Hey
I have an 04 BA Fairmont Ghia V8. Its been losing coolant, I took it to the mech to have a look at it and he said it was the radiator. He replaced it and showed me the old one which looked like it had been leaking badly. That was a week ago, when i left the mech the resevoir was half full now its just above the hose at the bottom. I had a look under the bonnet with a torch and couldn't see any leaks on any of the hoses including the ones that go into the firwall. Any ideas of where else it could be leaking? Going to take it back to mech tomorrow to get it pressure tested again. Also I'm concerned that the dash light didn't warn me that there was no coolant, any ideas on why it didn't?

BAs dont have a warning light.

Hey Mate,

It could be the bottom radiator hose aye, i changed my coolant on the weekend and it was leaking from the bottom hose. Moved the clamp closer towards the front of the car and re-tightened and that fixed the problem. When they get old they don't seal back up properly.

Also, in my AU i had a problem where the reservoir was so old the plastic began to disintergrate, so when i tightened the clamp on the hose going from the reservoir to the radiator it had cracked and was leaking, but it was only leaving a coolant trail under the hose, didnt see it until i had a bloody good look and actually removed the hose.

Failing that, park the car on a big bit of cardboard. It wont be long before it starts dripping on that, then you'll have a general idea of where its coming from.

Hope that helps mate,
Good Luck,

kool thanks i'll try the cardboard idea

It may just be your cooling system using the coolant in the reservoir.

If you havent already, check when its cold to see if the coolant returned.

Also, the motor may have needed a little more coolant to circulate.

Or you could indeed have a leak.

does sweet smelling steam come out your exhuast when you first start it after sitting for a while

Just top it up and have a look in a week. The coolant level will fluctuate between full and low. If it is leaking you will smell a sweat smell when you stop!

Cheers,

somtimes after replacing parts in a cooling system you get an air lock, ba's are usually pretty good for bleeding but it may have taken a drink after having an air lock in it

Yep thats exactly what happened, I topped it up and now its fine. Thanks for all the input.