Coolant level help!?!?!?

[GregorFuk]

An apology if this has all been asked before but I’m a new S1 owner that has come from the land of VAG. You know the one where you top up the engine coolant to a level in the header tank, and then it stays at that level and never moves?

So, can anybody tell me how the coolant level works on the S1? I ask because yesterday I topped up my coolant to half way between the max and min level on the header tank when the engine was cold. I then warmed the engine up with the cap off the header tank, the level seemed to stay constant unless I revved the engine in which case the level would drop, returning to the original level as the engine went back to tick over.

Fine, so far so good.

So I drove the car all day yesterday and parked up last night. This morning I go to the car and check the coolant level. Nothing in the header tank. I decided to start the car and drive it gingerly to work equipped with an emergency bottle of coolant. The car comes up to temp fine and I get to the end of my 20min commute with no problems. I check the coolant level again, still nothing in the tank. I decide to slowly crack the cap on the header tank, a slow hiss and the header tanks starts to fill back up with coolant to what looks to be the same level I filled it up to yesterday?

So.

1. Do they all do this?

2. If the answer to Question 1 is “no” then do I have an issue, if so, any guesses?

3. If I don’t have an issue then what is the best way to top up and monitor coolant level, and to what level should I be topping it up to?


Cheers in advance, sorry if I’ve rambled on a bit.

Gregor

[Rich H]

Sounds like you might have an airlock. Did you beel the system?

How old is the car? The eairly cars (to late 97) have a coolant rail running over the exhuast manifold with a bleed point on it, all S1s have a bleed point on the front radiator hose on the LHS. To get to the front one get a grip of the wheel arch liner and peel it back then you can get your arm in and feel around for the rad hose, there is a little knurled plug, undo it a few turns and it'll hiss or spit hot water up your arm. Id reccomend latex gloves as coolant is hot!! The procedure is in the workshop manual IIRC.

Good luck.

Rich

[Gourlay83]

Could be many things causing your issue but no, it's not normal.

Your car is using coolant or has an air lock. Best thing to do is to make sure the system is topped up and bled properly before going any further. The reason the coolant rose when you removed the cap was because the coolant system is pressurised. The system is pressurised to raise the boiling point of your coolant, remove the cap = remove pressure and the coolant rises.

Best to start with basics and ensure it's bled properly - Top up your coolant when engine is cold and the start it up. Let it warm up and occasionaly loosen the 2 bleed screws until warm coolant comes through and no air. Make sure you get hot air through the heaters and your fan comes on.

If your still loosing coolant, need to check for HGF

Alan

[GregorFuk]

I have a sniff testing kit which I will use tonight to check for HGF.

Where are the two bleed points? I can see what looks like one on a bit of hard pipe running underneath the dizzy cap. There looks to be another one on a bit of hard pipe running across the top of the exhaust manifold. Are these the two you mean or are there others?

[Gourlay83]

I have a sniff testing kit which I will use tonight to check for HGF.

Where are the two bleed points? I can see what looks like one on a bit of hard pipe running underneath the dizzy cap. There looks to be another one on a bit of hard pipe running across the top of the exhaust manifold. Are these the two you mean or are there others?

One under Distributor Cap and One at the front of the car, LH side coolant hose that connects to radiator.

Alan

[GregorFuk]

Sounds like you might have an airlock. Did you beel the system?

How old is the car? The eairly cars (to late 97) have a coolant rail running over the exhuast manifold with a bleed point on it, all S1s have a bleed point on the front radiator hose on the LHS. To get to the front one get a grip of the wheel arch liner and peel it back then you can get your arm in and feel around for the rad hose, there is a little knurled plug, undo it a few turns and it'll hiss or spit hot water up your arm. Id reccomend latex gloves as coolant is hot!! The procedure is in the workshop manual IIRC.

Good luck.

Rich

Car is a 97 and it has the bleed point in the coolant rail over the exhaust manifold you describe. Plus one under the dizzy cap, plus the one at the radiator I guess though I've not looked for that. I can confirm that the radiator gets warm and I get hot air through the blower. The fan also kicks in as I believe it should and when it does the temperature comes down.

[Rich H]

Forget the bleed point under the dizzy, the one at the back is higher up.

Try them both see if there is any air.

Sniff tester is one of those things - you don't want to know but not testing is daft... test it so you can be sure.

[Ferg]

Note that you wont get any air out until the system is hot and pressurised so don't just give up on bleeding the front because water comes out when cold. Also raise the front-left of the car off the ground to make the air air more prone to collect next to the bleed point.

[GregorFuk]

Update.

Performed a sniff test on the header tank and it came back negative. Found the bleed point at the radiator and I got a heap of air out of the system. Will run it to work tomorrow and see how I get on. Fingers crossed.

[Rich H]