losing coolant 150 cdti

[elite_150]

I've spent the last few days searching on here but cant find anything decisive, hope someone can help.

To set the scene I use my vecci for relatively short journeys (1mile) mon-fri and long motorway journeys during the weekends (240 miles)

A couple of weeks ago I had a reminder on my sat nav to top up the washer fluid - i decided to wait until i went back to my parents home as i knew i had some decent stuff in their shed, at about the same time the coolant warning light appeared on the dash (at the time i didn't realised this referred to the coolant so I didn't bother to inspect, i thought it was related to the washer fluid reminder).

Anyways, last weekend i topped up the washer fluid, the reminder on the sat nav disappeared, at this point i realised the warning light on the dash referred to coolant - looking at the coolant header tank it was a few inches under the marker, so i bought some coolant from vx and topped up using about 750ml to achieve the required levels - the warning light disappeared.

Tuesday this week i had a random mid week trip down south (400 mile round trip), during the last 30 miles of the journey the coolant warning light reappeared, i continued my journey and the next morning upon inspection i had to top up another 750ml of coolant.

The temperature gauge operates as normal (80-85), internal heaters work as normal, coolant looks nice and red, also their is no mayo in the oil cap.

I've read that the coolant header tank could have a split, ive inspected this and not convinced this is the problem, is this really a common issue?

Also, heard that the coolant header cap could be at fault, again is this a common problem?

Any thoughts, shared experiences relating to this problem would be greatly appreciated...

[vectra ste]

poss radiator leak or waterpump leak ? may be worth a look


whats the mileage on the car ?

[azacbr6]

thermostat seal?

[elite_150]

poss radiator leak or waterpump leak ? may be worth a look


whats the mileage on the car ?

Currently on 113k, I bought the it last May on 103k, looking at the history i cant see when/if the waterpump has been changed - is their a check i can do for this or is it a garage jobby?

[elite_150]

thermostat seal?

thermostat was changed last June so I'd hope the seal is still doing its job

[azacbr6]

water pump should have been changed with the cam belt. also have you checked if you have water on the front passenger seat floor, matrix sometimes springs a leak.

[elite_150]

water pump should have been changed with the cam belt. also have you checked if you have water on the front passenger seat floor, matrix sometimes springs a leak.

thanks - will check for water on the passenger seat floor, think i'm just going to get it booked in somewhere especially after reading the scare stories re water pump failures

[byebyeitsagsi]

Header tank only usually cracks on Z28's due to the heart from the turbo. You need to get it somewhere dry with engine upto running temperature and get underneath it to find the leak.

[vectra ste]

Header tank only usually cracks on Z28's

i was just about to say the same thing byebyeitsagsi

[vectra ste]

thanks - will check for water on the passenger seat floor, think i'm just going to get it booked in somewhere especially after reading the scare stories re water pump failures

yes there are a few members on here which the water pump has seized and the belt has gone with it

i have got a few threads on those