Coolant leak

Loukie · 01-12-2021, 03:48 PM

Hi all, I bought a big bottle of coolant last week and have used it all already. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what might be causing me to lose so much coolant and maybe the first thing to check? Cheers😏

dc_todd · 01-12-2021, 04:15 PM

Split hose? Head gasket? Overflow bottle cap? Leaking radiator? corroded welsh plugs? Installation error?

Dunno mate. what type of car? whats the service history like? is there anything obvious like visable coolant on the ground? depends where its going. could be an easy fix, could be near on terminal. You need to provide more info. Its not facebook. Nobody is going to guess the answer for you, so unless you want to start firing the parts cannon at it, you need to provide more.

Loukie · 01-12-2021, 04:35 PM

Fair enough just wanted to know where to start but there is a big coolant leak under the car when I fill up the resovoir (it's a header tank.) Ford falcon AUIII 2002. It seems when I fill it with coolant I am automatically losing more than half straight up then a little bit stays in there? I have checked the obvious like pipes etc no obvious signs there I'm just hoping it's not the head gasket. I'll check the radiator for any obvious signs there as I haven't done that yet, no evidence at the Welsh plugs either?

Loukie · 01-12-2021, 04:37 PM

Also I did a service on it earlier this year back around July, pressure tested it nothing was evident at that time.

falconhell74 · 01-12-2021, 04:47 PM

fill it up with water and pressure test it again , look for where the water is coming out under pressure if its not obvious check to see if it is coming out from between the block and bell housing if so it will be the welch plug in the back of the block , so a tranny out job

Blue Dog · 01-12-2021, 05:07 PM

Don't stuff around, do as falconhell74 suggested & pressure test the cooling system.
If the loss of coolant was related to a head gasket, it's likely there would be signs of a misfire, loss of performance, emulsification of the engine oil, or the obvious odor of coolant in the exhaust .

**mad2** · 01-12-2021, 06:22 PM

and with the AU it 'could' also be the heater tap as the brother-inlaw had one 'leak' on his EL [same style of heater tap used EA to AU]. it's below the intake manifold on the passenger side.

my67xr · 01-12-2021, 08:26 PM

Could be one of the steel heater pipe's leaking between the front of the engine and firewall as well?

Loukie · 02-12-2021, 10:38 AM

Omg thanks sooo much I appreciate all of your input. I'll get onto all of it because it sounds like I have all those symptoms blue dog was referring to. I'm pretty worried now I hope it's not as bad as it seems😑

slowsnake · 02-12-2021, 10:50 AM

Have you checked the engine oil dipstick?....for water in oil?

And is there any coolant under car?
If it's not leaking out, it must be leaking in, it can only go to 2 places, the sump or the tranny, unless ya cabin is filling with water?

Loukie · 02-12-2021, 11:09 AM

I had to put oil in this morning it doesn't look like there's any water on it? I also filled the resovoir this morning but I haven't seen any leaks as of yet but last week when I filled the coolant, I noticed a big leak when I was in the drive thru. I'll be going over everything on the weekend to try and track this down and every bit of input helps I appreciate it.