Thread: Coolant loss worry

where was the coolant leaking from would be the first step. temp gauge won't always show temperature rise when you lose coolant. does not mean you are not causing damage.

I treat any coolant loss with concern, What you have described sounds like the coolant may have come from the overflow, which isn't normally a Good thing.
Have a good look at all the joins in the hoses to see if there is any "colour" as the coolant normally shows up when it has dried and you should be able to tell where the leak is coming from.

Have checked all the hoses, they are all in VG condition, cant see any leaks anywhere, except a small weep from the top of the hose up to the overflow/expansion tank, but it doesnt lose anything from the overflow tank sitting around doing nothing all week

It did look like the coolant came from an overflow outlet as it was a decent puddle

Cant see any coolant splashed around anywhere... I cant even see on overflow outlet

I know the coolant came out when I first parked because it was a hot day ant the tar was bone dry where I parked it

depending on your expansion tank, the original factory units were prone to cracking along the seam and also where the bottom hose came into them. aftermarket units had this problem rectified. if it's a black semi-shiny plastic, then probably old unit. if it's white, yellowish, translucent/opaque or matte black then it should be aftermarket. one of the first things that was recommended to me was to change this to aftermarket unit. i think they called them the opaque ones. mine now is a matte black unit though but still reinforced and updated like the opaque ones.

could be hose split at the bottom too. there's a 3 way hose from the tank that goes to radiator and also towards thermostat housing i think. this is a bleed type system. this could be blocked.

reason why it's not leaking when standing there for a few days is that the system is pressurized. once started and under pressure then it probably will leak again if there is a problem.

which reminds me. the cap on the expansion tank has a pressure relief valve on it. this could also be faulty and causing too much pressure in cooling system.

anyone with greater knowledge please butt in and correct me if i'm wrong but i'm fairly sure the above are correct.

one more thing. take the cap off exp tank and turn the car on. watch for bubble inside. let it warm up. if you see a constant stream of bubbles coming up it could be leaking head gasket. worst case scenario. if you do see bubble you can take it to mechanic and get a CO(2) test done. they just plug a little test tube thingy into the expansion tank and run the car and if exhaust gasses are present then it's guarantee that head gasket is leaking exhaust gasses into cooling system. check the radiator hoses for hardness whilst running engine. this is another indicator of this.

hopefully nothing that serious though.

Could be just a faulty cap, FYI coolant tank should be only half full , approximately to the seam in the tank.

Bottom hose is not split.

Previous owner has sleeved all the hoses .....every rub point on every hose has half its length again as a sleeve, even the fuel lines, oil lines...even the cables

Hoses are new, clamps are new, but they are not "just " replaced new,

Maybe the thermostat is playing silly buggers or the radiator may need "Rodding" even.
Have you checked your radiator to make sure that there are no seeds, bugs or other stuff blocking up the fins ?
The plumbing on the cooling system in the D2's is pretty complex and is a PIA with hoses, clamps and different fittings throughout the system mainly because it is designed to make the heaters work faster
99% of the time I use the air con here anyway

I have cronic overheating issue with my D2a V8 as well.
So far I have flushed the system and renewed the bottom hoses without success, Next I will replace the 2year old thermostat, the bottom radiator hose and the top radiator hoses to see if that fixes it.
I had the radiator rodded last year and there is a good flow through it so I can eliminate that bit.
I first thought that I may have a problem with one or both of the head gaskets But the engine will idle happily for 20 min or so without pressurising or overheating the system and there are NO bubbles getting into the top tank.
When I drive the truck however I gets hot in about 10k's.
It won't hurt to replace the thermostat and the other hoses to see if it will fix the problem But failing that I will have to send her into Whyatt's and let the experts sort it out for me.

Rad and viscous fan unit would need confirming as good as well, when i did my head gasket last year i had the rad rodded and was told it was 1/3 blocked.
Had that fixed and a new viscous unit and it runs super cool.