Over Filling Expansion Tank

[ccgoose 0]

Morning all, forgive me if this sounds stupid, i'm just starting out on car maintenance!!

 

i changed the water pipe on my 205 yesterday, topped up with antifreeze and water, drove about half a mile down the road and it pissed the coolant everywhere and there was none in the expansion tank. Got the car towed home and tried to source where the leak was coming from but with water everywhere there was no hope. i topped it up again this morning but was hungover and filled it up to the brim, i presume this excess coolant will come out somewhere but where? I've checked the distrubtion block (where my water pipe connects to) and there is nothing leaking from there, it seems to be the gearbox side of the engine bay where water is coming, does the expansion tank have an over flow of some sort ?

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

Morning all, forgive me if this sounds stupid, i'm just starting out on car maintenance!!

 

i changed the water pipe on my 205 yesterday, topped up with antifreeze and water, drove about half a mile down the road and it pissed the coolant everywhere and there was none in the expansion tank. Got the car towed home and tried to source where the leak was coming from but with water everywhere there was no hope. i topped it up again this morning but was hungover and filled it up to the brim, i presume this excess coolant will come out somewhere but where? I've checked the distrubtion block (where my water pipe connects to) and there is nothing leaking from there, it seems to be the gearbox side of the engine bay where water is coming, does the expansion tank have an over flow of some sort ?

 

 

yeah it has a pipe coming from where the expansion cap sits in, its on the rear of the bottle, this is on a phase two black header tank, but im sure the phase 1 tnak will have too.

 

so take you cap off, where th cap meets the tank and seals have a look to see if you can see it, (towards the rear of bottle) that would explain the leak if all your pipes are nice and tight.

 

hope that helps, and not confused you...

[jackherer 543]

It sounds like it might just be an airlock forcing a load of coolant out past the expansion cap. Did you run it for a while with the rad cap off or did you just chuck the coolant in, put the cap on and drove off? If so, run it for a while with the cap off to let any air bubbles work their way out then top it up, put the cap on and take it for a test drive.

[ccgoose 0]

i'm guessing i'll need to leave it running for a while without the cap on, any idea how long i should let it run for ?

[Dan Ingram 1]

Fill the expansion tank when its cold leave the cap off and start the car. Run it up to temperature with the cap off (untill the fan kicks in) and that should get any air out of the system. Also if you have both air bleeds in working order remove them once its up to temp and make sure water comes out. If there is any air in there it will take a second then water will come out.

[gerry 5]

keep fan on hot in car as well let it run til engine gets upto running temp ie around 3/4s should be fine then....

[GLPoomobile 958]

keep fan on hot in car as well

 

What does that do?

[Dan Ingram 1]

Gets it toastie warm inside

[Masekwm 2]

Remember to open the bleed valves too.

 

The expansion tank will have a tube which when it gets too hot will throw out the excess coolant, I found that out on the A41 in the middle of August last year!

[MrG 3]

Gets it toastie warm inside

 

 

 

 

good topic though as I seemed to leak water on Sat after Marham, but the water coming out was luke warm and I didn't actually appear to loose much coolant from the expansion bottle, new rad me thinks, so handy tips there regards bleeding as I was a little concerned!

[Emmy Seize 8]

Sounds like you forgot to bleed the system.

 

As per Peugeot workshop manual you are to do the following (engine not running):

 

Switch the heater to "hot".

 

Open the bleedscrew in the hose leading to the heater (close to the firewall).

 

Top up coolant until there are no bubbles coming out of the bleedscrew, close the screw.

 

Open the bleedscrew at the distributor block.

 

Top up coolant until there are no bubbles coming out of that one either, close the screw.

 

Top up the coolant to "cold" level, if necessary.

 

That´s it.

 

I was sceptical at first as it doesn´t involve warming up the engine and me being used to this procedure (like others here, obviously) but it worked out very well on three different cars now.

[ccgoose 0]

Sounds like you forgot to bleed the system.

 

As per Peugeot workshop manual you are to do the following (engine not running):

 

Switch the heater to "hot".

 

Open the bleedscrew in the hose leading to the heater (close to the firewall).

 

Top up coolant until there are no bubbles coming out of the bleedscrew, close the screw.

 

Open the bleedscrew at the distributor block.

 

Top up coolant until there are no bubbles coming out of that one either, close the screw.

 

Top up the coolant to "cold" level, if necessary.

 

That´s it.

 

I was sceptical at first as it doesn´t involve warming up the engine and me being used to this procedure (like others here, obviously) but it worked out very well on three different cars now.

 

Firewall ?

 

I've no idea about where to bleed the system so will consult a book when i get in and have a look, it drove to work ok this morning though the temperature was on the high side

[gerry 5]

gets any air in the system out

 

or it has on any other car i have bleed up

[ccgoose 0]

thanks for the help guys, i've just done a search and found a pic of the bleed valves i'm looking for

[GLPoomobile 958]

I don;t get the logic of turning the heater to warn while bleeding the system. Correct me if I'm I'm wrong, but the coolant flows constantly through the heater matrix while the engine is running. All you are doing by turning the heater on is blowing air through the matrix which then gets heated up. So other than making the interior "toastie warm" how does this help the system bleed?

[welshpug 1,626]

I don;t get the logic of turning the heater to warn while bleeding the system. Correct me if I'm I'm wrong, but the coolant flows constantly through the heater matrix while the engine is running. All you are doing by turning the heater on is blowing air through the matrix which then gets heated up. So other than making the interior "toastie warm" how does this help the system bleed?

 

 

in a pug 205, nothing at all, and any other pug I've worked on personally.

 

though many other manufacturers fit valves in the system that closes the heater matrix off from the cooling system, hence the need to set the temperature control to hot, especially if equipped with A/C.

[Emmy Seize 8]

Correct me if I'm I'm wrong, but the coolant flows constantly through the heater matrix while the engine is running.

 

Quite funny, I´ve never questioned it so far.

 

But of course, you're right.

 

Seems the author of the german Haynes equivalent didn´t question the procedure either.

 

It´s the same for Polos, Minis and 205s....

 

So next time I'm bleeding a cooling system, I´ll switch on the radio, the headlights or put on the handbrake instead.

[ccgoose 0]

well i've bled the system and drove it home (office folk were looking at me a bit funny with my head stuck under the bonnet playing with valves )

 

temp gauge is now looking liek this on idle after running it home - is it a bit on the high side ?

 

Edited April 14, 2008 by ccgoose

[welshpug 1,626]

looks to be running about right, the fan don't tend to cut in till the next mark on the gauge.

 

is that the normal Idle speed?

[ccgoose 0]

yeap, it starts out like that and then drops a bit, which will bring me on to my next question about a loose multiplug i've found cable tied in the engine bay

[welshpug 1,626]

aaaaah a brown one with 3/4 pins not far from the dizzy? search for, what does this do/where does this go etc

[ccgoose 0]

aaaaah a brown one with 3/4 pins not far from the dizzy? search for, what does this do/where does this go etc

 

It is indeed that brown multiplug, might you enlighten me ?

[welshpug 1,626]

is it the one pictured in this thread?

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...;hl=where++plug

[ccgoose 0]

Looks to be the same one:

 

 

Just realised my guage on the top right of the dash isn't working one thing after another with these 205's

[Masekwm 2]

That plug is redundant, its from an old diagnostic system.

 

The top right guage will be that the cable to the bottom of the sump has corroded and is probably hanging down, I need to replace the connector on mine too.