Coolant/heating question?

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Hi

Just a coolant question regarding my peugeot 207 08 plate

I have noticed now the cold weather has come my heaters are only blowing luke warm ish? I have had this problem before when the thermostat was changed last year.

The symtoms are as below:
1.)I have topped up coolant and i do regular checks it but the expansion tank always looks empty, when the engine in hot and cold? It is free of leaks ane none of the hoses around that or the radiator , thermostat or rad are perished. When should you clearly be able to see coolant in their?

2.) If i drive the car normally dailly around 10 miles or so the engine temp goes to around 70 - 90 c then drops to zero then it will fluctuate quite a bit? After this distance shouldnt it be stable? The radioator gets hot but the heating is neither cold or red hot? As normally after 10 mins or so the peugeots are red hot inside with the heating on? Even when idling

What could the issues be to the the symtoms explained as above? The themostat is only 12 months old?

Thanks for your help. I have tried to give as much detail as possible

Nathan
 
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The coolant expansion tank should always have coolant in it, Nathan - two thirds full is about the norm.
If it's emptying then there must be a leak somewhere, and the bottom edge of the radiator is a common place as is the water pump itself.
Is there a funny smell around the car when it is warm?
John :)
 
Cheers for the reply , No theirs no smell? The head was done 2 years ago so its not that ... i have been told my mechanics that water should only be the expansion tank when its hot? But also cold which is quite contradicting. And ive checked everywhere?
 
Fill it to mid way between min and max when COLD, run it hot and then re check again when COLD.

You could put a marker half way between the min and max marks, always check when cold and on a level surface (so you get repeatable results).

If you have to keep topping it up to maintain the same level it's leaking somwhere.
 
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Sorry Nathan but the expansion tank must be topped up to the maximum mark when the engine is cold.
When the engine heats up, the level may rise a small amount but it will stabilise when the engine cools again.
You shouldn't need to top up the expansion tank at any time, if all is well. This needs to be sorted before any other heating issues can be sorted.
John :)
 
And after you've filled the expansion tank as above, run the car till it should be hot, turn on the heater, and then check the hoses to see if the waters flowing round the system. You may have an airlock due to the insufficient water.

It's unlikely that you've got a leak in the heater matrix, but if you fill the system, and it still loses water, then fill it again, but don't run the heater for a few days, and then see if it goes down.
 
Turning the heater off/down/not using it will make no difference if the heater matrix is leaking. Water pressure will still be present in the matrix unless you can close off both the flow and return. No vehicles that I know of do that. In any case, a leaking matrix will sometimes result in a damp carpet and you will suffer with the front screen continually misting/steaming up inside the car.

If you can’t see it leaking anywhere, take it to a garage for a pressure test.
 
I'd suggest he gets a mechanic who knows what he's talking about. Maybe he said not to fill the expansion tank as he hadn't done a good job on the head gasket and it's still leaking?
 
Further to this then, if water is disappearing and no external leak then suspect head gasket/ head / block crack. You can get UV dye to put in coolant but before doing this check oil filler cap with uv light to see if the oil you use lights up under UV. if not then good as it may prove water getting into oil when you do add the indicator. With the indicator in then you may find a small leak but suspect internal minor water loss due to sub standard repair or perhaps head bolts need retorque after repair.
 
May be there is a leakage problem in radiator. You should check this issue from good mechanic.
 
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