Massive coolant loss after water pump replacement

[toxpoint Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close toxpoint]

Hey all,

I've already called the mechanic who did the replacement & they've told me to bring car in during the week, but If i hadn't noticed and the Prado started running dry, it could have been a massive problem. So i just wanted to be a little educated before i question them about it.

Is it reasonable to expect coolant loss after this kind of work? or have they been careless and not tightened everything up?

Cheers,
Toxpoint

[RedAdventureWagon Member Find all posts View Profile Close RedAdventureWagon]

I'd say there should be no coolant loss after the replacement - certainly you'll lose a lot, almost all maybe, of coolant as part of the repair but the mechanic would refill this well before it got back to you. No leakage should occur from the system once that's done, and certainly not in your hands.

Sure there may be some spilt in chassis rails or on other dips in panels that may not get out until you drive it off but these would just be old coolant.

['Dan' Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 'Dan']

My guess is they did not bleed the cooling system properly/at all after the repair.

Removing the pump is definitely going to lose coolant, which is fine so long as it goes back in and the introduced air is bleed out so the quantity of coolant going back in matches what was lost.

[RedAdventureWagon Member Find all posts View Profile Close RedAdventureWagon]

I did have a mass leak of coolant once on my car (Mitsubishi Lancer CJ) - the mechanic put the radiator cap back on wonky. Was fine for shorter trips but the first time I went a reasonable distance it popped off and covered the engine bay with coolant, and I got an over temperature alarm and had to pull over. Did not know much about cars then but after towing it home the fantastic recovery guy helped me refill it with water to get me going again. Was going on holiday the next day and didn't have my Prado back then

This was at a dealership, and when I explained it they were apologetic and drained and refilled the coolant again for me.

[toxpoint Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close toxpoint]

Thanks all,

I topped it up and drove it back. Was overheating on the way there, They did a pressure test and said there were no leaks at all.

ive got it back home and it’s bone dry. So I’m guessing maybe the top up and drive with the pressure test has somehow fixed it up. I don’t ####ing know sounds real sketchy. They were trying to blame it on “air lock”

[RedAdventureWagon Member Find all posts View Profile Close RedAdventureWagon]

May have been so but really they should have any air locks, bubbles, and refill sorted before you get it.

Perhaps it's best to find another trusted mechanic to look over it if you're still worried. But if it's full of coolant, not overheating, and seems fine otherwise it's probably ok now.

['Dan' Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 'Dan']

Sounds exactly like an air lock, which happens as a result onot being properly bled.

So long as it doesn't start using coolant, you're fine.

Using coolant would be a sign it's damaged the head gasket from over heating - can also be seen as a stream/regular flow of tiny bubbles coming up in your radiator/overflow bottle, milky residue in your oil or oily residue in your coolant.

You'll know pretty quickly if that's the case though and getting a bit high o nthe gauge is not anywhere near hot enough to cause it. You'd have had to have cooked it, no coolant, steam coming out etc.

[toxpoint Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close toxpoint]

Good to know I should be okay now.

Yeah what’s real weird is it wasn’t leaking under pressure. There was about 2-3 litres of coolant on the garage floor after sitting there a few days. (I catch public transport to work)

['Dan' Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 'Dan']

Coolant moves around quite a bit in the cooling system as temps and pressures change.

It will also take the path of least resistence - usually out the overflow.