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Our MG ZS is losing coolant. What's causing this?
In the last couple of years or so, our 2004, 44,000-mile MG ZS 110 (based on the Rover 416) loses coolant and needs topping up every fortnight or so, prompted by the level warning light in the dash. There is no sign of any leakage and the temperature gauge remains stable. The car is used daily and does mostly short trips with periodic longer trips, often in London traffic. Strangely, on a recent motoring holiday to Cornwall the car covered about 800 miles in a week with minimal loss of coolant. Please can you suggest the possible cause of problem?
Asked on 9 September 2010 by Jed Day
Answered by
Alan Ross
If you need to top up the coolant every two weeks then you must have a leak somewhere. Do you keep the car in a garage overnight? If so, you may want to put some paper underneath the engine area to see if it is leaking. Areas that need checking include the radiator matrix (especially at the bottom) and all hoses (with specific attention to the heater hoses). It may be prudent to get the coolant system pressure tested, which a local garage can do, to identify where the leak is.
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