Coolant Loss

[Sian]

Hey,

My 56 MR is losing coolant. Not a dramatic loss but not right.  2 months ago when I bought the car coolant was at full line, now it's at low line - 1.5k miles done.

Doesn't lose when parked but the morning after a good drive there's a noticeable drop. If I check when hot it's above the full line and the temp gauge has never gone above halfway. I'm guessing it's a small leak somewhere.

No oil loss - checked once a week since buying. Pre cats removed a couple weeks ago thanks to Spit  s:) s:)  They were intact.

It will go to a mechanic as I've not got the space or know-how but wondered if anyone has any ideas I can suggest to them?

Thanks everyone  s:) s:)

[Carolyn]

Live with it for a while and keep an eye on it.

These bottles do tend to go up and down quite a bit.  If there's no overall change, welcome to the silly coolant bottle club.

[Ardent]

As above. Complete mind of its own.
But if you want to go leak hunting. Good place to start. Bottom hose connection on rad. Worst case. £30 for a rad on the bay of e.

[Sian]

Live with it for a while and keep an eye on it.

Thanks for your replies Carolyn & Ardent  s:) s:)  It being temperamental was my first thought but now I'm confident it is losing - just not very quickly.

If I just keep topping up is there a chance I'll damage something important?  I know the radiator is a cheap fix so would hate to ignore that and end up damaging something more expensive!

It seems like a good car, just some small things to iron out so don't want to risk it going bang!

[Carolyn]

Ask your mechanic to check that it's not leaking from the water pump.  A couple of drops of coolant around the top of the sump is the symptom.  As Ardent says, the rad is a common problem and not an expensive or difficult fix.

[smarty72]

Mine was leaking very slowly indeed.  Although I had noted for a number of weeks that it was always damp on the bottom corner of the rad.  

If I looked in through the plastic grille at the front of the car, the bottom right-hand corner of the rad always seemed wet / never dried out.  When I removed the frunk plastics it was pretty wet down there.

[Sian]

If I looked in through the plastic grille at the front of the car, the bottom right-hand corner of the rad always seemed wet / never dried out.  When I removed the frunk plastics it was pretty wet down there.

Looking through the grille! Genius!  I took off the frunk lid and big plastic bit. It was only then that I realised I'd also need to take out the spare tyre plastic and disconnect the alarm so I chickened out. I don't fancy messing with the alarm.

So I looked through the grille and like you said there's a wet patch at the bottom right. The radiator is also looking very sorry for itself in general so I think it needs a new one. I don't know what a radiator is meant to look like but it doesn't look well   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[attachment=0:3mkvnd65] ia0 20170910_150727.jpg ia0 [/attachment:3mkvnd65]

[smarty72]

Yes,  new rad time I'm afraid, and you're car is a good ten years old so perfect timing to replace the coolant too...

[smarty72]

Good news is, if you need to use the car for a few days you should be ok, mine was doing that for a while before I properly explored and sorted it.  Just keep an eye on the coolant and temperature gauge.

[Gaz mr-s]

Before I discovered my radiator needed replacing on my previous '2', ('03) although it was getting hot, the temperature gauge never went higher than 3 o'clock. It doesn't on my '06 either....if all are like this it's pretty damn useless.

[Sian]

Yes,  new rad time I'm afraid, and you're car is a good ten years old so perfect timing to replace the coolant too...

I'm assuming a new rad will solve that leak at the bottom right? Or is that a separate part? Of course I know there might be leaks elsewhere that I can't see!

The temperature gauge never went higher than 3 o'clock.

Yeah mines never moved up but seeing the state of the radiator today I have no idea how it's been cooling things properly! Hopefully it hasn't caused other damage.

[smarty72]

Yes,  new rad time I'm afraid, and you're car is a good ten years old so perfect timing to replace the coolant too...

I'm assuming a new rad will solve that leak at the bottom right? Or is that a separate part? Of course I know there might be leaks elsewhere that I can't see!

The temperature gauge never went higher than 3 o'clock.

Yeah mines never moved up but seeing the state of the radiator today I have no idea how it's been cooling things properly! Hopefully it hasn't caused other damage.

Leaking from that area seems to be the common place for the radiator to go.

It has been, and will be likely to continue to cool your car effectively as it's only weeping a fairly insignificant amount of coolant. Your cooling system has 10.4litres of coolant so slowly losing a very small quantity would not cause the system to stop working or develop an air lock.

The gauge in my current and previous MR2 always sat at three o'clock - it doesn't mean it's not working or not very good.  It means that once your car is up to its correct operating temperature, the car is effective at maintaining that temperature through a combination of the thermostat and switching the electric cooling fan on when required.

I would be surprised (very) if a new rad and coolant didn't fix the problem.

I've just replaced mine, albeit with no labour costs, for around £80 - I could have bought a different rad and done it for less than that too.

[Gaz mr-s]

The gauge in my current and previous MR2 always sat at three o'clock - it doesn't mean it's not working or not very good.  It means that once your car is up to its correct operating temperature, the car is effective at maintaining that temperature through a combination of the thermostat and switching the electric cooling fan on when required.

My point is that if the engine's normal operating temperature has the gauge needle at 3 o'clock, when it gets hotter than that to require the fan to switch on it should show as reading a higher temperature. It didn't on my 1st car & doesn't on the 2nd.  It also didn't show a high temperature when my 1st car lost a lot of coolant.

To my mind that's a pretty useless instrument.

If other people's cars are different I'd be interested to know.

I paid £37 for my radiator 6 months ago.

[Sian]

I would be surprised (very) if a new rad and coolant didn't fix the problem.

Here's hoping!

When it gets hotter than that to require the fan to switch on it should show as reading a higher temperature.

But isn't that what the fan is there for? To me it should rise when the radiator and fan can't control it? If the temp gauge kept going up and down I'd always be freaking out   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   You know what I'm like!

[smarty72]

My point is that if the engine's normal operating temperature has the gauge needle at 3 o'clock, when it gets hotter than that to require the fan to switch on it should show as reading a higher temperature. It didn't on my 1st car & doesn't on the 2nd.  It also didn't show a high temperature when my 1st car lost a lot of coolant.

To my mind that's a pretty useless instrument.

If other people's cars are different I'd be interested to know.

I paid £37 for my radiator 6 months ago.

In my experience, with the cars I've owned, the coolant normally sits around 90 degrees Celsius, which is maintained by the thermostat and cooling fan - they don't vary widely in temperature, hence your gauge doesn't move noticeably.  Unless you've overheated because you have a fault.

I can only assume you didn't lose enough coolant with your first car to affect the cars ability to control its temperature.

I'm aware that radiators are available for £37, did you not replace your coolant?  Toyota coolant has a life of ten years, all roadsters are now older than that.

[Sian]

I'll probably just get a Toyota radiator and have my local mechanic fit it. Any idea if PFL and FL are different? I'm just thinking if it's something I'll need to warn my mechanic of.

[normanh]

Get a rad from Coolparts Mr T will cost you a fortune tiff. I fitted mine a year ago  no issues and even cleared the air easy. Coolparts will delivery to your local Argos in a couple of days likely the same as Mr T. The picture you show demonstrates the rad is totally shagged. Lots on here have used Coolparts with great success.

Norman

[normanh]

Get a rad from Coolparts Mr T will cost you a fortune tiff. I fitted mine a year ago  no issues and even cleared the air easy. Coolparts will delivery to your local Argos in a couple of days likely the same as Mr T. The picture you show demonstrates the rad is totally shagged. Lots on here have used Coolparts with great success.

I believe the rads are the same for pfl and facelift

Norman

[smarty72]

+1 what Norman says.

I paid a little more for a Koyo rad from Eurocarparts / carparts4less (circa £60) which was identical to the rad I removed - however, that was mainly as I decided I wanted a radiator right away as I had time to fit it there and then.

I dread to think what one from Toyota will cost.

There's been loads of members that have fitted a 'coolparts' rad with no issues.

Interestingly, While I was in the front of the car swapping it over, I noted that the steering rack was 'Koyo' branded if you're worried about the quality of purchasing one from somewhere other than Toyota...

Nothing wrong with either one....

[Sian]

Ok thanks both.  I will order this one from coolpartsuk   m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-RAD ... 4171b0f47f m

Do local garages tend to be ok fitting stuff you've bought elsewhere or are they iffy about it?

[spit]

They should be fine with it.
You've likely seen in other posts that its worth asking them to swap out the tap on your new rad with the Toyota tap from your old one. The aftermarket taps are not the best when it comes to bleeding the system.

[Sian]

swap out the tap on your new rad with the Toyota tap

Ste  s:D s:D   Good idea, I'll get them to keep the old tap then.  Called the garage this morning and they're fine fitting whatever I buy so a CoolParts one is on the way!