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Post by dadbif on Oct 31, 2017 15:37:17 GMT
Had a similar problem, smell of antifreeze and slight loss of coolant, checked everywhere’ but could not find a leak.
Ran the car in the garage this morning and it is weeping at the top of the rad where it is crimped onto the plastic tank top, happened on my previous mk1 but went dramatically on the road in Spain. It is not immediately obvious when you are driving because the heat of the radiator and the airflow evaporates the leaking coolant, all that is visible after 10 mins at idle is a slight dampness around the ally crimps, but over time it all adds up.
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Post by wannabe on Oct 31, 2017 23:07:00 GMT
These are all great replies, thanks very much, chaps  I will have to have a poke around at the weekend!! |
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Post by dadbif on Nov 1, 2017 8:19:11 GMT
Incidentally, MX5parts out of stock of mk1 rads, ordered one from Ebay last night, just been delivered to local Sainsbury’s, 14 hours after order placed! £40.75...
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pewe
Chats A Bit
Posts: 157 
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Post by pewe on Nov 1, 2017 9:27:19 GMT
Had a similar problem, smell of antifreeze and slight loss of coolant, checked everywhere’ but could not find a leak. Ran the car in the garage this morning and it is weeping at the top of the rad where it is crimped onto the plastic tank top, happened on my previous mk1 but went dramatically on the road in Spain. It is not immediately obvious when you are driving because the heat of the radiator and the airflow evaporates the leaking coolant, all that is visible after 10 mins at idle is a slight dampness around the ally crimps, but over time it all adds up. Had that on the tin-top last year. My gut feel is that over time the differential expansion/contraction between the ali core and the plastic tank eventually works the seal causing it to weep initially then fail. As you say difficult to trace but presumably a pressure test when warm should reveal it? Cheers, Pewe. |
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Post by trackerjack on Apr 5, 2019 12:35:32 GMT
I have had a coolant loss that has no apparent cause and think that if its a slight one it evaporates and leaves no trace.
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Post by wannabe on Apr 5, 2019 13:12:25 GMT
I have had a coolant loss that has no apparent cause and think that if its a slight one it evaporates and leaves no trace. I think you are correct! I forgot to update this thread - I replaced my radiator with a new (secondhand) aluminium rad from a kindly fellow Mighty5s-er and I now never have to top the system up! |
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Post by warpspeed on Sept 24, 2020 6:16:30 GMT
Ah yes.... The long saga of the mysteriously disappearing water. I had that, for several years in fact. Tried everything, pressurizing the radiator cap with compressed air, with the system both hot and cold, not the slightest sign of a drip or a weep anywhere. But the damned thing kept eating water with no sign of where it was going. Then one very hot day, there was very rusty water obviously trickling out from the water pump. Fitted a new pump and that also solved the mystery of the long term slow leak. It must have been a very slow drip from the weep hole beneath the water pump bearing.
That is all completely hidden behind the plastic timing belt cover. The water must have either evaporated or collected somewhere before it could drip onto the ground and make itself obvious.
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le sigh