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Cheyenne
13-05-2011, 12:59 PM
I filled the reservoir last night with water as it was what is in there already, and now 14 hours later and I have only moved the car 5 metres down the driveway I have no water left in my reservoir I took out the reservoir checked for leaks nothing, the radiator is full, I checked the grass and cement not wet not even damp and and no marks of water have been even touching the ground so im about 90 percent sure it is not leaking... what could be causing it, my partner's camry is doing it also but at a slower rate as in like his will empty once every week mine was only 14 hours, I filled it last night because it was empty and slurping when we turned off the car last night

magna buff
13-05-2011, 02:50 PM
I see you have a new rad cap from the pictures

when motor has stood overnight

you take out the spark plugs
and see if the cylinders have coolant in them

look for water on the oil dipstick also

Cheyenne
13-05-2011, 03:30 PM
Ok no water on dipstick the oil has the same texture as the new oil i bought could do with a drain and refill due to the colour of it (light brown) no debris tho. I will get the spark plugs out tonight and have a look at that too. I Did have the heater on high last night and thats when we first noticed the reservoir was empty, i then refilled it and let is stand over night, the radiator level hasn't dropped at all, and the water level in the reservoir hasn't dropped at all today since i posted this thread.

Madmagna
13-05-2011, 03:34 PM
Not sure why the first thing people go to when a car has coolant drop is a headgasket....

First thing to look at is where is it going, was the engine warm when you filled the bottle or was it cold. If it was warm the water may have gone into the radiator where it would go if was low

If not, get a pressure test before you start down the blown head gasket road, often may be a simple leaking pipe such as the one going to the radiator

Cheyenne
13-05-2011, 03:46 PM
Yer the car was just turned off and there was a red ring glowing here (shown in pic) http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r258/payner233/12052011684-1.jpg I didnt open the Radiator cap cause it was hot and we had just driven 20 mins with the heater on full. The car didnt show that it was hot on the temp gauge. but i heard a sucking/gargling noise when the car was idling in the driveway so i opened the bonnet and saw the reservoir was making the noise so i took off the lid filled it up and then checked it this morning when i woke up and it was empty so i refilled it now (just before posting this thread) and the water has not gone down since...

XiLurk
13-05-2011, 03:59 PM
When was the coolant last changed? Is it possible there could be a small amount of trapped air in the cooling system?

I don't think it's anything to be worried about, just keep an eye on it. If it's consistently losing coolant then you'll know to look into it more.

Just remember; coolant can leak, or it can into the engine. That's about it.

Madmagna
13-05-2011, 03:59 PM
That is the top of your cat converter, if that is glowing red hot that may indicate the engine is running lean but lets get one thing sorted first

As you had been for a drive, the rad is pressurised, when it cools there will be a vaccum and will suck the reserve water from the bottle to top up radiator

Cheyenne
13-05-2011, 04:02 PM
Ok thanks guys! I will update when I get it fixed and let you know what it was! Cheers ! Im going to drain the whole thing and refill tonight see how it goes. Replace the Rad Cap cause It cant hurt right... and taking it to the mechanic to get it pressure checked tomoro if need be

Oggy
13-05-2011, 07:09 PM
I had something similar in my wife's car - it worried me that it would constantly empty the reservoir bottle.
Turned out that a really smart mechanic had flipped the tubes on the lid of the reservoir, so instead of the radiator redrawing the water from the bottle, it pressurised the bottle into pumping the water out the overflow and only drew air back into the rad.
When I found this out I switched the tubes around and now she holds water like it was designed to.

But do keep an eye on your radiator level!
In an old mitsu ute I had, it suddenly developed a HUGE split in the water pipe leading to the heater and the entire contents of the radiator dumped out in short order.
Unfortunately because of the lack of water in the system (or a dodgy temp gauge?) the temp gauge never went very high, just a little higher than normal and I didn't spot the problem in time.
End result was a $5 DIY repair to replace the water pipe, plus over $1k to replace the very cracked head.

daximus27
01-06-2011, 10:44 AM
Hi just wondering what you mean about the flip tube in the reservoir tank cheers

Oggy
01-06-2011, 12:35 PM
It's not a "flip tube" as such, just that the water hoses were connected to the wrong points and I flipped/switched them around.
The lid to the water reservoir bottle has 2 hose connections - one is for overflow to the ground and the other connects to the radiator.
Someone that worked on the car had reconnected these hoses to the lid the wrong way around.

Cheers!