Losing coolant

Right here's the story of my TF.

I had this car for about three months, never had a problem and it drove like a brand new car, when all of a sudden a huge burst of steam comes from the engine clouding the car behind me (hehe) and forcing me to pull over. I usually wait for it to cool, slowly unscrew the cap from the coolant tank and wait a little longer, first time this happened, I had been driving from Barnstaple to Bristol, the drive down there was fine, no problems, even at high speeds, the drive back was fine all the way home until getting to my junction when it all of a sudden happened. Pulled over and filled up a little bit more water, didn't put the cap on the coolant tank and slowly drove to the garage a little down the road to wait for my dad to come out and to also get some free water.

Any way, after I had filled up, I drove home from the garage fine, (about 8 miles) and it drove for a while after fine, no problems, I did take it to a garage and they just filled her up with radweld and also said one of the pipes from the system was quite loose so they had fixed that up.. £136 later I leave the garage, drive home perfect, as it had been since the 'incident'.

About a month or two later, the same thing happened again, took it back to the garage, they said no signs of head gasket failure and filled her up with yet more radweld.. this lasted about 2 or 3 weeks when it happened again, at this point I was fed up and began driving the Corsa around again.. a few weeks ago however, my dad was driving the TF to work, was sat in traffic and it happened again, the car has been there ever since (until we towed it home today) and I'm set on figuring out what is going on with it.

I'm going to check for leaks, and any signs of the head gasket going again tomorrow just incase something has developed since it was last properly checked.

Any other ideas would be a great help! I don't have the funds to put anything serious right at the moment but even knowing the fault would put my mind at risk :yesnod:

Sorry for the essay! :bye:

a first port of call ................ have you tried a new coolant bottle cap?

they have a habit of failing which may explain the steam from the engine compartment :dunno:

one of the clever people will be along shortly to offer their advice :whistle:

phil-hex;9687 wrote: a first port of call ................ have you tried a new coolant bottle cap?

they have a habit of failing which may explain the steam from the engine compartment :dunno:

one of the clever people will be along shortly to offer their advice :whistle:

That might be an idea to try tomorrow, I will pop down the scrappy and see if there are any lying about, thanks for the idea Phil :idea:

Tomm;9688 wrote: That might be an idea to try tomorrow, I will pop down the scrappy and see if there are any lying about, thanks for the idea Phil :idea:

I'd get a new one instead of one from a scrappy, they could be just as bad.

I'd also be worried about the two lots of Radweld put in by the garage, it's not good for the K series at all.

I would go for the cap first as well, if no luck with this, get your engine hot and then check all rubber coolant hoses, squeezing them to check if you have any small cuts/splits - I had one that would only open up after a long run!

gotenks1321;9689 wrote: I'd get a new one instead of one from a scrappy, they could be just as bad.

I'd also be worried about the two lots of Radweld put in by the garage, it's not good for the K series at all.

Yeah, will have to see what father says as he is 'funding' this latest fault :frown: thanks for the advice

MGFmad;9690 wrote: I would go for the cap first as well, if no luck with this, get your engine hot and then check all rubber coolant hoses, squeezing them to check if you have any small cuts/splits - I had one that would only open up after a long run!

Yeah the cap seems the way to go at the moment, the thought of the cap being the problem had never even crossed my mind :shake:. I'll try and take it out for a drive tomorrow and have a go at pipe squeezing too

A new coolant cap is a good idea and only costs a few pounds.

The problem with coolant loss is that there are so many places it can be leaking.
Check:-
The underfloor pipes to the radiator.
The radiator and the bleed screw.
The pipes that run to and from the heater matrix - inside the tunnel console.
The heater valve.
The pipes in the engine bay.

That should keep you busy for awhile.:whistle:

Oh, and you will probably have to bleed the coolant system to ensure there is no air in the system.

You are refilling with coolant not just water, aren't you?

I have to say the the garage should be shot for putting radweld into a K-series engine. It can lead to blockages and overheating.

Try to see a rough area where the steam is coming from. Have a look to see if you have any staining from the leaking coolant.

As said, it could be anything from the head gasket to a 50p clip holding a hose on.

Change the expansion tank cap first and go from there. It is fairly cheap so worth changing anyway.

Thanks for the list David, I think that shall keep me busy for the next few days!
I'm pretty sure it might be the cap, I think that's where the steam leaks from when it 'explodes'.

Tomm;9692 wrote: Yeah, will have to see what father says as he is 'funding' this latest fault :frown: thanks for the advice

i believe they are only about a fiver

First thing Replace the Expansion Bottle Cap with a NEW ONE, they are only £3.50 from MGOC or any other MG spares supplier, David Manners, Rimmers, Brown & Gammons. the garage should be shot twice for putting Radweld into a K series engine, it would be advisable to drain this out, flush out the whole system and fill with the correct antifreeze (not any old rubbish from Halfrauds) other posts have given very good advice about checking hoses the steel underfloor pipes (which often leak) check the radiator and make sure the system is properley bled (you can buy a special bleed screw from Mike Satur which replaces the bleed plug on the radiator), they are quite expensive(£10) but allow you to pipe away the bled coolant rather than it going down into the wheel well!! One of the Head Gasket Failures that puzzled the MG Owners Club workshop was that the impellor had come off the shaft inside the water pump, therefore the water was not circulating, constantly steaming from the expansion tank and eventually caused the dreaded HGF. it is also a very worthwhile investment to fit a water level sensor kit, Brown & Gammons is the best but costs £90 a cheaper one is £50 from Andy Capy (advertises in Enjoying MG and MG Enthusiast) or DIY as David did. it is a lot cheaper than a new head gasket job. hope all of this helps ~ Bryan Young