Is losing coolant and no heat on the drivers side heaters linked??

[hewittinspain]

I seem to be going around in circles with the diagnosis of my leon. I firstly found out in November that the drivers side of the heating was blowing cold and then a month later the coolant sprayed out and I found evidence on the outside of my car.

Things my mechanic friend has done:--
--Bought a new coolant cap.
--Done a pressure test, seem to be no issues from water pump, no leaking in the tray etc.
--done a coolant flush (which occasionally very slightly improved the heat on the drivers side by maybe 2 degrees).
--checked the silicone bag on the matrix which was intact.

I have now ordered a new Valeo Matrix. The coolant has not leaked for one month and a thousand miles so I did think the new cap fixed that issue, HOWEVER IT HAS NOW LEAKED AGAIN TODAY argghhhh!!! I looked on the oil cap today and I dont see any white residue. No white smoke etc.
I do see pink coolant on the plastic header tank along the rim which I dried with a paper towel.

So my question is. Are the two problems linked? Im hoping when the mechanic fits the new matrix then the coolant leak will finally go!!!

Im getting to the end of my tether and losing confidence in my car. The mechanic friend cannot fix the matrix for another month and im worried that I could cause further damage to my car or would it likely to be ok as long as I check the coolant daily?.

Im trying to avoid the main dealer as they will be charging me thousands which I dont really have. My mechanic friend comes with good credentials and trust him

 

[Woody_72]

Not an expert but it does sound like a blocked heater matrix. If the bag's intact it may be residual casting sand causing the blockage.

 

[BillyCool]

Have we not had this conversation?

The blocked heater matrix causes your coolant to overheat during a DPF regen and the excess steam/coolant is vented via the relief valve in your expansion tank cap. It's what the system is designed to do.

They are linked. It's technically not a leak though.

Replace your matrix and it should sort itself out.

The coolant `leak` should only occur during/directly after a regen. You won't hurt it to drive it, as long as you keep it topped up. Check the coolant levels when the car is cold, as post-regen (when it's still warm and under pressure) the coolant levels are artificially high.

 

[Woody_72]

Many, many times .

Sent from my ELE-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[hewittinspain]

Have we not had this conversation?

The blocked heater matrix causes your coolant to overheat during a DPF regen and the excess steam/coolant is vented via the relief valve in your expansion tank cap. It's what the system is designed to do.

They are linked. It's technically not a leak though.

Replace your matrix and it should sort itself out.

The coolant `leak` should only occur during/directly after a regen. You won't hurt it to drive it, as long as you keep it topped up. Check the coolant levels when the car is cold, as post-regen (when it's still warm and under pressure) the coolant levels are artificially high.

Thanks. I did keep my dashboard setting on the coolant level and it did stay at 90 degrees though. Would that be the case even though it overheats?

 

[BillyCool]

Thanks. I did keep my dashboard setting on the coolant level and it did stay at 90 degrees though. Would that be the case even though it overheats?

In a word - YES.

More detailed answer - during your DPF regen the input/output gases reach around 600 degree celcius. The EGR cooler and coolant circuit help cool that down when a regen is complete.

The EA288 engine has 3 coolant circuits, one specifically for the DPF/EGR. The main coolant temp sender is in the engine block and is linked to the main coolant circuit. That has nothing to do with the DPF/EGR and will not detect the super hot DPF/EGR coolant. If it did, you'd get overheat warnings everytime you had a normal regen. The car is not actually overheating, just the smaller (blocked) EGR circuit is boiling your coolant. The main coolant circuit is absolutely fine, hence the `normal` coolant temp.

 

[hewittinspain]

I really appreciate your time to post that. Its been annoying me since this all started, I also apologise for asking this question twice but im a lot clearer on things now. The Matrix is in the post from Germany and when that finally arrives we can get that fitted, get some heating back in the car and get this sorted.

 

[BigJase88]

Bet your coolant in your header tank is a horrible brown colour and your header tank will need changing

definately as others have said sounds like a blocked matrix.

 

[BillyCool]

I really appreciate your time to post that. Its been annoying me since this all started, I also apologise for asking this question twice but im a lot clearer on things now. The Matrix is in the post from Germany and when that finally arrives we can get that fitted, get some heating back in the car and get this sorted.

Don't worry. Once the matrix is done it should sort itself out. Until then just keep an eye on coolant levels, particularly after a regen.

 

[Evo97]

Did the matrix sort it?

 

[hewittinspain]

Did the matrix sort it?

Yes it did thankfully. I bought a new matrix for £80 and my mechanic friend fitted it for £80. Ive had no coolant loss for months and the heating on the drivers side has restored.

 

[Evo97]

Thanks. Going to replace mine over the weekend

 

[hewittinspain]

Thanks. Going to replace mine over the weekend

Go for it. If its the same issues as mine it should sort it

 

[Wayne.mead]

I seem to be going around in circles with the diagnosis of my leon. I firstly found out in November that the drivers side of the heating was blowing cold and then a month later the coolant sprayed out and I found evidence on the outside of my car.

Things my mechanic friend has done:--
--Bought a new coolant cap.
--Done a pressure test, seem to be no issues from water pump, no leaking in the tray etc.
--done a coolant flush (which occasionally very slightly improved the heat on the drivers side by maybe 2 degrees).
--checked the silicone bag on the matrix which was intact.

I have now ordered a new Valeo Matrix. The coolant has not leaked for one month and a thousand miles so I did think the new cap fixed that issue, HOWEVER IT HAS NOW LEAKED AGAIN TODAY argghhhh!!! I looked on the oil cap today and I dont see any white residue. No white smoke etc.
I do see pink coolant on the plastic header tank along the rim which I dried with a paper towel.

So my question is. Are the two problems linked? Im hoping when the mechanic fits the new matrix then the coolant leak will finally go!!!

Im getting to the end of my tether and losing confidence in my car. The mechanic friend cannot fix the matrix for another month and im worried that I could cause further damage to my car or would it likely to be ok as long as I check the coolant daily?.

Im trying to avoid the main dealer as they will be charging me thousands which I dont really have. My mechanic friend comes with good credentials and trust him

Had some problem,water pump ,cap etc etc,changed matrix no problems since

 

[Evo97]

Matrix and Expansion tank replaced all was well for over a week but started to loose coolant again (very little) so egr cooler is next on the cards

 

[BillyCool]

Matrix and Expansion tank replaced all was well for over a week but started to loose coolant again (very little) so egr cooler is next on the cards

When you saying losing coolant - where from? Do you have any witness marks?

The reason I ask is that I had to top my coolant up 3 times after a matrix change as the system self bleeds and there is always a little bit of air in the system. It takes a while to settle down.

 

[SuperV8]

When you saying losing coolant - where from? Do you have any witness marks?

The reason I ask is that I had to top my coolant up 3 times after a matrix change as the system self bleeds and there is always a little bit of air in the system. It takes a while to settle down.

Agreed, if you just mean the level in your header tank went down 'a little' then as Brian says I would just suspect this is a little air in the system finding its way out to the header tank. Top up when cold and all should be fine.

 

[Evo97]

Egr cooler was found to be leaking so hopefully that’s the end of my issues

 

[Evo97]

Egr cooler was found to be leaking so hopefully that’s the end of my issues

When you saying losing coolant - where from? Do you have any witness marks?

The reason I ask is that I had to top my coolant up 3 times after a matrix change as the system self bleeds and there is always a little bit of air in the system. It takes a while to settle

Egr cooler was found to be leaking so hopefully that’s the end of my issues

Well coolant loss is finally sorted & also the bad first start of the day which has been happening way before the noticeable coolant loss so happy days