coolant leak - pic included.

B

ben g

Elite
 Essex
my car has decided it doesn't like keeping coolant anymore and on tuesday i noticed a big puddle on my drive.

today i managed to have a look and after taking the undertray off, i noticed theres a wet patch at the bottom of the expansion tank. i started the car up and let the car get up to temperature. i could then see the area where the coolant was leaking, but could not see a crack.

i have circled the area below on a photo i took.

any ideas?

leak.jpg

here's a short video also:

th_MOV_1459.jpg
 
Probably a hairline crack that will only be traceable once the engine is at running temperature

PS no videos only pictures


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
click on the 2nd pic and it will (should) show a video :D

hopefully it's not an expensive fix. i hate cars sometimes :x
 
Pulling out the tank, cleaning things up, replacing the o-ring, then reinstalling should get it all sorted. Unless of course you do find a crack, in which case, the tank isn't all that expensive, all things considered.
 
If you need parts, you can a 10% discount calling Sopers in Lincoln. Ask for Jamie and mentiont the forum, and he'll give you a discount :thumbsup:
 
traveler218 said:
From the picture it looks like you could have a leak around the hose as well.
Click to expand...

i did think that, but nothing seems to be leaking from there. there was coolant everywhere as it's been leaking whilst i travelled to and from work (70mph) so i can imagine the air made it spread.

may get another hose also just to be on the safe side though.

adam - cheers for that, will have to phone up and ask for a price. bmminiparts quoted £75 + delivery.
 
i have this exact problem. Topped coolant up in cold weather and suddenly now very slowly leaking coolant. I ran it u pon the ramps and let it idle for a while and saw a small leak coming from the bottom of the expansion tank in exactly the same place.

What did it turn out to be? Is it easy to remove and replace o-ring?

Thanks
 
in the end i just replaced the whole expansion tank. cost £75 for a genuine one, although there are cheaper pattern part ones on ebay.
 
hardest part was removing the old one and draining all the coolant, without it going in your face :lol:

apart from that, it was pretty simple. bleeding the system is time consuming but a must.
 
My problem presented exactly the same ad the photos on here and looked like a seal at the bottom. I changed expansion tank and thermostat, which was fairly easy, and noticed a hairline crack in the expansion rank right where the moulded plastic is a funny angle. Thought all was fine but still have a leak.

Will recheck hoses are seated properly. Anything else to check for initially, what are the likely culprits?

Thanks
 
Seemed to be the top hose to expansion tank - the smaller hose seems to be pulled by the bigger hose and It wasn't quite seated correctly. Made sure the clip is fully in and hopefully problem solved
 
i bet the leak is coming from the blue screw at the top! i had the same problem a few months ago, the screw had sheered! check that first
 
I seem to have another leak now, looks like thermostat this time.

How difficult is this to do? Looks very tight for access

Thanks
 
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