Thread: 1 litre of coolant a week

One thing you might exclude is heater leaking, often manifests when winter use starts. Especially if you can smell steamy glycol in the cabin, have a look under your front carpets both sides for green rivers and saturated underlay.

Does this mean I have done a head gasket? No water in oil or vise versa, no bubbles either.

Once you have checked under the carpets, if there is no water there,the next thing to do is look at your sparkplugs.

There is a 50/50 chance it is a head gasket, as only the end cylinders have water passages near them.
If you see water drops on spark plugs on a cold engine that has been left several hours , you would have to suspect a slipped sleeve, especially if the water drops are on any of the centre cylinders.
Regards Philip A

At first start up when cold after running for about40-50 seconds it spits sooty water out the tail pipe till the exhaust warms up and then it steams for a while. BUT it has always done that and never used coolant. I have read of others doing the same so am guessing that condensation and short runs is perhaps the culprit? Rusty seam on the exhaust tube with several small holes developing along the last meter or so of tube.

I replaced the heater core and hoses a year and a half ago (as well as fixing the A/C...I never want to see the inside of the dash again!) and there is no smell in the cabin. I will however check the carpets and underlay this afternoon and will get to the plugs on the weekend.

thanks for the advice

At first start up when cold after running for about40-50 seconds it spits sooty water out the tail pipe till the exhaust warms up and then it steams for a while

Nearly all cars do that in cold humid weather, so in itself that is not a sign of problems. However if this is allied to one spark plug being super clean and the others sooty, or one cold spark plug having water droplets then it would be a concern.
A borescope could also be handy to look into the cylinders.
Regards Philip A

Had a similar experience, coolant drooping small a first then to 1 lite per week
and finally 1 litre a day....the coolant was leaking from the heater to under passenger foot well...nor odour, and since the carpet is well insulated with rubber underside no visible sign of leaking...was only when at about 40degrees in off road condition that someone noticed green coolant leaking from under the passenger door......traced back and heater was the cause, quick fix was to
cut the hoses from the engine bay and block off...when system now under slightly higher pressure, leaks came from radiator and hoses....thus new radiator and hoses, presently no leaks but nil heater

Well I am happy to say that it's not a slipped liner!

I found it this morning as I was topping up the water again...a nice puddle of green stuff on the tappet cover, underneath the tee junction plumbing in the LPG converter heater!

I have never been so glad to find a leaking hose!

Originally Posted by Richard93Vogue

Well I am happy to say that it's not a slipped liner!

I found it this morning as I was topping up the water again...a nice puddle of green stuff on the tappet cover, underneath the tee junction plumbing in the LPG converter heater!

I have never been so glad to find a leaking hose!

I do hope you didn't use plastic tees, they're nothing but trouble waiting to strike.

Originally Posted by alltrans

.......cut the hoses from the engine bay and block off...when system now under slightly higher pressure, leaks came from radiator and hoses....thus new radiator and hoses, presently no leaks but nil heater

Did the same myself, when the hoses joining onto the alloy heater pipes fell off... metal was corroded to the max!

Who needs a heater ? - Almost get enough warmth from the floor & firewall .
These alloy V8s are good (heating) radiators