colin weston Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 My daughter's Autosleeper Trident has been exhibiting a low coolant problem. When the coolant is at the maximum level in the expansion sphere all seems well for a while. Then she notices that the level has gone down to near the minimum mark. There are no obvious leaks but the garage thought there was a slight leak from the water pump so that was changed. All seemed well but the problem returned. I noticed some coolant around the horizontal joint of the expansion sphere and thought that maybe the joint had a leak. Coolant sphere changed. All OK for a while then problem returned. I have deduced that as there was still evidence of coolant around seam of sphere that some coolant had been expelled via the pressure cap. The cap itself seems to be OK in terms of holding pressure in the system. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy mccord Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Head gasket possibly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagey Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 hi colin i would change the pressure cap and if the fault still persists ask a local garage to do a sniffer test to rule out if there is a head gasket problem be lucky pagey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 pagey - 2017-12-13 12:15 PM hi colin i would change the pressure cap and if the fault still persists ask a local garage to do a sniffer test to rule out if there is a head gasket problem be lucky pagey I agree and would also recommend a back flush of the system. If it still happens after that, then investigate the heater matrix behind the Dash, it may have a slight weep. My former van (with the 2.8 JTD engine) always lost a bit of coolant very quickly after driving it, then it stayed at that level however much I drove it. After worrying at first, I just got used to it and had it for 5 years without a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Before doing anything expensive why not try adding some "Bar's Leaks" to the cooling system, may solve the problem. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polo Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 May also be worth checking the expansion tank has no leaks. Not had any problem with the three tridents I owned but I did have problems with a passat. to the extent I always carried a spare tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 Does the coolant ever drop below the minimum level, are you allowing for the expansion of the water when hot? My boxer coolant level goes from just above min when cold to half way to max when hot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 weldted - 2017-12-15 10:32 AM Does the coolant ever drop below the minimum level, are you allowing for the expansion of the water when hot? My boxer coolant level goes from just above min when cold to half way to max when hot? Unless otherwise specified in the vehicle handbook it’s usually recommended that the coolant should be filled up to the max level in a cold engine. That will leave sufficient expansion space for when the coolant heats up. That’s why the coolant level should always be checked when the engine is cold (and the vehicle level). Filling to the max mark also provides a convenient visual marker to help identify loss of coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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