Leaking coolant

[calais24/7]

Hey
my old girl seems to be leaking coolant only after it has been driven, for example while it sits and doesnt get started it wont leak a drop
but the other day i parkedit in the garage to work on the body and when i drove it out i noticed a puddle of fresh coolant and was wondering what the go was. i checked the level and it was only half full after i topped it up to full 1 week earlier hardly drove it
i will get the car on the ramps soon and have a look under it but does anyone have ideas or had this happen before?
cheers
*also doesnt appear to leak if taken on a 25 minute drive or longer only if i start it and let it have a run for a bit in the garage

[detox_nath83]

possibly welsh plugs leaking... as well as check all water hoses as well as heater hoses and clamps are all tight. radiator cap may be failing as well and check overflow is not leaking

[jatsvl]

did you bleed the system when you topped it up there maybe air pockets in there and idling the care will cause pressure to flow to the over flow tank then overflow to the ground, you should take note of where the puddle sits on the ground e.g under the radiator, left or right of centre.

[calais24/7]

um no i didnt bleed the system before i topped it up. will get under the car on sunday and have a look for visible leaks i think its in the centre and pretty sure its not the radiator
cheers for your replys

[Goon]

the bleeder screws are on top, id do it or ur head will go bang!!! make sure the clamps are tight..screw drivers dont do sht half the time. thats where the drill comes in!!

[calais24/7]

mm ill have a look at the bleeder screws but is it neccasary if you are only topping up, also just got new gbox put in didnt this would effect it tho
cheers

[detox_nath83]

nope gear box wouldnt.... it depends how low it got.. i would bleed it.. bottom bolt first near thermo housing then top bolt on intake plenum do it and do it properly all air out or you will get air pockets and cause hot spots then it will crack.

[Goon]

dont overtighten nuts either, or they snap!!

[detox_nath83]

try and use a copper washer for them.. makes a big difference when u gotta take em out again..
i have had one snap on me i just drilled a small hole in it carefully and used a reverse thread screw
easy outs work as well.

[calais24/7]

found the problem
my heater hose as had a blow out lol first it was a little gash then it got worse came back out to the car from the shops and there was a big trail of coolant coming from my car haha
will have to get this fixed soon and you can hear the crunch when you moove the hose so it deffiantly needs replacing haha
cheers and ill bleed it when i get a new hose.. it is just over half full, reckon i should still bleed it?

[jatsvl]

definitely bleed the system, always bleed the cooling system in the vl as the top water level is above the top of the radiator tank so if the radiator is low the engine is lower.

[detox_nath83]

exactly the head is higher than the radiator so it will drain first.. thats the only design dilemma with the vl, but looks good..:P the skyline was quite level with radiator and head.

[calais24/7]

ok so i got the hose off today with some help from a very good neihbour that knows his shit.. and lets say that thing was a prick to get off.. it was the hose that comes from the firewall to the main block.. theres two of them and it was the harder one:L
it was such a bitch to get off
but problem is all fixed now so this thread can be closed
cheers espeicially nath83 & jatsvl

[detox_nath83]

well done
2 hoses from firewall is heater hose that feeds heater box.

[calais24/7]

yeh how is this for luck
replaced the hoses after a few hours and a lot of swear words.. got the coolant all rady to go in , went to undo the bleeder screw on the plunum chamber and the c*** snapped clean in half, with the other bit in the plenum chamber thread. i slammed the bonnet kicked the wheel and stormed inside lol
made a new thread with tap and die and drilled the other half of screw out and then the fan plastic protector thing was loose and the bottom would rub on the fan when driving (something we only noticed when we lent on it) so radiator came out and new bracket for the fan surround. then we bled the system now all is sweet as
cheers again

[detox_nath83]

hahah like i said above, did u put copper washer inplace to stop it from happening...
i undo mine every now and then to keep them free

[calais24/7]

Haha yeh it originialy had a copper washer on it anyway.
i might do what you do and undo it every now and then aswell
cheers mate