[Jaggu]

Even in BLR winter months a car without thermostat is not fun to ride at nights, so i personally dont prefer to remove it. If its faulty replace it.

[SS-Traveller]

What you are reporting is called a "heat soak" phenomenon, due to a faulty cooling system. The likely culprits may be either a poor quality/ratio of coolant, a faulty thermostat, or faulty radiator cap. As soon as the engine is switched off, the coolant is being made to boil due to heat soak, and spills out. Rectify this on an urgent basis, since you risk a fire inside the engine compartment. Please read this: Heatsoak.pdf

[Ramesh75]

You need to check the Coolant temperature sensor, radiator fan and thermostat. Even a blocked radiator will cause the coolant to boil. You need to check this too.

[rr_zen]

@SS_Traveller: Thanks for attaching the pdf on Heatsoak. It sure is an interesting read.

[bhogalrajnish]

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Hi Irafabulla,

Well you have to do something very simple to see what the culprit is.You just check the engine oil level and see if it seems diluted and the other thing check if the radiator has got and oil in it.If any of these two happen then it surely is the head gasket.

But on the other hand if this is not the case then its surely the thermostat.Now the thermostat is for a quick heating which is required in countries where there is a seveare cold temperature but not required for our climateic conditions.So now,what you need to do is just take it to the MASS and ask them to just remove the thermostat and leave it as it is.I can garuntee you the problem will be solved.Have faced this preoblem in many cars and have done this as a solution.

If the valve is good get the radiator cleaned it can be chocked. also make sure you just fill in the coolant to the optimam level too much of it will spill out as its not needed.

Best of luck and get this done as soon as possible.

Never ever remove the thermostate valve from any vehicle as the vehicle will run cold and take a long time to heat up you will burn a lot of extra fuel and reduce the engine life, Remember the add "Most of the engine damage happens when the engine is cold"

Irafabulla get the Valve changed it will cost you about Rs 400 or lower. make sure you get the same temp valve as you have on the engine right now. there are two temp valves on maruti cars 82 degree and 88 degree, Versa will provably have the same as esteem 82 Degree.

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by bhogalrajnish

Irafabulla get the Valve changed it will cost you about Rs 400 or lower. make sure you get the same temp valve as you have on the engine right now. there are two temp valves on maruti cars 82 degree and 88 degree, Versa will provably have the same as esteem 82 Degree.

Will this help me too ? I am facing the issue of coolant loss in my Esteem for the last few weeks. There is no external spillage whatsoever and the engine is running within the normal operating temperature. It all started when one fine Sunday I opened to the hood to do a sense check. The coolant reservoir was almost empty and I topped it up. Within 10 days the level dropped to half (which I have never witnessed before in my car) and from then on am noticing continuous drop in the coolant level.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Will this help me too ? I am facing the issue of coolant loss in my Esteem for the last few weeks. There is no external spillage whatsoever and the engine is running within the normal operating temperature. It all started when one fine Sunday I opened to the hood to do a sense check. The coolant reservoir was almost empty and I topped it up. Within 10 days the level dropped to half (which I have never witnessed before in my car) and from then on am noticing continuous drop in the coolant level.

Could be:
1.Blown head gasket - check for coolant in engine oil and vice versa
2.leaking heater hose somewhere
3.Leaking radiator water hose
4.Leaking radiator

Do not drive the car around until you have this fixed

[bhogalrajnish]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Could be:
1.Blown head gasket - check for coolant in engine oil and vice versa
2.leaking heater hose somewhere
3.Leaking radiator water hose
4.Leaking radiator

Do not drive the car around until you have this fixed

Rightly said, In case it is a bad gasket you will see oil in the radiator and water in the oil and white smoke from the exaust. The temprature will also rise above normal. Check for leackage there mat be a very small hole on the radiator or one of the hose.

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by bhogalrajnish

Rightly said, In case it is a bad gasket you will see oil in the radiator and water in the oil and white smoke from the exaust. The temprature will also rise above normal. Check for leackage there mat be a very small hole on the radiator or one of the hose.

Coolant mixed with oil and vice versa - No
Temperature rising above normal - No
White smoke from exhaust - No

Hence, I hope it is a leak somewhere in one of the hoses or radiator. Let me check it out tomorrow. The best part is that I have not seen one drop of coolant spilled outside thus far.

[bhogalrajnish]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

The best part is that I have not seen one drop of coolant spilled outside thus far.

Because it must be somewhere underneath the car.

[CrackedHead]

Originally Posted by bhogalrajnish

Rightly said, In case it is a bad gasket you will see oil in the radiator and water in the oil and white smoke from the exaust. The temprature will also rise above normal. Check for leackage there mat be a very small hole on the radiator or one of the hose.

I have personally had this problem of the coolant gushing out from the reservoir bottle on my M800. It was a head gasket leak but I took a long time to figure it all out (read 6+ months and 10K kms later).

No MASS was able to diagnose it correctly because for 6 months, there was no sign of oil and water mixing.

Long story short, if you have coolant bubbling in the reservoir bottle -- it might be prudent to replace the head gasket right away.

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by bhogalrajnish

Because it must be somewhere underneath the car.

Underneath as in on the ground or inside the car ? I have not seen anything on the ground so far.

Originally Posted by CrackedHead

Long story short, if you have coolant bubbling in the reservoir bottle -- it might be prudent to replace the head gasket right away.

Thats not the case either. I have not witnessed this symptom.

Well, thanks for all your inputs. This is becoming serious now. Let me get to the bottom of it.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

There is no external spillage whatsoever and the engine is running within the normal operating temperature.
The coolant reservoir was almost empty and I topped it up. Within 10 days the level dropped to half... and from then on am noticing continuous drop in the coolant level.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Coolant mixed with oil and vice versa - No
Temperature rising above normal - No
White smoke from exhaust - No
Hence, I hope it is a leak somewhere in one of the hoses or radiator. Let me check it out tomorrow. The best part is that I have not seen one drop of coolant spilled outside thus far.

It's a slow leak whilch is happening under pressure when the water pump is running. Lift up the car on a ramp (or get underneath) and look for tell-tale greenish/greyish stains at the junctions of hoses, radiator drain nut, etc. If you are getting a rise in oil level corresponding to a drop in coolant level (OR you can note a change in oil colour), then you've got a blown head gasket.

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

It's a slow leak whilch is happening under pressure when the water pump is running. Lift up the car on a ramp (or get underneath) and look for tell-tale greenish/greyish stains at the junctions of hoses, radiator drain nut, etc. If you are getting a rise in oil level corresponding to a drop in coolant level (OR you can note a change in oil colour), then you've got a blown head gasket.

Thanks. I will check for these tomorrow. So far there has been no engine overheating or any boiling of coolant in the reservoir. I need to take a peek under the car to check for the stains you are referring to and also take a look at the engine oil.

[rr_zen]

Alright. I made some detailed checks today and here is what I found:

1. Opened the coolant reservoir to check for any oil slick/mix - No
2. Checked for any boiling of coolant in the reservoir - No (I put my finger in to feel
the temp of the coolant and it was cold.)
3. Opened engine oil cap and checked for any increase in quantity of oil and any
traces of coolant - No
4. Checked the engine oil dipstick - Oil level is well within min max range. No
anomalies noticed there either
5. Checked for any minor leaks in the radiator/hoses connecting it - No

Now, one thing that I observed:

I started the engine when it was cold and tried to find the duration it took for the radiator fan to come on. It took almost 14 - 15 mins for the fan to come on. And it switched off in just about 20 secs. Is this normal ? I feel the fan should have come on well before this time and should not take 15 mins. I understand that the fan gets triggered by the rise in engine temperature and is related to that, however my concern is if the fan is coming on at say X+Y degrees instead of X degrees.

What do you guys think ?