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Intermittent coolant leak 2LW....?


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Hi all, season's greetings.....

 

Here's a problem that's got me racking my brain (doesn't take a lot, though...)

 

When the engine has been standing for a few days, the coolant level in the header tank drops and needs about 1/2 litre to top it up. When the engine is run daily, there is no loss of coolant apparent.

 

I'm thinking that - especially in this cold weather - there is a faulty joint somewhere in the cooling system which opens up when it cools down to ambient temperature, allowing the coolant to leak out. Does this sound feasible?

 

Or is there something obvious that I am overlooking?

 

Your obs & suggestions very welcome.

 

S23

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Hi all, season's greetings.....

 

Here's a problem that's got me racking my brain (doesn't take a lot, though...)

 

When the engine has been standing for a few days, the coolant level in the header tank drops and needs about 1/2 litre to top it up. When the engine is run daily, there is no loss of coolant apparent.

 

I'm thinking that - especially in this cold weather - there is a faulty joint somewhere in the cooling system which opens up when it cools down to ambient temperature, allowing the coolant to leak out. Does this sound feasible?

 

Or is there something obvious that I am overlooking?

 

Your obs & suggestions very welcome.

 

S23

 

 

Are you overlooking the half a litre of coolant which must be added to the tray under the engine this happens?

 

Or is it vanishing into thin air?

 

I'm wondering if there is air in the top of your skin tank that cools and shrinks a bit on getting cold. Is it indirect or direct skin tank cooling?

 

 

MtB

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Could be that each time you top it up, the coolant expands & overflows when it gets hot, & you're not noticing this when run daily (maybe never gets really cold)?

First place to look for actual leakage is the water pump spindle.

 

Tim

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Hi all, thanks for your replies

 

 

We're going to take the floor up in the engine room to try to see where the coolant's going.....the boat has a skin tank and calorifier.

Edited by Speedy23
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I agree, without knowing the format of your cooling system we're only guessing.

 

 

^^ This.

What sort of water pump? Direct or indirect cooling? What sort of heat exchanger if the latter? Is it a sealed system with radiator cap or open to atmosphere?

 

MtB

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Ok, the rad cap is spring loaded and usually has a little thin overflow pipe connection on the side of the header tank. Stick this little hose into a bottle and see if it has collected any water next time you notice the level has fallen...

 

 

MtB

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Oddly enough I've got a similar problem on my Lister LPW4. I think that I've found the leak but am not sure what to do with it. The circs are that during cold weather I lose probably half a mug of coolant per day. I thought I was losing it out of an overflow pipe (I've subsequently found is actually attached to to Ebespacher and not the engineblush.png ) and tried to cure it by putting the end of the overflow pipe into a jug to catch it, failed miserably.

 

It turns out that the leak is coming from a connection between the engine and the skin tank (a connection I didn't realise that I had until I looked closely). It seems that it only leaks when the weather gets cold so throughout the summer I never lost a drop of coolant. Now we are into the winter I'm losing the above amount. My 'solution' at present it that I catch the stuff that leaks out into a jug and then just pour it back into the header tank but I have to say that i don't understand how the leak is cured when the system is hot but leaks when the system is cold. Antifreeze is a bit like detergent and reduces the surface friction of water, more so when it is hot, so I would have expected that, as on a car, if you have a leak it should be worse when the system is hot, but in my case the leak 'cures' itself when it gets hot. At the moment I'll just carry on with the current 'solution' unless things get significantly worse.

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