Right, car's been in at the dealers for the 50k service, oil/filter job.

I asked them to have a look at the coolant loss situation and basically the news is not great so far :thumbdwn:

The coolant reservoir + cap have been replaced, there does not appear to be a leak in the system (not visible anyway).

The dealer recommended seeing a specialist / tuner to find out what's up properly.

It's booked in at APS this Monday, hopefully they'll find out what's up.

Some theories were that the FMIC meant insufficient cooling for the radiator - IMHO unlikely as it's been on the car for about a year without ANY trouble.

If the system is getting pressurised by say a head gasket starting to fail, possible I suppose due to the propane injection spiking the pressures a little higher (?), this could cause the cooling system to be overpressurised, in turn causing the fluid to be expelled by the reservoir overflow system.

I've also heard via PM exchange that some people have had a failing water pump on a remapped car. However in this case it seems odd as there appears to be water flowing.

Another theory again is a massive airlock somewhere, but it is supposed to be a self-clearing system on the Fabia.

Either way, will cost me a fair bit to get it checked out/fixed, will keep you posted on progress. There is no apparent leak in the system (visible parts), which is rather annoying :(

did they perform a pressure test of the cooling system?

Well they had very limited time, so I doubt it :( When it is in at APS I'll get them to check the car over in general, I have a feeling it may not be a bad idea to check it over

I will have a little play around with the car after dinner, see if the fans kick in properly (aircon fan, main fan) - I've not done that yet and having searched the net a bit more it's apparently a common fault too

Let's hope it's something simple, would be nicer & cheaper

Just been out for a little trash to see what would happen.

More coolant boiled off (pressure released) - when aircon is turned on the fans kick in after a little while, apparently low speed, certainly not pulsing high/off, but with aircon off the main fans didn't kick in at all, low or high for that matter.

Suppose I'll have to try to measure water temperature somehow to find out whether the thermostatic switch is working, somehow I have this feeling it's more likely to be that rather than the head gasket or worse..

I thought that as the system is sealed, then as long as its not leaking the level shouldnt drop. Maybe there is a small leak somewhere and the coolant is landing on something hot and therefore you cant see where the leak is.

A pressure test should reveal all.

I had coolant loss on mine and after a couple of tests by Pilling in MK, 3 trips to be exact it was found to be the head gasket that's blown which was replaced under warranty. APS are great guys as my bro's had a lot of dealings with them, fitting various parts and services and I'm sure they'll be able to find the problem. Hope it's not a head gasket like mine as it could be expensive.

Hmm hope it's not the head gasket, it's deffo not gonna be warranty in my case for obvious reasons :(

Regarding leaks - the system won't leak unless it overpressurises in which case there is a release on the reservoir where the excess is blasted out. As a result overall you can end up loosing coolant.

Pretty sure the problem will be found in the end, just hoping I won't have to remortgage the house to pay for the repairs Thanks for the heads-up on APS

I had a pinhole leak in a coolant hose (bulkhead -> engine block) which was only obvious when the hose was pulled straight. It eventually emptied the coolant and triggered the alarm - a real brown-trousers job if you've never heard it.

No telltale pink stains or anything. When you check for leaks, make sure you go over every centimetre of your hoses, particularly the crinkly bits where they are bent.

i agree with BryanD , the pink antifreeze can be a real pain to see when you think you've got a leak , unless it leaks onto a hot surface and dries quickly to leave a crusty stain . If you run the engine with the coolant reservoir lid off you should be able to see bubbles in the coolant if the head gasket has gone

Thanks guys, will check that out tomorrow (today not allowed, my birthday and SWMBO is treating me well today, so I'm told :naughty: )

With a previous car, I had problems losing coolant. It turns out there was a pin-hole in one of the hoses. Did nothing at idle (maybe a bit damp) but rev the engine and a tiny jet of coolant shot out, making the fault obvious.

HTH

J.

Another follow-up question, it looks like the aircon causes the fans to (both) come on at low speed, which is good, but it being a diesel it just doesn't heat up enough to get the high speed fanning to kick in (it is also fairly cool outside).

Apart from revving it a fair bit, is there a way of getting it up to those temps without physically driving the vehicle so I can see the high speed fans come on?

I'm actually wondering whether the fault has been hidden by me having on the aircon most of the time and recently it has been turned off a bit more :(

one way of doing it is removing the fan switch and with the wires still attached to it put in a cup of boiling water, the fans should fire up!

i dont think you will ever get the engine warm enough to get the high speed fan working , the sensor in the water might just work but if its anything like the Ford high speed fans it won't come on till 120 degrees C anyway

Apparently it's 105 deg C but I dunno for sure. Suppose I'll find out

Update -

Well I went to APS today, and I've ended up with a pretty long list of stuff 'done', some related, some not so related.

1. Waterpump was suspected so decided to change and do cambelt & related stuff. Waterpump was found ok so seals were replaced & pump put back in.

2. Thermostat was replaced and found faulty.

3. Front brake pads down to the metal :eek:

4. MAF found faulty and replaced. Massive performance increase afterwards.

Also the car was checked for leaks in the pipes (none found as expected) as well as the head gasket (no leaks found )

Considering my 50k service was done (at 56k) about 700 miles ago where the dealer could not find the fault (thermostat would have been worth checking :roll: ) I doubt I will be using the dealers again for anything.

The guys at APS were very friendly, professional and found the problem - considering the dealership basically said - oh yeah that's the headgasket - without having checked the thermostat is just a JOKE. Worse still the fact they missed the worn front pads (yes it was an oil/filter change but it was on a ramp for a while so they should have spotted it at the first glance, I spotted it...)

Cambelt was done as nearly need to do it anyway (60k it should be sorted).

The car feels good again, when they took it out to fault-find it they actually spotted wildly varying readings from the MAF and that's been addressed

I'm likely to get a short shifter & baffled sump fitted at some stage, plus potentially some other minor tweaks depending on finances, and will put the guys in touch with the Briskoda team, they sounded interested in getting involved

Tomorrow morning just got to top up the fluid and assuming no other problems are found when I take it to work and back tomorrow we're back in shape

Great news mate - sounds like you've found some good help there.

Sounds promising. Glad APS have sorted you out!

Me too

I will be providing them with appropriate contact info regarding the site, gonna get a few other tweaks done via them as well + they have a bodyshop/repair place opposite them (different company but they use them) which may come in handy for some minor touch ups on SWMBOs + my car

Based on how much better the car is pulling + lack of smoke compared to pre-MAF-replacement I have a feeling this must have been badly wrong for quite some time

:( Spoke too soon :(

The car is loosing less fluid but it is still not happy so looks like head gasket after all that :(

Awaiting quotes at the moment, back to driving the Picanto I suppose boo hiss