[Mortis]

Mods Please merge the posts if required since Ive posted 4 times back to back or delete from the old posts.

UPDATE : Found a small leak in a hose which connects to the expansion tank. This was fixed and along with the new cap should do the trick.

The Crappy Bit : Since Ive been running on water for a while now I had to replace the coolant.
The Chevrolet Beat does not have a drain plug for the radiator ! Mechanic couldnt find one and neither could I ! It seems after switching to long life coolant in 2003-04 GM has removed the drain plug in most of its cars !
We had to drain the coolant by removing the lower radiator return pipe, did a flush and refilled with new coolant. Im a bit doubtful that we managed to get all the old stuff out, even though the heater was run. Only 4lts of coolant+water went in. Hopefully since Ive added ateast 8-10 lts of water since the leak was detected, most of the old coolant is out or highly dilute so it wont cause an issue if left inside. Also, traces of flush hopefully wont be an issue if its mixed in the remaining bit.

So far the coolant level and temps are holding steady in the normal range after around 25kms of driving today so it leads me to believe that the leak has been fixed and there isnt an air bubble in the system.
I want to try and burp the system just to check so I would appreciate tips on how to do this on a closed loop system without any drain plugs or bleeder valves.
Any feedback on the current situation would also be appreciated.

[sgiitk]

@Mortis; The system will burp itself. Just keep an eye and top up a few (say two or three) times as the coolant level will initially drop. Of course you can run the car on idle (with the heater on at full) for say five minutes, and most of the burping will be done. One of the toughest points to burp is the heater. Still I will top up once after a few days.

[kavu75]

I am also facing coolant level drop in reservoir with my Innova. I am seeing this problem from last 1-2 years. But it's a very minor leak, after driving some 500 - 1000km I can see the drop. But no visible leak any where.

Checked with Toyota multiple times, but still we couldn't root cause the issue. Last time they asked me to replace Water Pump, even after I can see the same behavior.
Look at this thread for more details.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4091759

[lurker]

Do you guys change your coolant every 6 months or whenever it is serviced ?? The service guys remove the coolant and usually refill with water and some mild coolant. This is what I have noted in my experience. When you reconnect the coolant-engine block hose, try to apply RTV sealent and reconnect, then it will not leak and you will not lose coolant. Sometimes the hose develops a crack also, it is just a rubber hose. Change the hose and you will not see any drop in coolant.

Last week I changed coolant myself in my Maruti Versa, and gave the entire coolant system a cleanup by disconnecting coolant drain hose and coolant inlet hose from radiator. I shoved in a rubber hose running water into the inlet hose, started the engine and allowed the water pump to circulate the fresh water through cooling system to drain out the entire old coolant and flush the system. The engine seems happy after that.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by lurker

The engine seems happy after that.

How do you measure that? But seriously, changing coolant should be done based on the manufacturers recommended schedule. On modern cars it is really important to use the correct coolant liquid as well. These days it is much more than just an antifreeze.

Coolant liquid can be quite toxic, so you are supposed to handle it with gloves and dispose of it appropriately. If spilled on your car’s paintwork, wash it of with plenty of water.

Unfortunately, not having a drain plug for the coolant liquid seems to becoming more common! You just need to disconnect a hose or pipe, preferably on the lowest place in the cooling circuit.

Opening the heater controls to ensure old fluid is flushed and new fluid is appropriately distributed in all of the system is a good practice. Mind you these days on a lot of modern cars the heater controls are electronically operated and simply won’t open unless the computer measures the corresponding cooling liquid temperature. So the only way is to actually drive the car, get the engine up to normal operating temperature and open up the heater fully.

Just changed the cooling liquid on my Jaguar and there is no other way to do this as the computer keeps all the heating controls shut till the computer registers the correct temperature values.

Jeroen

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Coolant liquid can be quite toxic, so you are supposed to handle it with gloves and dispose of it appropriately. If spilled on your car’s paintwork, wash it of with plenty of water.


Jeroen

Collected as much as I could in a drain tub and down the toilet it went. I have cats so I am pretty careful not to leave any coolant spilled outside.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by lurker

Collected as much as I could in a drain tub and down the toilet it went. I have cats so I am pretty careful not to leave any coolant spilled outside.

Good, sort of. I guess in India this is as good as you can make it. Here in the Netherlands, and most of Europe, you are not supposed to flush it down the toilet either. Not that anybody would know, but its something you just would not do.

You take it to the council waste disposal, same for used lub oil, hydraulic fluid etc.

In the USA most of the car part stores, would have facilities to dispose of your various liquids. You buy the new stuff from them, drain the old stuff and bring it back to the store. Very convenient!

These days in parts of Europe, washing one’s car in front of your own house is frowned upon. In fact in certain towns it is illegal! All about green environment!

Jeroen

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

These days in parts of Europe, washing one’s car in front of your own house is frowned upon. In fact in certain towns it is illegal! All about green environment!

Jeroen

though this is couched in green environment, I suppose it has more to do with neighbours jealousy or a neighbour cleaning his car to go one up on them.

I am finding it difficult to dispose off my accumulated old engine oil, what to speak of used coolant. Old engine oil can be slightly filtered and used as a surface coating for wooden boats or used as furnace oil in power plants. I know general places that will take it, but yet to find time to make contact. Workshops, service stations do not take YOUR used oil here.

[Mortis]

It didnt burp while idling for 15-20 mins but after another 20km round trip its dropped an inch which I have topped up. No sign of gelling so far due to changing coolant types so I think Im right in guessing that at the very least most of the old coolant got replaced by water during this troubleshooting period.
Seriously though not having a drain plug is just a poor design decision

[escape velocity]

Hi,

I'm facing a coolant related issue with my Ford Freestyle (diesel) 2020 model.
The coolant was topped up during 2nd free service after I noticed that it was nearing the minimum level. The car had done 4050 kms. till then. However, it has again dropped to the minimum level within just over six months and 4000 more kilometers. I checked the level when the engine was cold.Also, no overheating issue has been experienced till date.

I intend to take the car to the ASS. Please guide me how to proceed with this as it seems to be recurrent problem?

Thanks.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by Mortis

When I sent my Beat for Servicing, the advisor noted that the coolant level was low and that there might be a leak. I hadnt noticed any overheating problems prior to that

Originally Posted by myavu

Mortis, I am also facing the same issue with my Beat for last 2 years.

About a month back I had my Beat serviced at the ASC, and the SA gave the same comment as above. He advised me to keep an eye so that the coolant does not fall below the min level, and to top up with Bisleri if it does. Post that I had been on a 500 km trip, and the coolant levels remained well above the min level afterwards.

The long-term solution proposed by him was to replace the water pump. But reading these posts suggests that it might not solve the problem.

Since you have been dealing with this for a longer time, any additional insights from you would be helpful.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by kavu75

I am also facing coolant level drop in reservoir with my Innova. I am seeing this problem from last 1-2 years. But it's a very minor leak, after driving some 500 - 1000km I can see the drop. But no visible leak any where.

Checked with Toyota multiple times, but still we couldn't root cause the issue.

Check for white spots on the cover on the inside of your bonnet, if you see white spots then your water pump has a minor leak, and the coolant that leaks gets blown on all sides by the fan, only what falls on the insulation under the bonnet dries in place and is visible. For light to moderate use like yours, 1.6 lakh km is when water pump starts leaking. I had replaced mine at 1.6 lakh km, and the person who bought the car from me (cab usage) said that in 6 lakh km he replaced only 2 water pumps, 2 clutch plates, and many sets of brake pads and tyres.

Rahul

[kavu75]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

Check for white spots on the cover on the inside of your bonnet, if you see white spots then your water pump has a minor leak, and the coolant that leaks gets blown on all sides by the fan, only what falls on the insulation under the bonnet dries in place and is visible. For light to moderate use like yours, 1.6 lakh km is when water pump starts leaking. I had replaced mine at 1.6 lakh km, and the person who bought the car from me (cab usage) said that in 6 lakh km he replaced only 2 water pumps, 2 clutch plates, and many sets of brake pads and tyres.

Rahul

Thanks Rahul. You are correct, it was a very minor leakage in the water pump and replaced. It was fine after that.
Updates are in this threads.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4063572 (Toyota Innova Experience. EDIT: 10 years, 2,56,000 km up and SOLD!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4091759 (Toyota Innova Experience. EDIT: 10 years, 2,56,000 km up and SOLD!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4166055 (Toyota Innova Experience. EDIT: 10 years, 2,56,000 km up and SOLD!)

Exchanged that Innova with Crysta on 2019

[myavu]

Originally Posted by adisan

Since you have been dealing with this for a longer time, any additional insights from you would be helpful.

You can read my post here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4901074 (Chevrolet Beat : Test Drive & Review) and here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4906861 (Chevrolet Beat : Test Drive & Review) for the cheapest solution.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by adisan

About a month back I had my Beat serviced at the ASC, and the SA gave the same comment as above. He advised me to keep an eye so that the coolant does not fall below the min level, and to top up with Bisleri if it does. Post that I had been on a 500 km trip, and the coolant levels remained well above the min level afterwards.

The long-term solution proposed by him was to replace the water pump. But reading these posts suggests that it might not solve the problem.

Since you have been dealing with this for a longer time, any additional insights from you would be helpful.

Hi so there were two coolant leakage points on my car. The first was the thin coolant pipe attached to the reservoir. It had a thin crack on the underside that wasn't noticeable on first glance and made it look like the reservoir was overflowing from the cap. Cut an inch off it and connected it back with a little shellac. Fixed that leak and it's not surfaced again in several years.
The next serious leak was from a corroded water pump elbow just behind the engine. Had to replace the full water pump as the elbow alone wasn't easily available in Mumbai. Was trying to connect with BKS motors in Delhi who had it but it was a big pain and my FNG contacted me with the price of the full pump which I found reasonable so i gave him the go ahead.