really stupid question

[nicole_]

but im gunna ask it anyway :A:
when you take the rad cap off to top water up etc, does it need bleeding again as like youve let air in?
car seems to be fine after bleeding, then open cap to check water levels top it up and its running hot again :wall: :wall:
thanks iin advance

[BobC]

Nicole,

No you don't. If it keeps losing water and needs topping up then suspect a leak. Hopefully it will be a leak that you can see and get fixed.

[nicole_]

thanks :y:
100% not a leak lol
ive had 3 rads and fans in it
took my fan thermostat and rad out my westcoast as i KNOW they work as my mangos never gone above 1/2 on the temp guage. it was all running fine till i took the cap off and topped it up and now its running hot AGAIN :( drives me mad

[nev6]

did you change all the pipes tho? as they can often split and leak.

could also be HG on its way out, how long does it run ok for before you check and top it up?

[BobC]

Nicole,

Don't want to frighten you, but if you are loosing coolant and cannot find a leak then its beginning to suggest a headgasket problem.

Look out for whitish smoke from the exhaust (coolant getting into cylinder/exhaust) or a yellowish mayo gunk on the underside of your oil filler cap (coolant getting into oil).

[nicole_]

yar its fine im not frightened aha :) i know that might be it,
ive got the white smoke but put that down to over-fueling as it hasnt been driven since feburary last year.
if its headgasket ill put my 1.4 engine in it till i can afford my vtec conversion
it drove 20 miles last night and 80 this morning without getting hot at all
then about 4 hours later its now running hot again
sound like HG then yeh? :/

[nicole_]

ps, i have no mayo crap in my oilcap

[qpr4eva4]

i dunno if id say headgasket if it aint happening all the time. is there any pressure in the system straight away when u start the car cold?

[j_a_lyons]

That happened a lot on my clio, but after a while started holding again strangely enough. So by the sounds of it was the headgasket.