Hey everyone, I changed the passenger side turbo water line on my car the day before yesterday and then filled the coolant up and drove about 1300 km up to the sunshine coast that night and then down to Sydney last night. As far as I know, I bled it correctly. Heater on, bleed cap off, keep filling and running until I see no bubbles. I checked the coolant this morning and it's down. The car never got above 92 or so generally and there was no steam or dramatic loss of coolant, but the level is definitely down. I looked over the bellhousing and stuff at various points on the way down and there was definitely no coolant dripping down the back of the engine, so I'm positive the turbo water line and the heater hose I pulled off to replace it are sealed up. The only other thing I can think of is that I put a length of heater hose from the radiator to the overflow and I'm not 100% sure that it is sealing on the overflow bottle end. If it wasn't though, I'm sure I'd have seen coolant dripping as I looked underneath the car every time I stopped. Any advice is appreciated! Cheers
you can Pressure test the cooling system , using this method . if you can not find the leak , check your radiator's cap to see if it hold pressure as it should .
youll usually need to bleed a z32 coolant system several times before its completely filled....... did you jack the cars nose up when filling with coolant? i normally do this? 1) empty coolant. 2) fill as much as possible 3) drive / idle car with heater on until thermostat is opened. (couple of minutes) 4) stop car, let it cool down for half an hour or so (too let thermostat close again) 5) repeat steps 2 though 4 a few times, r until the water level does not drop when opening cap after cool down period.
you won't always get the bubbles out first try. its always good to check the coolant every 50-100km after a flush to make sure. Since im anal, i check all my fluids whenever i drive it. Only takes a few minutes of my time.
Thanks mate. The car is parked on a hill with the front end facing up at the moment, so maybe that's exacerbating the drop in coolant level. Here's what it looks like:
Mate it looks like just a mouthful low, its probably coming to temperature , expanding the coolant volume, spitting a small amount into the overflow, and failing to draw that back when it cools. Thats my understanding of what is supposed to happen, mine does this all the time as I check fluids nearly every time I drive it I just top it up. If the car is driven 1000kms it expands once and contracts once and the cooling system is not bothered, even if you dont top it up it will expand again and push the air out, but like all cooling system issues you should keep a close eye on it to be sure. My understanding is that if there is a leak/kink in the over flow hose or the over flow bottle is not at the correct level, the water in the return hose will fall out or be restricted from returning into the system, so air is drawn back in. There is also an issue with radiator and cap compatibility, stopping this process possibly. If that is what it is just the annoyance of topping up with half a cup every time. Reminds me I must chase it down, it would be nice to check the water and see it at top every time.
there is nothign wrong with that kawasaki. thats normal, it expands and it doesnt draw back. I fell for the top up trick and wondered why it kept disappearing till I clicked lol.
I want to see the water to the cap when I open it. I have left it a few times and the level does seem to drop a little more but not as much as the first time. Part of the concept of how a cooling system works is that under pressure waters boiling point is increased beyond 100C and with air in there that pressure is not attained so it really has to go. I would think that as 100C was approached it would push the air out and gain pressure but if it happened all of a sudden who knows. Like alot of these systems very simple in one sense and detailed in another, at the end of the day fix the car and be happy, but in the short term with regular checking not a problem. Disclaimer: This is posted with the attitude of developing the car to be like a normal/new car that could be run for 6 months without lifting the bonnet every time you drive it, I know dreamy huh.
Also check your overflow hose as they can block up slightly causing this. No idea why but when mine was doing this it was a combination of old radiator cap and blocked overflow line.
Thanks for the advice guys! Well, my overflow pipe was ripped off, so I made another one but the bottle has no water in it because I bled the radiator without filling the overflow up (a dribble got into it a couple of times but not enough to fill it). I'm assuming if I pour some coolant in the overflow bottle it will stop the level from dropping in the radiator as the radiator will be able to suck coolant instead of air? I checked it this morning, the overflow was empty, I guess there's not enough on there to suck back up. Thanks for the advice! Sorry Montassis, I didn't see your post earlier. My turbos are fine
Thanks for the advice guys! Well, my overflow pipe was ripped off, so I made another one but the bottle has no water in it because I bled the radiator without filling the overflow up (a dribble got into it a couple of times but not enough to fill it). I'm assuming if I pour some coolant in the overflow bottle it will stop the level from dropping in the radiator as the radiator will be able to suck coolant instead of air? I checked it this morning, the overflow was empty, I guess there's not enough on there to suck back up. Thanks for the advice! Sorry Montassis, I didn't see your post earlier. My turbos are fine
The overflow needs to be filled correctly before you can diagnose any radiator or leak issues. If there's little or no coolant in the radiator overflow, when the engine cools down, the radiator sucks in air from the overflow, not coolant. Top up the overflow and then monitor coolant levels. Looks like things are OK from your description and photo.
