Loss of coolant in 2014 Colorado

Holden acknowledge that the gauge will fluctuate but not any further than the half way mark. The overflow pipe is clean and there does not appear to be any traces of red fluid....wet or dry. Checked levels when cold Holden tell me to fill coolant bottle just above low mark. I have had the van weighed when about to head off at local weighbridge,fully loaded water,food,full gas bottles etc.....2790kg. Yes the motor is small at 2.8 but the KW are 147 & torque is 500nm.....ball weight rated at 350kg & towing rated at 3500kg....NOW...IF...these figures prove false..then GM USA,because the vehicle is actually made in Thailand for Chevrolet......then GM have misrepresented the vehicle & therefore could be fighting off civil litigations in the very near future. I know where you are coming from with "Small motor" syndrome...it was the same or similar story when Nissan changed motors from the 4.2 to a 2.8 6 cylinder & then a 3.0 litre 4 cylinder diesel !! Don't forget the silly decision by Nissan to put the small skyline 4 cyl petrol into the big patrol with one small carby!!! The system has been pressure tested as I said,so to has the coolant cap. Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for the reply Stu. I reckon you are on the money. The temp gauge only going to half way indicates to me that it got hot but not THAT hot!! On another forum there is a post from another owner about his Colorado temp gauge fluctuating like mine but no evidence of fluid loss. Like you,I have owned vehicles without ever having to "top up " coolant!!! It seems to me that Holden (like some other companies) deny everything, probably well trained Customer Service Reps who deny everything agree to nothing & maybe the customer will get sick & tired of the B S & get the vehicle fixed at their expense. Reminds me of a fellow who after having his third injector pump fitted to his V8 diesel Toyota,was presented with a huge bill from local dealer because Toyota denied all responsibility and accused the owner of "Changing the vehicle from manufacturers specifications" he took the case to VCAT & won....but he only won the battle.....not the war....Toyota sent him a nice letter withdrawing all warranty on vehicle.

Or the dealer that told me that the reason my air conditioner would not blow cold air in my new company car was that the thermostat was icing up!
Huh. How can it ice up if the compressor is not even cutting in??
Response "I think we know more about the system than you do sir"

Had the car for 3 days & it still would not work. Fixed it myself when I got home. Pressure switch plug for refrigerant was disconnected!
Let me say it was the same brand as listed above.

"Ya pay peanuts...Ya get monkeys"

Thanks Fab for the reply. The Holden dealer has pressure tested system & cap.....all correct. I have insisted that the "problem" be documented NOT only at customer service level but at the dealer too. The point you make is that it gets hot,creates a vacuum but when it cools down the coolant is returned to the coolant bottle....well it doesn;t so where is it going? Could the leak be close to a "Hot" item on or near the engine which would then cause the water to turn to steam? When the hoses expand water could be leaking from them? Have driven vehicle 340km without towing,no temp gauge fluctuation or fluid loss. Could the system have or had an air block? may have been bled in previous service but vehicle only travelled 34,000km. I would appreciate your response.

G'day 19738662,
You've got the main thing covered which is any fall back with warranty.

The bleeding of the system does have merit. Usual indicators are an audible gurgling sound from your heater and the most obvious physical sign is a lack of performance from your heater. As a rule of thumb, most air locks happen in the heater core and normally after a coolant change not after many kms in service unless there has been some coolant loss and the coolant over flow pipe in the bottle has been allowed to draw air in.

This can happen if the system was flushed and refilled, it burped the air out but hasn't been checked since allowing the level in the recovery bottle to drop below the level of the pipe outlet. Or.... if the recover bottle itself has a leak. Rub through? A rouge screw from the fitment of something else? A stray rock?

A pressure test can check for a few things....the system holds pressure (seen on the gauge reading), fpr any external leaking of coolant and also, especially in the case of a diesel, any internal leaking. Any coolant escaping into the combustion chamber will show up as a hesitation when cranking the engine over immediately after the pressure test. That is the "worst case scenario"... a stationary engine with coolant in it. Not so noticeable while the engine is running.

An external leak while driving will generally give off a distinct odour and a leak internal to the combustion chamber will show up as signs of steam from the exhaust..... although unlikely. Remember the pressure in the combustion chamber is a squillion times higher in a diesel than the pressure in a cooling system so the migration would be of pressure into the radiator, not the other way around.

It's always hard to diagnose any problem from a keyboard so the best you could go with is recommendations. Hence I'm not going to say what it is, rather what it's likely to not be, and my recommendations.

Summary..... radiator cap is fine. Going by your info, I'm doubting it to be a head gasket/serious engine problem. A sticking thermostat will not lead to an unrecoverable coolant loss. The notion of spotlights etc leading to a warmer operating temperature has merit but again would not lead to an unrecoverable coolant loss.

I'm hedging my bets on a "burp" aka air in the system which can happen if the overflow bottle is allowed to get low anytime after a coolant change. Or an external leak which would be obvious through staining, smell and a drop in pressure on a pressure test hand pump.

Now for some experienced advice. Keep your coolant overflow bottle at it's max mark. It's better to lose a bit of coolant out of the bottle if it gets over full, than it is to draw in air if it's under full. Top it up with coolant as that will generally not evapourate with the heat from the engine bay, whereas water or a weak mixture will over time, just from engine bay temperatures getting high.

What I would do....get a pressure test done by an independent person other than the dealer. I'd suggest a radiator shop. Then top up your coolant directly into the radiator and an equivalent mix into the overflow bottle and monitor it. Also check it after about 100 kms of driving. Remember that the pressure test itself can induce air into the system.

As for the Colorado being over rated for a 2.8l engine.....more B/S. You've got yourself a good strong rig. I have seen these things wired up with monitoring equipment tow trailer dynes with braked axles to simulate load in very extreme hot test trip conditions up near Kunnanura. Your van and even the 3500 rating is way within it's safe operating limits. The weak link would be the towbar and chassis/suspension...not the drivetrain.

Fab.

Thanks very much for the reply Fab.

Thanks Bigfish for replying to my post....helpful advice cheers.

19738662

Just spke to my mate, the radiator specialist. He says that they have a fitting that goes over your radiator nozzle(where cap screws onto). The fitting is a glass tube that is fitted with a pump and a tube of dye that detects carbon monoxide in the radiator AIR. You do not test the fluid. He said it detects carbon monoxide that can only enter the system thru leaky head gaskets or cracks in head. Even though it is a minute crack the combustion pressure will force carbon monoxide into the cooling system and releases this as a gas.
The dye changes colour if carbon monoxide is present.

Hope this helps. I saw him do it and it took less than a minute.

Hi guys just remember that a diesel produces carbon dioxide not carbon monoxide!

Thanks for the reply mazcan

It's not 19738662 over complicating things, its the 75% replies of morons with NFI mechanically that are stuffing up the original post.

A few clowns posted that radiators do not expand, then verballed on to trip up their claim.

We do not know the volume of the expansion tank, so 3/4 of a litre is a variable of the percentage of capacity.

We don't know how full the coolant system was at the start of the trial, and due to heat and expansion...oops..there's that word that quite a few said didn't happen...possible expulsion occurred.

Do you know that when cool/cold, the coolant level should be more to the low level than the high..?


19738662...do this mate, only check-recheck your expansion check either after engine shut down, or the vehicle/engine is cold, not either or, only the one temperature situation as the control measuring time.

Have a study of your driving technique regarding engine operating temperature movement, are you driving inclines out of an over drive gear...?

Gearbox ratios above 1:1 ratio are torque multipliers, ratio's above below 1:1 are torque reducers...ie..overdrive gears.

Take some liquid relaxants and don't stress.

Thanks for the reply Con_Qld.