Next - Low Coolant

Those of you that have read the rest of my recent saga. They got the bolt

Just remind us what car it is again?

Sounds like basically they've left an air lock in the system.

It also sounds like they're a bunch of clueless fucktards - there's no way
in the world anyone should be using air tools to do up that crankshaft
pulley bolt.

 

I have been charged for anti-freeze so i'm assuming the guy put coolant

Probably still some sort of air lock! Thinking about it, my limited
knowledge actually means that knowing what car it is makes bugger all
difference - just satisfies my curiosity!

 

Evening,,

Those of you that have read the rest of my recent saga. They got the
bolt out, he did the pump, the pulley and the timing belt. On my way
home I was getting intermittant low coolant warning lights. It seemed to
be following a pattern of kicking in when pulling off, disappearing
through 2nd gear, then coming back for 3rd gear. I didn't get any faster
than that. In the morning i'm due to do a 44 mile commute.

I have been charged for anti-freeze so i'm assuming the guy put coolant
in it. Its too dark to see the tank now so i'm lost again until
morning.Is it actually possible that somehow a brand new water pump is
leaking? That its not done up properly? Is this in any way normal?

Yours,
Fed up in Leicester.

 

Its a 306 HDI from '99. So.. now what?

 

Probably still some sort of air lock! Thinking about it, my limited

So, on most cars i've seen/had the coolant tank has been clear with a
max/min indicator, but the coolant tank on this car isn't like that. How
can you check the level?

What I do recall is that I used to be able to feel the fluid inside this
little blank tank and now I can't. Desparately trying to understand
whats going on here but pretty much clueless. Is this car going to start
overheating once it gets warm now?

 

If it has no/low coolant in it, then *don't* take it for a 44 mile drive. If
you do top it up and go then take lots of water and containers with you, and
a charged up mobile! And the AA/RAC/Green Flag number.

It may well overheat, but you may not see it on the dial. Depending where
the temp sensor is, it might be measuring the coolant temperature some way
away from the engine block - so if there isn't any
coolant the heat won't travel well in air and the sensor will register stone
cold.

Been there, done that.

Here's hoping it does have coolant in.

Ring the bloke who did it and ask him. Why shouldn't he be disturbed for the
evening as well as you?

You could ask him about a courtesy car for you while he fixes it properly
tomorrow as well...

 

The older 306 diesels needed a reservoir to be stuck in the top of the
radiator and then the bleed screws opened to fill the coolant properly.
If the HDIs need this is as well and it hasn't been done you will get
air locks until it's done properly.

John

 

probably a trapped bit of air has come to the top, this means the level goes
down, slopping the coolant about by accelerating makes the light go on and
off, likewise higher revs tend to raise the level a bit, presumably due to
turbulence effects, either way, top up the coolant with some water or
antifreeze, if it takes more than a litre or so then it should be
investigated, if it is just a bit down and there is no subsequent level
changes then it will be fine.
These are the reasons I always prefer to drive a car about for a while after
major work BEFORE returning it to the customer, that way I get the niggles,
not the customer.

mrcheerful

 

Well, this is presumably bourne out by the lower than normal level in
the expansion tank. I took it for a quick warm up just now and think I
managed to feel the top of the coolant level around the bottom of the
expansion tank. I also noticed that the light was going out on hill
climbs, and was always on on decent.

And, just to top this all off, theres actually a vibration down in the
area where the pulley/belt work has been done. Rev it, falls to idle,
then a 1second zzzzt sound.

I'm seriously considering paying another mechanic to check everything
thats been done to my car in the past two days but I guess considering
where all the kit is thats gonna cost me too. Did I mention its driving
pretty much normal.

Its just a car. Its just a car. Its just a car.

 

I recently changed the radiator on a 1998 306 NA Diesel (not exactly the
same as an HDi - but probably similar). I'll give you some of my
experiences which may or may not help.

It sounds to me like an airlock, as others have said.

Inside the expansion tank are 2 markers cut out of a vertically oriented
flat bit of plastic. They aren't labelled max and min as such but this
is a sort of arrangement they'll be in. Please excuse my lack of ASCII
drawing skill.


___ max
|
_____|_______ water level
|
|__ min

The idea being that if you can't see the top one you've got too much and
if you can't see the bottom one you haven't got enough. A wee torch
would probably help, even if it's light.

I got airlocks when I changed the rad as the heater matrix is a good bit
higher than the expansion tank. The cooling system on yours will have
been drained to change the water pump. Did you notice the heater
working when the engine warmed up? If not, this points further to an
airlock.

In my case, I removed the unwanted air by running the engine with the
heater bleed screw open (found on the bulkhead where the heater feed and
return go through) till coolant came out. Then closing the bleed screw,
topping up the expansion bottle as necessary, going for a drive and
checking the coolant level again.

I'd try and get it sorted before you drive any distance rather than risk
expensive overheating damage.

 

[...cooling woe...]

Yup, it sure does.

Nothing I've heard of them instils confidence.

Refilling a cooling system can leave air trapped in the highest parts,
which is not good as it does not do much cooling.

You need two things:

o The air out of your cooling system.

o Trading standards on your side.

Bleeding air from the cooling system is car specific but normally
involves bleed valves at the highest points...

Don't drive far till it's fixed!




A

 

But surely you should have checked the coolant before the warm up. It
won't take very far to blow the head gasket or somesuch.

 

Was this with a French car? A Renault by any chance?

 

Agreed. I think i was beginning to lose my sense of rationality by that
point. Turned out there was coolant in the radiator, and if there was
air in the system it cleared, resulting in the low level. Topped it up
this morning and the light went away, heater is fine - level hasn't gone
down in the course of the day.

So, provided the new timing kit doesn't fall off resulting in
catastrophic failure, things are back to normal.

Thanks to everybody that tried to help me over the course of the last
few days - its far preferable to go in knowing something of what you're
talking about.

 

Thanks to everybody that tried to help me over the course of the last few

Indeed. Knowledge is good. But you had to make do with what we told you,
but if it works for you.....