump to HG but all my previous slow coolant losses has been through a split in radiator and it evaps before you even see a mark left there.
I'd check the water pump. I had a 1.4 K-Series that mysteriously lost coolant gradually, and I eventually managed to trace it to a dodgy gasket on the water pump causing a very slight drip, but only noticeable at engine speeds above about 3000rpm.
I've also heard of the 'o' rings in the inlet manifold perishing and leaking coolant into the cylinders. This will give similar symptoms to head gasket failure (e.g. coolant in exhaust gas), but isn't a head gasket failure.
Lots of people will cite head gasket as a possible cause, although from what I've seen head gasket failure on these engines is usually a secondary symptom of another problem - the head gasket fails due to a loss of coolant elsewhere. It only takes a slight loss of coolant for this to happen, as the coolant capacity isn't very high.
Don't these engines have a potential to leak inthe inlet manifold area? I had a 414 which suffered steady coolant loss and was fixed with a "manifold kit" from Rover (new seals, studs etc.)
Peter
My 214 took at least 5litres to fill the cooling system and it wasn't fully drained. I don't see that as a paltry amount. There are other factors causing the famed head gasket issues.
I think the problem is the small amount of coolant that is in the block rather than the total capacity.
Chris
Posted for the umpteenth time. Please read.
So why didn't you point the OP to that, rather than post what you did?
Chris
Maybe because I'm fed up posting it.
But you just did!
Chris
Mechanic says after checking everythinhg he can that it almost certainly
*is* the head gasket :(
Actually it had a repair for that about 4 years ago.... perhaps these things recur? Only 55k miles though in total.
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