What is happening to my coolant? & Why won't my bonnet s

Hey folks,
Noticed some interesting things with my '83 1.5 Manual GX with weber carb conversion.

I was stuck in snow the other night, well.. more on ice, I had to keep the engine revving for about 7-10 minutes till someone could come and tow me, as I would have ended up going through a hedge if I had stopped (BIG hill), the engine started smoking, and smoke was coming out of the engine bay, so I let it cool down, and realised I had NO coolant in the bottle…

I keep putting a bottle of pre-mixed Antifreeze (50/50) into the coolant bottle to get it above minimum a week, last night it was completely empty!

I've checked the coolant pipes, and they all seem to be fitting, secured, and un-perished.
The coolant bottle seems to be covered leaking at the top ever so slightly, the cap is secured in place, but it seems the bottle is leaking some how, or there is a leak along the bottle seam.

Idea's?

ALSO!

I opened up the bonnet, with the lever in the passenger footwell, all opened fine, but when I went to close it, it kept popping back up and being held in place purely by the catch used to open the bonnet once the lever has been pulled.

I've referred to other threads on here, and the spring is still in place, so any ideas how to secure it?
Pictures if required, can be taken

Cheers,
Alex

If there is a slight leak from the lid of your expansion tank and the coolant is hot and pressurised then it will force it's way out. Is it the cap seal ?

As for the bonnet not shutting properly…  are you pushing the release lever under the dash back up after you've pulled it down. If not, try that and then drop the bonnet down.

i would take it 2 get cheched out sounds like your headgasgit has gorn. have a check were u top the oil up if there r bubble in the arftr you have run the car 4 a bit then it is deff that..

ryan stratton

I had exactly the same problem with my bonnet a couple of weeks ago. Felt like the bonnet was going to fly open on the motorway, not a nice feeling!!

I called the AA out cos i thought it was a massive problem, he sprayed some WD40 on the hole where the catch sits, wiggled the lever in the passenger well a couple of times and it was sorted.

Let me know if this works.

Hope this helps.

I had coolant loss issue on my MK1 some years back. I bought a new expansion tank cap for a few quid and this sorted the problem. It was bizarre as there was no real sign of water leaking from the old one, guess it was just evaporating

Give it a try if no other signs of a leak - it could be a cheap fix

hi

it sounds like you need to invest in a new expansion tank &  do you have the original black cap fitted to the car , you need to replace it with a Blue cap which will maintain the correct system pressure. The blue caps have a re-designed pressure relief valve.VW sell them for 13ish quid
baz

I had a bottle split down the seam where the marker was, silicon sealant (gasket kind)  on the inside of the bottle cured it, but I'd only do that temporarily

Blue pressure cap is a must if you dont have one, black ones are crap.

Hey folks!
Bought a new expansion tank, the cap had destroyed itself on the inside, and there was a spring and bits of plastic sat in the bottom of the expansion tank.

The coolant pipe was steaming underneath the expansion tank a little bit on the join, so I may think about re-newing all the pipes too.

Was anyone's coolant loss, as bad as putting 8 pints in, and it all being non existent within 5-10 minutes?

Will be able to check once coolant is staying at a constant for head gasket problems, but couldn't check before.

Cheers,
Merry Christmas!
Alex

oh ref the bonnet, just remembered when I had this problem. The bonnet prop has a rubber ring on it to protect the top of the front panel from scratching when the bonnet is closed.

I had this problem when this rubber ring had moved to a more raised area of the top of the front panel, the bonnet would close but when driving along pop up.

Moving this rubber ring sorted the problem

SOLVED!
Well thanks everyone, the leaking got worse, and it would empty it's tank in a minute, it turns out, the inside of the cap was mullered - the pressure valve spring thing was sitting in the bottom of the expansion tank, meaning, any pressured seeped straight out, fun times!

The bonnet spring was still in situ, but had snapped at one end, a larger spring, and a cable tie sorted this out, and now is stronger than ever!
Thank you for all your help!
Alex

Glad yr sorted