Losing coolant

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Martyn
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:19 pm
Your car is a: 1985 Pininfarina Spider Europa
Location: Spain & UK

Losing coolant

Postby Martyn » Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:03 pm

Went on 100km drive today. Coolant temp gauge initially just below 90 once warm, but dropped to 50 by end of trip. I probably lost up to 2 pints of coolant.

Will look for signs of leaks in week, but any ideas of cause of combination of low temp and low coolant?

Thanks in advance.

GeorgeT
Posts: 379
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:41 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: Losing coolant

Postby GeorgeT » Mon Oct 30, 2017 11:53 am

Weak spring in the radiator cap may be the cause. Also, check your thermostat to see if it is stuck open.

bobplyler
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Your car is a: 1979 spider 2000
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Losing coolant

Postby bobplyler » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:11 pm

Also, when the coolant is low, it doesn't reach the temperature sending unit, so it won't report the correct temp.
1979 Fiat Spider (since new)
2005 Lincoln LS (the wife's car)
2003 Chevrolet Cavalier (daily driver)
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fiatfactory
Posts: 506
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:22 pm
Your car is a: 1970 128

Re: Losing coolant

Postby fiatfactory » Wed Nov 01, 2017 4:37 am

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Last edited by fiatfactory on Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
nothing to see here... move along.

Martyn
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:19 pm
Your car is a: 1985 Pininfarina Spider Europa
Location: Spain & UK

Re: Losing coolant

Postby Martyn » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:35 am

This makes sense. I have discovered a bead of coolant on water pump, but no staining on garage floor, which is odd, but maybe loss greatest when driving and coolant is under pressure.

No sign of gasket damage (yet?). Oil looks OK, no exhaust water. Will get pressure tests done and then consider next steps I think.

Thanks for all the help in diagnosing issue.

Martyn
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:19 pm
Your car is a: 1985 Pininfarina Spider Europa
Location: Spain & UK

Re: Losing coolant

Postby Martyn » Thu Nov 02, 2017 12:44 pm

This afternoon I discovered additional symptoms. The car heater doesn't work. The lever control only goes halfway but no heat at all.

After topping up coolant (about 1 litre) and bleeding the system the temperature gauge rose to ~ 60c after running the engine for 15 minutes. But the pipes to the heater were cool. Could an air blockage in this part of the system be a cause?


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