Bonjourno, Knowing there a few petrol heads around, got a quick question. I've got a 1996 Renault Clio, which like to drink coolant, as much as it likes to drink water. Max to min is about 4 days to a week, just had it in the garage today, and there are no obvious leaks, and there don't seem to be any signs of the head gasket going. Any idea why my car likes to drink the stuff? The garage is putting some sealant treatment round it and seeing what that does, but it still kinda worries me about the amount it's been drinking.
check the cap on the res, if its not sealing then the water will escape as steam, but not in massive amounts. other than that give all the hoses a squeeze, if you find a soft one then there might be a small crack or pin hole leak. i had the same problem, so i got the car hot so the water was pressurized and then looked around the engine bay to find the leak, bingo i found it. little nick in a hose no less than 1mm but it was firing out of it like a hose pipe.
Get the coolant system pressure-tested - sounds like a weird leak. The other thing you can do is warm the car up and check for any escaping water/steam. Should be pretty obvious. Other than that it'll simply be combusting it - my Fiat does it, needs topping up once in a while, but produces 0 "mayo" in the oil etc, just uses a bit of water.
My old Sierra did that, looked like the bat mobile with a smoke screen made up primarily of vaporised water...
Check all your hoses and the rad for leaks. Otherwise, it's probably your head gasket on the way out. You may notice it getting harder to start soon. No car should have water in the cylinders at any point.
that would help if he has antifreeze in it! lol! i dont think the head gasket has gone as even a garage would pick that one up easy. park the car up somewhere dry and run it up on the spot, looking for leaks on the ground. expect to see a little oil as that is common as CV joints always leak when hot.
Well it was pressure tested yesterday, and they've now put some stop leak fluid in it, as they didn't pick up any signs of a leak, and there are no signs to suggest the head gasket going. Thinking I might add the part to my breakdown cover, that let's the AA pay for any faults that result in a breakdown. Just in case it dies...
Yeah a bit of Radweld might help. Hehe my grandfather put too much in his car and it solidified in the pipes
Well I'll leave it for a week or so, keep an eye on the water and go from there. Next step is to get my exhaust put back in the right place. It's hanging quite low in the middle, but the end is fine...kinda dips and comes back up again
