Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100

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Tue 15 Mar 2005 13:06
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - Chris S
My Rover 100 is slowly but significantly loosing coolant.

I've checked all the hose connections, made sure the filer-tank top is on correctly and even checked for 'mayonaise' on the oil-filler cap. All seem fine.

Does anyone know of an easy way of finding the leak please?

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Tue 15 Mar 2005 14:42
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - stokie
Get the engine hot e.g. by idling for 20 minutes, then examine the radiator closely for steam, ditto the hoses, they can develope pin holes. The heater isn't leaking on to the carpet?

Core plugs can also leak through pinholes
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Tue 15 Mar 2005 17:37
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - madf
also check for seepage round the water pump.

madf


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Tue 15 Mar 2005 19:52
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - Crinkly Dave
Better still, take the thing to an independent with a Sykes-Pickavant or similar pressure tester and have them pressurise the system when cold.

This will show up weeping radiators & water pumps etc. When hot the small leakages often evaporate quickly and can only be traced by the staining
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Tue 15 Mar 2005 20:10
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - Civic8
Apart from what Crinkly Dave said,How much coolant is being lost over what time period.?
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Steve
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Tue 15 Mar 2005 21:17
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - Doc
The engine you have (k-series) is prone to head gasket failure.
If you are losing a lot of water, then you must be prepared for this possibility.


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Wed 16 Mar 2005 09:08
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - Chris S
I've lost about 0.5 litres in 2 or 3 months. Thanks for all the advice, I think the person who mentioned the heater is on the right track though as I've recently noticed a sloshing noise coming form the console. I'll start my investigations there.
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Wed 16 Mar 2005 15:09
Tracing a coolant leak Rover Metro/100 - L'escargot
Fill the system with Ford pink antifreeze. Any leak will quickly show as a pink powdery deposit. (My Focus is at the dealer today for a leak to be cured. I've asked them to clean the antifreeze off the engine when they've finished so that I've got a fresh start at spotting any leaks. It will also help me to determine whether their cure was successful.)
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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