Hey folks.For a while now I have had it in my mind that the radiator leaks on my felly. Basically if it is cold outside (as it is now!) as soon as the engine comes up to temp and the thermostat opens steams comes from the radiator for about 30 seconds then dissapears. I have to top the coolant up every 800 or so miles from minimum.There is also some signs of corrosion and old coolant on the bottom of the radiator.My theory is that during the night the coolant leaks from the radiator then when the radiator gets hot is evaporates off.The other theory is that the coolant loss is the head gasket and that the steam is just condensation/rain collected on the radiator!Just wondered if the steam from the radiator is normal?ThanksPhil

steam is always a bad sign phil, try cracking an egg into the coolant system to see if it cures it... yes an egg... and no i'm not joking

Mine mayo'd but I literally only drove her round the corner for the first time in weeks, and she was sounding rough :(

Bit annoyed cause

A - She was iced up on the inside but hopefully once the sunroof is sealed permanently this should cire it.

B - She sounded rough, checked my oil and she was low. Why was I annoyed? Cause it's my Dad who has drove her and not been looking under the bonnet.

I'm gonna have to make sure no-one ever drives my car but me. Back to topic Auroan said his Felly was using a fair amount of water, but changing the head gasket helped matters.

steam is always a bad sign phil, try cracking an egg into the coolant system to see if it cures it... yes an egg... and no i'm not joking

Don't worry that doesn't sound daft at all to me Tom. I have heard of it before. Won't I end up with cooked egg all round the coolant system though?! Or will it all just get cought in the radiator due to the smaller pipes etc?Phil

As long as you only use the eg white, it's the same effect as the rad weld stuff.

Just make sure when it comes to changing the coolant and RAD (assuming you want to) that you need to flush it out well.

Lol. Yes I would be flushing it all out good and proper either way as I don't think it has been done for a while.

Hmmm... might give it a go then.

New rad on ebay is £30 delivered which isn't bad IMO.

Phil

The trouble with flushing a suspected leaky system is that it's apt to make the leak(s) worse.

For 30 notes, if I thought the problem was the rad, I'd just get a new rad and flush the block.

Agree with Ken, £30 is nothing to keep a Felicia running and smoke from the radiator when the thermostat opens (and hot water begins to run through it) definitely suggests a leaky radiator to me. as do the corrosion and signs of leaking coolant. The outside of the rad warms up gradually, so condensation would just dry up long before it would evaporate (another thing if you pour cold water over an already hot rad).

I had this on my Felly - I chucked in rad weld and then took it for a good run and it sorted it out. I was getting rid of the car so it I did not see the point in changing the radiator. The rad weld did the trick for the rest of the time I had the car (probably about 5000 miles)

Looks like I'm hopping onto ebay soon then to grab a new rad!

It is quite rusty and corroded down at the bottom which is obviously where it takes the brunt of the elements while driving.

Suppose £30 is pretty cheap. Will also give me a good opportunity to clean out the cooling system with a shiny new rad too.

Thanks

Phil